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Hip-Hop Lives Here
Squid have shared their latest single ‘Building 650’ and announced a string of UK headline shows for 2025.
The art-rock band are preparing to release their third studio album ‘Cowards’ via Warp Records on February 7 (pre-order here) and have already shared the lead single ‘Crispy Skin’.
Now, they have released a second single, the bright and colourful ‘Building 650’, which frontman Ollie Judge has said was inspired “by our first ever trip to Japan”. Check out the video, directed by Felix Geen, Daisuke Hasegawa and Kuya Tatsujo, here:
“On the plane I read In The Miso Soup by Ryu Murikami and watched Lost in Translation out of excitement and later decided to write lyrics about being an outsider visiting Japan, including a very particular type of loneliness one can feel visiting a country that is so different from their own. This loneliness feels exaggerated in Tokyo, on the surface it’s hectic and full of people but when you listen, it’s eerily quiet.”
According to a press release, ‘Cowards’ will explore “nine stories where protagonists reckon with cults, charisma and apathy – with the band exploring the divide between right and wrong.” It sees the band continue to push their musical boundaries, exploring folk, kosmische, psychedelia, jazz and electronics.
In addition, the band have announced a string of UK headline dates to take place from February to April this year, kicking off at Liverpool’s Invisible Wind Factory on February 17 and wrapping at London’s Roundhouse on April 26. See the full list of dates below and find your tickets here.
FEBRUARY
17 – Liverpool, Invisible Wind Factory
18 – Manchester, O2 Ritz
19 – Glasgow, Old Fruitmarket
21 – Newcastle, NSU Domain
22 – Sheffield, Leadmill
24 – Cambridge, Junction 1
25 – Norwich, The Adrian Flux Waterfront
27 – Oxford, O2 Academy
28 – Southampton, Engine Rooms
MARCH
1 – Margate, Lido
2 – Brighton, Chalk
4 – Birmingham, XOYO
5 – Bristol, Beacon
APRIL
26 – London, Roundhouse
‘Cowards’ was recorded at Church Studios in Crouch End with Mercury Prize-winning producer Marta Salogni and Grace Banks. It also comes produced by Dan Carey, who also recorded the band’s first two albums.
Mixed in Seattle and mastered in New York, contributions to the record also come from Danish experimental songsmith Clarissa Connelly, Tony Njoku (composer, pianist and singer), Rosa Brook from punk group Pozi, Zands Duggan (percussion), and Jonny Greenwood collaborators the Ruisi Quartet for violin, viola and cello.
It has been named by NME as one of the most anticipated album releases of 2025.
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Tyler, The Creator has quite the fan in punk legend Iggy Pop after working together briefly a few years back.
Tyler and Iggy starred in a Gucci Tailoring campaign ad alongside A$AP Rocky back in 2020, and it appears that Tyler left quite the impression. While discussing the Chromakopia rapper on his BBC Radio 6 show Iggy Confidential, the Godfather of Punk called him “a genuine old-school talent.”
“I’ve always liked Tyler. I did a day’s work with him once, and he would do what it takes to get attention,” Iggy said. “He’s also a genuine all-around song, dance, writer, talent — a genuine old-school talent with a new-school approach.”
You can catch the clip below.
Iggy Pop isn’t the only legend with high praise for Tyler, The Creator.
One of his hometown’s biggest music legends, Ice Cube, shared his admiration for Tyler in a new interview with HipHopDX, speaking highly of his creativity and individuality which he says represents a side of Los Angeles that is often forgotten about.
When asked for his thoughts on the Odd Future founder’s success, Cube said: “That’s L.A. That’s the L.A. people don’t know about — ultra-creative individuals who won’t conform to the culture of gangbanging. They’re going to be themselves.”
Cube then drew a comparison between Tyler and a particular West Coast rap group that’s held in high regard: “He reminds me of, like, The Pharycde. Here’s another: the Black Eyed Peas come from here.
“You’re going to always have those groups who are going to stay down with their own style and their own flavor, and going to win with it. Because they’re not conforming, they’re not being what you want them to be; they’re being who they are. And you gotta salute that.”
Tyler, The Creator has no shortage of famous fans. Since storming onto the scene with “Yonkers” (and its infamous roach-chewing video) over a decade ago, the Hawthorne native has earned co-signs from everyone from Kanye West, JAY-Z and Lil Wayne to fellow West Coast heroes Snoop Dogg and Kendrick Lamar.
Some of the highest compliments have come from his idol Pharrell, who back in 2017 tweeted: “Thank you @tylerthecreator for being everything we dreamt of when making In Search Of,” referring to N.E.R.D.‘s genre-blending 2001 album. “Artistic freedom to be you and make whatever you want.”
Though he’s now firmly a seasoned veteran, Tyler’s career has only continued to go from strength to strength in recent years — particularly in the last 12 months.
Last year he dropped his eighth album Chromakopia, which topped the Billboard 200 with the highest first-week sales of his career (almost 300,000) while being named the second best rap album of 2024 by this very publication.
Tyler also hosted the 10th installment of his Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival and introduced his debut fashion collection with Louis Vuitton, which he described as a dream come true.
With a massive Chromakopia World Tour set to begin next month, 2025 is shaping up to be another big year.
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