HYPHEN RETURNS WITH NEW SINGLE
Photo: Noah Stars Kennedy
Rap and punk rising star Hyphen makes a triumphant return today with the release of his ferocious new single, ‘Said What I Said’. Driven by his signature meticulous rap flow, the track is perfectly complemented by an urgent, driving riff that runs continuously throughout. The song’s title transforms into a hooky, infectious chant during the chorus, which has already been going down an absolute storm live, solidifying itself as the ultimate standout moment during Hyphen’s headline sets back in May. Listeners will also spot a very subtle sitar woven into the chorus, serving as a direct nod to Hyphen’s South-Asian folk music influences and the heritage he is extremely proud of. While the message behind Said What I Said is an explicitly political statement aimed directly at right-wing parties, Hyphen has brilliantly managed to craft a song designed simultaneously for a mass sing-along and a raucous mosh pit, a rare balancing act that makes him entirely unique and utterly impossible to ignore.
Hyphen articulates, “Reform UK, potentially the next British Government, is made up of openly racist, sexist people who say they want to privatise the NHS and want to copy some of scariest, most evil policies from the US. They are funded by offshore billionaires and have taken bribes from the Russian government. Billionaire funded media is afraid to call them facists. We should not be. The left slept walked into Brexit because we didn't fully acknowledge the threat we were up against. We can't make that mistake again. Said What I Said is a song about refusing to be gaslit by mainstream media about the threat that the far right really pose. It’s also just a fucking banger. The far right are fascists and would ruin this country to serve their wealthy donors. I said what I said."
In tandem with the single, Hyphen has also announced today that he will be joining forces with dynamic punk duo Kid Kapichi on their highly anticipated UK headline tour this November. The run of dates kicks off at Bristol’s Electric on 12th November, making its way through various cities including Falmouth, Southampton, Norwich, Glasgow, Nottingham, and Manchester, before culminating in a massive finale at London’s Outernet on 20th November. Tickets for the tour are officially on sale now here. Prior to hitting the road in the winter, Hyphen is scheduled to play a packed slew of festivals this summer, including highly anticipated slots at 2000 Trees, Kendal Calling, Boomtown, and more. This follows a massive stretch in April and May where the London-born artist embarked on his biggest UK headline tour to date, which completely sold out and featured a landmark night at London’s Scala with stellar support from Native James, Mudrat, and Gen and the Degenerates. The politically charged punk artist is no stranger to the festival circuit, having previously brought his high-energy show to major events like The Great Escape, Reading & Leeds, and Latitude.
This fiery new single, ‘Said What I Said’, follows closely on the heels of his heavy-hitting track ‘HYDRA’, which Hyphen unleashed earlier this year. The momentum has been building rapidly since 2025, a year that saw the artist release his defining EP, This Might Be It. To celebrate that milestone, he embarked on his first-ever UK headline tour, an ambitious run that ended up being completely sold out, which is a truly remarkable achievement for an entirely independent artist. Hyphen also used that momentum to make his debut appearance at 2000 Trees that July, delivering a standout performance so impactful that it landed him coverage on several international news channels.
The London-based powerhouse masterfully blends elements of rap, punk, and hip-hop into a sound that makes him an absolute force of nature on stage. Hyphen's core mission centers on creating a safe space and a tight-knit community for like-minded people, a philosophy he puts into practice by spending the majority of his live sets performing directly in the crowd to unite everyone in attendance. His songwriting confidently tackles incredibly serious themes, spanning his own personal battles with mental health and racism to broader commentary on politics and immigration, yet these heavy topics are delivered with a tongue-in-cheek sense of mischief that keeps the energy electric. Currently standing as the biggest South Asian rock artist in the UK, Hyphen's pedigree is undeniable; he is a former Spotify RADAR artist, a BBC Introducing Future Sounds artist, and a recipient of the prestigious PRS Momentum fund, which has previously backed heavyweights like Sam Fender and Little Simz. Backed by millions upon millions of streams and earning high-profile co-signs from everyone to Hollywood star Jennifer Coolidge and wealth inequality campaigner Gary Stevenson, Hyphen is proving that he is only just getting started.
