M4 Festival will take place at Glasgow’s SWG3 on Saturday 30 August, transforming the venue’s Warehouse space and outdoor Garden Terrace into a hub of emerging music.

The festival offers a platform for homegrown and international voices, aiming to showcase a diverse selection of emerging artists and DJs from Scotland and beyond, spanning genres, including hip hop, afrobeat, R&B, alt-pop and experimental soul. 

Artists announced include both DJs and live artists. This year’s live acts platform a new generation of voices shaping Scotland’s music scene, from Bellarosa’s enigmatic and hypnotic global rhythms and LAMAYA’s fearless experimental soul to FER4Z and Tayoh’s futuristic afro fusion.

For DJs, ISO YSO and Leahgte continue to push Scotland’s underground rap and club sound forward, while LuckyBabe, Junglehussi and Maveen bring global rhythms, high emotion and infectious energy. Pillz The Energizer adds his signature Afrobeat flair. A special guest headliner is still to be revealed.

M4 Festival was founded and curated by Glasgow-based rapper Bemz to spotlight the rising talent and genres often overlooked in Scotland’s live music scene. 

Bemz said: ‘To be back for another year is something that I am proud of. The idea of this festival was to give something back to the community which has done so much for me. We are now able to platform ten local acts who have all been killing it in their own lane and now we can bring them together to show what Scotland is well and truly about. Thank you to SWG3 for helping us and being part of our journey.’

Bemz will headline the BBC Introducing stage at TRNSMT Festival on Friday 11 July. Awarded DJ Mag’s Breakthrough MC/Vocalist Best of British Award and named BBC Introducing’s first-ever ‘Scottish Act of the Year,’ the rapper’s 2023 album, Nova’s dad, was nominated for Scottish Album Of The Year. He was also one of our picks for 2022’s Hot 100.

We interviewed Bemz in 2021 following the release of his acclaimed EP Saint of Lost Causes. ‘When I started I was rapping about the same old things: money, girls, blah, blah, blah,’ he said. ‘And none of it was actually true. Over the years I swore to myself that I would stop making music like that and draw inspiration from my life to make music that I wanted to make, not music that I thought people wanted to hear.’

He also highlighted the importance of supporting up-and-coming artists: ‘I do draw a lot of inspiration and love from the Scottish rap scene. See the youngers that are coming up in Scotland? They are going to be a problem, and that in itself is an inspiration. There’s a lot of talent boiling in Scotland.’

M4 Festival, SWG3, Glasgow, Saturday 30 August; main picture: M4 Festival.