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Hip-hoping to hit the big time

9/ 5/2008

A FORMER Wright Robinson student is one hop and a jump away from signing a £20,000 record deal.

Justyn 'J-Woo' Hughes, from Clayton, is one half of the British hip-hop duo The Hustled, which is in the final of a national music contest of original unsigned talent.

If he and fellow member Anthony "Pep" or "Pink Eye" Peppard win the Live and Unsigned finale on 28 June, they will be crowned best out of 10,000 hopefuls.

They have already battled through auditions, semi-finals and regional finals to get this far.

Now the rappers will have to win over a massive crowd, including music industry professionals, and impress a celebrity judging panel to win outright.

Justyn, 24, said: "There are going to be more than 1,000 people there, not to mention a world of viewers watching, so it's a great chance to entertain and build the public's interest."

The glittering prize on offer includes a single release with Future Music and a place on the UK Live and Unsigned Tour for 2009. The finals will also be broadcast on primetime satellite TV.

The competition encourages entrants to do their own thing - be individual, original, and perform their own genre and style.

Hustled have impressed the judges since performing their song "Coolman" acapello in the first audition.

Now living in Kent to study music production in London, The Hustled have mainly played live in the London area but hope to organise some gigs in Manchester soon.

The pair are quick to distance themselves from the whole stigma that is now attached to artists that have been discovered via reality TV shows. Twenty-eight-year-old Pep, originally from Droylsden, said: "We would never do X-factor or anything like that but Live and Unsigned gave us an opportunity to get our music recognized by doing it they way we want to do it."

Comparisons have been drawn between The Hustled and UK grime outfit The Streets. Both bands have origins within metal music and rap uniquely on their own take on the world.

However, Justyn said: "Although we respect The Streets we're just trying to do our own thing - my immediate influences are in old-school American hip-hop and Pep is a poet and beat maker."