Following last year’s collection of well-received mixtapes, Young Adz and Dirtbike LB — collectively known as D-Block Europe — liberate their debut studio album The Blue Print — Us Vs. Them. The project sees a whopping 29 tracks with additional appearances from Stefflon Don, RAYE, Aitch, and D-Block Europe alum Lil Pino, who joins his collaborators on the standout track “Gulag”:
“Show me that you love me, ink “Pino”, go get that tat, she’s trippin’ if she’s leavin’ ‘cause she knows she’ll be right back/
Searched by the federale while I was leanin’ on the jack, ’bout a kilo on my nеck while I’m drippin’ like a tap/”
Christened a part of the legendary New York collective by The LOX back in 2014, D-Block Europe’s first official release was 2018’s Any Minute Now, a collaborative mixtape alongside fellow London peer Yxng Bane. This was then followed by the three 2019 releases Home Alone, PTSD, and Street Trauma, which saw the group delivering infectious street cuts alongside the likes of M Huncho, Nafe Smallz, Dave, AJ Tracey, Krept & Konan, and Chip. These releases earned D-Block Europe three top ten placements on the UK Albums chart, as well as a Silver and Gold BPI certification for Home Alone and PTSD, respectively.
In an interview with Complex UK, D-Block Europe explained how their connection with the aforementioned Yonkers legends came to fruition:
“One of the OG’s had lined up for me to do a feature with Kiss. Kiss heard it and said he wanted to sign it. Then, it just went from there—it was supposed to be a short deal, but I came back to England, got in trouble, couldn’t go back to America, so we’re over here and we’re still D-Block, Europe. That’s when me and [Dirtbike] LB came together and started rapping.”
Press play on The Blue Print — Us Vs. Them below. This year also saw Young Adz joining Chip and Skepta on the well-received album Insomnia, which fans can stream in full here.