Bonkaz, AJ Tracey and more are all set to feature.

XL Recordings has announced NEW GEN, an album bringing together the best of the UK’s underground grime and rap scenes with collaborations between 17 young artists.

New Gen started out as a playlist series curated by Caroline Simionescu-Marin, editor at GRM Daily and now an A&R at XL. Working with the label, she expanded the idea into an album project centred around the New Gen Studio, a space for MCs, songwriters, mixers and engineers to collaborate.

With artists like 67, Ray BLK, AJ Tracey, Nines and Avelino working in the same studio, the result is an album “anchored in the half space between trap, grime and new wave R&B, the melting pot which has typically come to represent the New Gen sound,” the label explains.

“NEW GEN serves as a timely snapshot of London’s burgeoning underground music scene, as well as an introduction to those who may have missed these exciting young artists up until now.”

Check out the first track from the album, ‘Ring The Alarm’, featuring Tiggs Da Author and Tottenham MC Avelino, who we recently featured in FACT Rated, our new series for our favourite breaking artists.

Other artists cited by the label include Bonkaz, Kojey Radical, J Hus, Ray Blk and Chip, but there’s no tracklist just yet.