Lord Of The Mics, the colossal grime platform founded and led by Jammer and Ratty, is making its return for a massive eighth season. Over the years there have been some monumental clashes and warm-up sessions that have changed the face of the grime scene in ways you couldn’t imagine. In fact, LOTM can trace its history before grime even had a name. Those iconic clashes are embedded into the minds of any true grime fan. Kano vs. Wiley, Skepta vs. Devilman, Footsie vs. Scratchy, P Money vs. Big H… and the eighth edition looks like it’ll be just as heated and just as game-changing.

Ahead of the official release, we’ve teamed up with the LOTM team to exclusively premiere the batch of Hype Sessions. If, somehow, you’re not entirely familiar with the institution that is the Lord Of The Mics warm-up sessions, each clash is preceded by a quick filmed freestyle of each MC, which basically gives them all an opportunity to rile up their opponents and stoke the flames of competition in the hopes their opponent will get too heated and make a mistake.

TRENCH will be premiering all 18 Hype Sessions in the build-up to the full release of Lord Of The Mics 8. Today, we’re profiling rival spitters Yizzy and Micofcourse.

Another MC in this tournament who’s proved himself on all fronts is Lewisham’s Yizzy. Yizzy has made it his business to keep his teeth sharpened and his bars fresh, racking up tens of thousands of views for every freestyle, cypher and clash the UK has to offer. His appearances on Fire In The Booth, Mad About Bars, Rinse, Reprezent and the rest have already cemented his credentials. Crucially, he’s also racked up years of experience with OGs, paying close attention to what works and doesn’t work. Just recently he called up Riko Dan, Scrufizzer, Killa P and Logan for a remix and best collaborators include Devilman, Blacks and more. He’s not just a straight grime head either, easily switching things up to hop on tracks with Skengdo, P From Lee and the like. Whether he’s challenging the OGs or testing the newcomers, nothing seems to phase Yizzy.

Micofcourse’s star has been on a rapid ascension over the past year or so. A standout appearance on Sir Spyro's 'Sounds Of The Verse' (as well as a much-talked about Reece West diss) but Micofcourse on the map and marked him out as a new generation MC who wasn’t afraid to get in people’s faces. Besides that, the last 12 months have seen him at DJ Argue’s Hell In A Cell, Pyro Radio, Westwside, Spooky’s The Grime Show on Rinse, Reprezent, 1Xtra and more. His work rate is beyond impressive and his ability to work with (and against) a wide range of emcees is starting to turn a lot of heads. It’s also worth pointing out this isn’t the first the West Londoner has squared off against Yizzy. Back in 2017, the two faced off for New Grime Order, in which Micofcourse accused Yizzy of being a “n-o-vvvvv-i-c-e”. So expect one or two scores to be settled here.