Hot on the heels from his ground-breaking entrance into the scene with “Number One Candidate”, epitomised by two recent MOBO nominations for ‘Best Music Video Of The Year’ and ‘Best Newcomer’, as well as receiving widespread acclaim from likes of NME, HYPEBEAST, i-D and DAZED all heralding it as potential video of the year, breakout north London rap star AntsLive delivers yet another scintillating single. Showcasing the breakout talent’s trademark flow and sleek lyricism atop choppy percussive elements and slick synth samples produced by PRGRSHN (Stormzy, Aya Nakamura, Jacob Banks) and Azul Wynter (Justin Bieber, GASHI, Migos, Drake), the new single comes alongside another boundary-pushing visual, breaking new ground by using the hacked CCTV cameras across London that have been leaked online. Fans can find the locations that were used in the video on AntsLivecams.com, and also use the site to make their own film.

Speaking on the new single, Ants states: “Hear what I’m saying… ‘She ain’t met no one like me’, it’s that simple. I’m on this energy all 2023. Taking it back to basics. More music than last year. I promise you last year was just the warmup…”
Releasing his debut EP Just A Matter Of Time, last January, AntsLive has taken the music world by storm, with international tastemaker support across the spectrum from the likes of NME, DAZED, I-D, THE INDEPENDENT, THE FACE, PIGEONS & PLANES, HYPEBEAST, VERSUS and CRACK MAGAZINE — as well as being hailed as BBC RADIO 1’s Future Artist of The Month in August 2023, with extra radio playlist support coming from BBC RADIO 1, KISS FM, CAPITAL XTRA and BBC RADIO 1XTRA.

Rounding off the year in style, Ants’ “Number One Candidate” picked up a slew of other accolades including CRACK MAGAZINE’s ‘Video Of The Year’, featuring in the DAZED end of year list for their ‘Best Music Video’s Of The Year’ and NME’s ‘Best Songs of 2023’. On top of this, Ants has been chosen as BBC Radio 1Xtra’s ‘Hot For 2024’, as well as heading MTV’s Push UK & Ireland ‘Ones To Watch For 2024’ and placing #8 in TikTok’s ‘Breakthrough Artists Of The Year For UK & Ireland’.

Clocking a cool 9.5M streams and counting on the EP and 9M streams alone on “Number One Candidate” — co-signs have come from the likes of Mia Khalifa, Aitch, AJ Tracey, KSI and Mabel — and TV appearances in abundance, having appeared on coveted football programmes such as SoccerAM and MOTDx, as well as ‘Yo MTV Raps’ and ‘Tonight With Target’.

Boasting support for UK rap icon Aitch across his Ireland shows in Belfast, Cork and Dublin, and a performance at the British F1 at Silverstone, AntsLive sold-out his own headline show in March at London’s Omeara despite London coming to a standstill with transport strikes. Add to that sitting front row for some of the hottest UK designers across London and Paris Fashion Weeks with Bianca Saunders and S.S. Daley, AntsLive is truly resonating across all cultural levels. Perhaps epitomised by him fronting the campaign for Arsenal’s away kit launch alongside Sherelle, working closely with Hugo Boss, and spearheading his own campaign with The North Face and JD has seen Ants appear on billboards up and down the country.

With a seemingly innate ability to make bangers, and headlined in equal measure Ants continues his breakthrough into the British mainstream with fun and focus.