For a chance to win tickets for this exclusive River Island Secret Session click here and fill in your details…

If you’re one of the lucky 50 they’ll send an invite over for you and a friend to join in at MPHO’s Secret Session next week!

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Click on the following link to preorder your copy of this epic new single and help to support children ravaged by war around the world now.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPreorder?id=332148171&s=143444

Dates are below and tickets can be bought here!

11th October: Glasgow ABC

12th October: Newcastle Uni

14th October: Norwich UEA

15th October: Cardiff Solus

16th October: Bristol Anson

27th October: Sheperd’s Bush Empire

See you there!

The cream of Britain’s young urban artists, known collectively as Young Soul Rebels came together on July 6^th to record ‘I Got Soul’, a new, re-written version of the stirring Killers track ‘All These Things I Have Done,’ at Metropolis Studios in London.

Featured artists include:

Mpho

Tinchy Stryder

Pixie Lott

N-Dubz

Frankmusik

Chipmunk

V.V. Brown

Ironik

Bashy

McLean

Kid British

Egypt

Domino Go

The London Community Gospel Choir

The track, based around the hook line ‘I Got Soul, But I’m Not A Soldier,’ will undoubtedly become an anthem this autumn, and will throw the spotlight on the vital work War Child does with ex-child soldiers and those who suffer from the tragic effects of war around the world.

A defining moment for the UK’s music scene, which is currently ablaze with world class talent (the artists here have featured on five number one singles already this year)  the song is the perfect way to educate British youth on the plight of thousands of children across the globe.

To help spread the word, slogan bearing T-Shirts for the single release have been designed by über cool fashion designer Henry Holland, famed for his alternative fashion and work with supermodel Agyness Deyn. The T-Shirts will go on sale in Autumn at top fashion retailers.

The Young Soul Rebels project was ignited just hours after the close of the Brit Awards in February, at the War Child after-party. The biggest pop acts in the world; Coldplay, U2 and Take That joined The Killers on stage for a celebratory chorus, chanting ‘I got soul, but I’m not a solider’ to an audience of just 2,000.The next day, Bono told Radio One: “That chant, ‘I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier’, has a whole new meaning when there is a War Child banner behind your head…”

Ben Knowles, Music Director of War Child says: “This brilliant track is an incredible coming together of the UK’s brightest, best young soul and urban music talent in 2009. A snapshot of the most dynamic youth music scene for years, assembled to do something for young people in war zones around the world. There are more than 300,000 children currently actively deployed in conflicts, 40% are girls. It’s an outrage but it’s an issue that seldom gets reported. This track can make a huge difference. War Child is indebted to all of the amazing acts and our brilliant producer Fraser, and The Killers for allowing us to rework their track.”

War Child is an international children’s charity working in some of the world’s most dangerous war zones including Iraq, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. It has an already impressive and proud history of brilliant projects in music. The amazing support of artists including U2, Paul McCartney, Oasis, David Bowie and the Killers, has enabled War Child to carry out its vital work in the world’s most brutal war zones. 300,000 children are currently involved in wars around the world as soldiers, cooks, porters, spies and sex slaves. War Child and its music projects work to do something about this.

Young Soul Rebels

‘I GOT SOUL’

Released: 19^th October 2009

The song, whose cleverly crafted video keeps popping up on a vast array of blogs, makes use of a Martha and the Muffins sample from the classic “Echo Beach,” and is quickly on its way to becoming one of the trademark songs of the summer.

Now there is a new song from the South African-born London-based song making the rounds online. MPHO contributes her voice to a mix of Erik Hassel’s single “Don’t Bring Flowers,” currently available for free download from sites like Popjustice. MPHO’s presence on the track certainly gives it some pizzazz, and the download comes highly recommended from a number of sites.

The music blog FizzyPop!! writes: “Talking of Popjustice, they are on an absolute roll this week. Case for the prosecution – exhibit A: an absolutely free download of Erik Hassel’s ‘Don’t Bring Flowers’ – with MPHO!!! Yes, the MPHO all the reliable music blogs like Dan UK, XO and Phil are talking about. It’s ever so magnif as a duet.”
With this new song, her debut single, and an amazing cover of Kate Bush’s “Running up that Hill” all circulating the net, MPHO looks to be one of this year’s biggest breakthrough acts.

At this point in her career, MPHO says she is taking every day as it comes, though fame is obviously catching up to her.

“I do keep wondering what people are looking at,” the singer tells the Herald. “I think do they think they recognize me or have I just got something massive in my teeth? Earlier today I was in Tesco and a man asked me if I was a singer. Then it happened again in the street. It was a bit weird.”

The festival will host one of its best lineups during the sixth annual event, with a billing featuring a number of hot electro pop acts. Both Orbital and Peaches are to perform, and a crowd of 20,000 is expected to be present for this year’s event.

