The Rebel Scum UK tour is the bringing together of four creatives in celebration of the energy and spirit of hip hop, electro punk and the sheer attitude and rebellion against economic and social injustice of the system. As a nod to the rebel forces fighting the Empire think Rage Against the Machine meets Public Enemy.
The night started early and a good crowd had gathered to hear Native James, an alternative metal/grime deepcore rap artist from Ipswich. The vibe was very loud, dark and punk.
The opening track was intense and powerful. He flashed a huge grin and asked, “Are we warming now?” to the crowd’s roar. The guys at the front were certainly heating up with the mosh pit growing momentum.
The fans here were headbanging grunge loving punks, rocking their mohawks and piercings who were loving the loud and raw chaotic sound. I thought Power and Hammer were the standout tracks. Native James had a lot of energy, moving and dancing around the stage. He had a great stage presence and command of the audience, moving them across the floor, getting everyone ready for the clash in the mosh. People were crashing into one another, dancing and headbanging. It was great to see it all unfold and it was over too soon!
Next on the bill was MUDRAT a hip hop and metal artist based in Naarm, Australia. He had travelled 16,000kms for this, his first international tour. His lyrics are political, speaking out against current issues like capitalism and inequality. He started off by bringing to the attention of the crowd how Newcastle and his home city are both working-class areas and although hailing from the other side of the world we are all interconnected. Mudrat is a vocal advocate – his tracks discuss local and wider issues which are replicated back in his hometown. Playing tracks from new album, Social Cohesion, which was released in the summer of 2025, they started the set with You Don’t Care About Poor People, which has a great fast beat and strong drums, guitar and vocals. The audience go wild for favourite track I Hate Rich C*nts which has a fantastic beat, booming strong bassline and chorus, which the crowd all shout along to.
Much to everyone’s surprise, Hyphen arrives up on stage. They sing together, then invite a young boy up whose birthday it was encouraging everyone to sing Happy Birthday to the 9 year old Dorian!
There was a lovely interlude sung by drummer, Emile Battour who has a fantastic clear powerful voice. The MUD25 track then continues into the second part of the song. It reminded me of a Foals track moving into more of an Idles sound – brilliant throughout! The place is basically bouncing, and they are showing us how it’s done. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Up next were Gen and the Degenerates, and honestly, I couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for them as they had a couple of tough acts to follow. The band originally formed back in 2019 at Uni with two further members. Although now three-piece, they showed us they still have an energetic and catchy punk/pop sound with cool engaging lyrics. Gen’s voice is clear and has power behind it. There are pounding drums from Evan Reeves and Sean Healand-Sloan, a master of the guitar. Their newly released single Wahoo is excellent, and the crowd go wild dancing and singing along to the chorus. It’s definitely got an early 90s indie sound to it, like a punky Sleeper, Primitives or Elastica, with an infectious beat and sing-along chorus.
Gen Glynn-Reeves is flirty with the crowd; cute and smiley but showing strength through sexuality. The track Girls has a great hook, and Gen is bringing all the attitude with lots of energy on stage. Telling us to throw ass and dance, Gen gets down off the stage into the crowd, moving around and then down on the floor. The band have great crowd interaction, especially when my favourite track Girl God Gun was played. This catchy track has great lyrics and is a totally tune - they raised the roof!
By this time, the place was bouncing and hyped up - people were sweating and ready for the finale. The final artist of the night was Portsmouth born Hyphen. He came on stage to the backing track of Backstreet Boys, which was unexpected but seemed to be a perfect choice. He arrived with attitude and a powerful start to the set.
It sounded like he borrowed some backing tracks from old favourites Rage Against the Machine, Blur and Arctic Monkeys. This enhanced the show and brought a lot of energy along with the overlay of his direct, political and always intelligent thought-provoking razor sharp lyrics, such as ‘desk job or sex tape, suck d*ck and get paid’! Another banger, 3 Pound Pints is a poignant look at today’s issues and struggles and perhaps wishing you were back to the easier times of your youth. This is Great Britain is another sharp cleverly crafted track with an intense rhythm and worryingly accurate lyrics.
He gets serious at one point discussing a period of depression in his 20s and how he got help from the Samaritans. Today, 10 years later, he is happily married, a respected successful rapper songwriter and is here shaking his ass in satin shorts. He wanted to convey that even when things feel bleak, there’s still hope that they can improve.
The tracks keep coming and Hyphen gets down from the stage and is fully immersed in the crowd. Everyone is jumping around this showman. He knows how to work the crowd and they are eating out of his hands. He plays a massive setlist new and old including well received bangers Deskjob and Gary’s Economics, the latter in collaboration with MUDRAT.
It’s the end of the night and closing with Marching Powder, Hyphen is letting people up on stage. This doesn’t seem to be typical, but he is going with it, and people are lapping it up! The audience know his songs, they are powerful and there’s a feeling of inclusiveness and a sense of mutual respect.
Like the other bands here tonight, Hyphen is a vocal advocate for social justice. Combining arresting lyrics and engaging music, all four bands aim to reach out to people and highlight corporate power and its current social impacts.
The Rebel Scum tour continues in London Scala (7 May), and Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach (9 May)
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