Guardian Music — Hackney Weekend, LondonThose who scored free tickets for this Radio 1 event will be witnessing the business class end of hip-hop and R&B (Jay-Z, Rihanna), successful locals such as Plan B and Professor Green, and a few indie randoms like Kasabian. Mo... more info

Guardian Music — Celebrities are inspiring young people living in Hackney to pursue a career in creative industriesHow much does the R&B star Usher, raised in Chattanooga, Tennessee, know about Hackney, east London, scene of some of London's most violent rioting last... more info

Guardian Music — Listen to a Spotify playlist of the best tunes of the year so far, as picked by the Guardian music teamThe barely scientific exercise that's compiling a list of the 20 best albums of 2012 to date has already been completed. But that run-down only scr... more info

ContactMusic — Plan B wanted his new film to be honest The She Said rapper has directed gritty real-life drama Ill Manors - which follows the lives of drug dealers addicts prostitutes over the course of a few chaotic days in east London - and says his mai... more info

Guardian Music — The actor, 29, who came to cinema by way of being an MC and coaching sportsI've got it already. He's Plan B's mate, isn't he? Boom!Another urban "yoof" film - terribly clichéd, isn't it? Skrein reckons his generation has been misrepresented in the c... more info

Here Comes The Flood — photo: John Huskin San Antonio rock trio Girl in a Coma have announced their North American Summer tour dates. Their latest studio album, Exits & All the Rest, won an Independent Music Awards for Best Independent/Alternative Rock Album. They offer O... more info

Guardian Music — He found fame as a musician, but now Plan B has turned to film with his directorial debut feature Ill Manors. He talks about his tough upbringing – and the creative urge that set him apartI have looked forward to root-canal surgery with greater ent... more info

Guardian Music — Plan B's London riots-inspired directorial debut misses out on the opportunity to make a political statementIll Manors is a multi-stranded urban crime drama set in east London, the debut feature film from Ben Drew, otherwise known as singer-songwrite... more info

Guardian Music — Plan B's film is not a searing social commentary about our mean streets, but a gangster movie that celebrates humanityThe tagline of Ill Manors stakes a claim to searing social commentary. "We are all products of our environment," it asserts. This se... more info

Gigwise — Rapper reveals he still has work to do - with release just over a month away more info