“There is no new record so people can expect the old favorites,” Orbital’s Paul Hartnoll told the London Informer. “There will be no messing around – it’s going to be a fun packed show.”

MPHO, the genre-defying singer who has just released her debut single, “Box N Locks,” to critical acclaim, will be making herself known at the event, along with Sneaky Sound System, Rob Da Bank, Tom Middleton, Roni Size Reprazent, Miss Kitten, We Are Enfant Terrible and Felix Da Housecat.

The London Informer is giving away a pair of tickets for the event, and in order to attempt to win them fans simply need to tell where the festival is being held this year. Emails must be received by helenclarke@trinitysouth.co.uk before August 14; include your name and phone number along with your answer.

If you find that you aren’t the lucky winner of the free tickets but still would love to see MPHO performing her debut single and her popular cover of Kate Bush’s “Running up that Hill,” tickets are still available from Ticket Master for only £35.

The South-African born, London-based singer is set on her own sound – which is quite unlike any other. She crosses the lines of genre so effortlessly throughout her upcoming debut album, ‘Pop Art’, that she is already being heralded for her brave artistic ventures.

Angry Ape writes: “Built around the insanely catchy guitar riff of Martha and the Muffins’ new wave anthem ‘Echo Beach,’ London-based upcomer MPHO is making a huge splash with her opening single ‘Box N Locks’ – a song that still sounds vibrant and exciting, despite being online for months now.”

The singer-songwriter has been making the rounds for quite some time now, and has managed to pick up a few new fans when she performed at this year’s Glastonbury festival. It seems that everyone who gets a glimpse of MPHO’s live gigs immediately falls for her talent and charms – including quite a lot of influential music bloggers.

“Led (for about 99 per cent of the track) by its heavy 80s sample, this is a brilliant piece of 2009 pop,” continues Angry Ape. “It ticks so many boxes; it’s undeniably fun, catchy from the opening few seconds, and sounds unlike anything around right now. But it’s the hard-hitting words which really sink in, as MPHO lashes out at stereotypes – she isn’t going to make urban music or become a ‘ghetto chick’ simply because she’s a ‘feisty little brown girl, raised in Brixton town.’”

The genre-melding singer is fast becoming known for her unique style and her inability to be anything but true to herself, even in her art form.  In a recent interview with the London Paper, the singer discussed her just-released debut single, “Box N Locks,” what it was like attending the BRIT School and confidence in general.

For MPHO, her time at the BRIT School wasn’t exactly all rainbows and tea parties. She says: “The BRIT experience was quite difficult. I felt like a bit of a wallflower and it was quite a socially awkward experience for me.”

If you’ve ever listened to any of MPHO’s songs – her debut single or those featured on her mixtape by DJ Beware – then you’ll probably wonder at the above remark. After all, she sounds completely empowered on record, especially with lyrics like those of “See Me Now” in which the singer states: “you’re wishing you could be me now, I’m living in your wildest fantasy”.

The confidence she so easily exudes now didn’t exactly come easy for the singer-songwriter. “I’ve nurtured my confidence,” she goes on. “It’s come from being teased and from knockbacks. You have to build confidence for yourself as an artist; otherwise the industry is extremely difficult. It does mean defying modesty at times.”

“Box N Locks” is a song that does just that when dealing with its subject matter of not being artistically pigeonholed or creatively suppressed.

When the London Paper wants to know if sampling “Echo Beach” for the single was a ploy to win over middle-aged men, MPHO shrieks in reply, “No, not at all! It wasn’t until afterwards when I played it to the A and R at the label when he was like ‘oh my god, it’s Echo Beach’ and I was like, ‘okay, calm down’.”

“Do you know what, it wasn’t my idea to use the sample,” laughed MPHO. “It was my producer Switch’s idea. He uses a lot of samples so when we decided to work together we went through a load of old records and ‘Echo Beach’ was one of them. I loved the groove and the sound of guitars so we cut a loop from it and it all just happened.”

The debut single featuring the Martha and the Muffins sample is about “not letting people dictate what you should do and who you should be.” For MPHO, this is something everyone needs to define on their own. She continued: “I’ve been given numerous genre-specific titles while I’ve been developing my career and I’ve tried to shy away from each one of them. The one I’m happy landing with is ‘pop’ because you don’t know what it sounds like. You can do what you want with pop as long as it’s good and people like it.”

Though she’s been called “neo-soul,” “soul queen” and “the queen of broken beat,” MPHO disagrees with any label that’s been put to her music. She feels she just does “music that’s good,” and critics and fans tend to agree.

MPHO is inspired by “people who make amazing pop music like Prince, Kate Bush, Andre 3000.”
“I like people who are creative and don’t just follow a clear and obvious formula,” she affirms.