Latest News
Another album from The Urban State
After releasing albums consecutively in 2017 (Introducing Angela) & 2018 (Got Love) I thought it was time for a break. I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go next time musically and I was tired of the process as it’s quite exhausting and you tire very easily of what...
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Let It Shine coming out on the 20th Sept 2018
Let It Shine Let It Shine was the first track from the song writing sessions for what turned out to be our album Got Love. Originally called Dance Like You Do the track is a personal favourite of the band and was always slated for release as a single because its so...
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When The Night Calls – Out Today!
The 16th August is here and we've just released - When The Night Calls! Listen and buy on iTunes - Click here! This is the second track from our album Got Love... Got Love Album Track Listing 1. Got Love 2. When The Night Calls 3. My Imagination 4....
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When The Night Calls – coming out 16th August!
Not long now until the 16th August - when we release - When The Night Calls! This is the second track from our album Got Love... Got Love Album Track Listing 1. Got Love 2. When The Night Calls 3. My Imagination 4. Music (Let’s Use It) 5. Let It Shine 6. Give In, Get...
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Getting to know Angela
Angela... Service to the State: Vocalist Lives: London Classics: Bruno Mars, Prince, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Beyoncé Bio: Angela’s a guest vocalist for The Urban State and we are delighted to welcome her within our borders. We are excited to announce that we...
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New single coming on 13th Sept – Let it shine
Our latest single is coming out on the 13th Sept... So make sure you keep an eye out!! Roderick x
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When The Night Calls
Our next single - When The Night Calls - is coming out on the 16th August! You can check out the video here - let us know what you think 🙂
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The Urban State to Release New Album ‘Got Love’ today!
After many months of hard work and featuring the vocal talents of Angela once again The Urban State’s 4th Studio album drops today - July 19th. Got Love Album Track Listing 1. Got Love 2. When The Night Calls 3. My Imagination 4. Music (Let’s Use It) 5. Let It Shine...
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New Album Out Today
It's out today - our new album - Got Love! We hope you like it and you can have a listen and buy it here on iTunes - BUY Tracks from new album “Got Love” Got Love When The Night Calls My Imagination Music (Let’s Use It) Let It Shine Give In, Get Up, Get On! No Strings...
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A Taster of Things To Come!
Some track snippets have leaked on line and as I have no way of getting them taken down I thought that I would release them officially! These sampler tracks were produced for promo purposes - a music mix for the gig for background purposes to be blended with the...
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Got Love and a Wedding!
Our Wedding Last Friday I got married to my wonderful fiancé (now husband) Paul and we did the first dance with our family and friends to Got Love and it could not have been more appropriate. The Urban State were with us! Roderick &...
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Our new album is on it’s way!
We are getting ready to release our new album More news coming very soon - so come back in a few days to find out more about our new album 🙂 Track Listing… Got Love When The Night Calls My Imagination Music (Let’s Use It) Let It Shine Give In, Get Up, Get On! No...
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Got Love is out today!
The Urban State's latest single "Got Love" is out today! You can have a listen and buy it here. See the video... Hope you like it :)...
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Our Latest Press Release
Funk-infused pop collective The Urban State are set to release their new single ‘Got Love’ on 5th July. Dating back to its genesis in 2003, ‘Got Love’ has undergone changes to its backing track and structure, taking a previously unreleased song and pushing it...
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Album Lyrics – Got Love
Album Lyrics - Got Love Got Love Got love it's a precious feeling I’ve got you to make me fly Got love and it's got meaning I've got loving to make me high Got love and I'm not dreaming I’ve got you a magic touch Got love and there's no ceiling I’ve got love...
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The New Album – Got Love
After many months of hard work and featuring the vocal talents of Angela once again our 4th Studio album drops July 19th. Track Listing... Got Love When The Night Calls My Imagination Music (Let’s Use It) Let It Shine Give In, Get Up, Get On! No Strings Drowning...
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Got Love – The Video
The Video has arrived! Check it out on YouTube…featuring family & friends and filmed in The Sound House Leicester. https://youtu.be/wBBB49ptMeI
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A.V.A Live Radio
A.V.A Live Radio have just interviewed The Urban State A.V.A Live Radio have just interviewed Roderick from The Urban State. To see and hear more check out their website... A.V.A Live...
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The New Single – Got Love
This track dates back to 2002 and was written by myself, amongst input from others and Stuart Wood. It was Stuart who opened the musical doors for me way back then and I will be eternally grateful to him. It’s lovely to release a track with such history but more...
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The Musicians
One of the most exciting things about this project is working The Urban State Borders to work with some really talented musicians that are new to us all. Bjorn Kleiman provides strings on one track last time but on this album he done the string arrangements on all and...
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The Producer & The Singer
Back at the controls is Matt Walters (well he never left after the last album!) and back on vocal duty is the superb Angela. We all had such a good time creatively last time it seemed silly to change things up and from my perspective as long as we are not repeating...
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New Music – New Songs – Latest Music
The Urban State: New Music - New Songs - Latest Music Catch up with the latest tracks from The Urban State here. About The Urban State The Urban State is the brainchild of Roderick Williams-Young, a Leicester-based songwriter has brought together a collective of...
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Album Design
Album Design I thought long and hard about what direction to take and the album cover features me from a photo shoot I did a little while back now. As I don’t really feature that much in the promo work for the band as I prefer working behind the scenes I felt it was...
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Jason Brownless – Designer
Being a textiles designer, I jumped at the chance to do something different and design the new album & single artwork for The Urban State. The Urban State had an open brief with just an initial black and white image for inspiration and I evolved that idea and...
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A Private Gig
On May 4th we performed a one off gig in the Sound House in Leicester. A full live band with 60 plus key guests. This was for 2 reasons really - to celebrate the completion of the new album and to film the gig with key tracks from Introducing Angela and 4 new tracks...
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Who is behind The Urban State?
Ever wondered who is behind The Urban State? Founder and writer - Roderick Williams-Young - The Urban State...
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How Do You Choose A Single?
Sometimes you have a favourite song that you just feel “that must be a single!” but it may be that it does not reflect the feel of the album as good as it may be so you have to think quite hard about what grabs the listener first off and showcases all the hard work...
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Writing New Songs
Knowing the feel of the songs that I was re-visiting I set about writing complimentary songs but the process just does not work like that! Now that the sessions are complete and I can take an over view I’d say this album is very balanced with some real up-tempo...
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Gig Photos from Saskia Allen
Saskia Allen is currently studying photography and art at Loughborough college and was given the opportunity to attend The Urban State gig to take photos. Saskia's focus was to capture natural shots of people enjoying themselves... she was not disappointed. The...
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A new album just after 8 months?!
When we finished recording Introducing Angela last year we had 2 songs that we didn’t include because they didn’t fit with the overall sound and feel of the album. So I thought let’s do an EP in the new year with one new song. So I got writing. At the same time I...
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New single is on it’s way!
The Urban State have been busy in the studio and we wanted to let our fans know a new single is on it's way! More to come soon. The Urban State
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The Urban State Go Back To The Studio!
So we are signing off for a few months as we get back to work in the studio finishing our next album which is slated for a June release. The lead single will be launched at our first live gig in 5 years in Leicester May 4! We have big plans for this album with a film...
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The Love I’ve Been Praying For
So we have decided at TUS HQ to release a final cut from our album Introducing Angela for two reasons. One Valentines Day is fast approaching and the track is a perfect track for that occasion and most importantly because its a cracker and one of my favourites from...
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Unsigned band – The Urban State
About The Urban State The Urban State is the brainchild of Roderick (R-Jay) Williams, a Leicester-based songwriter has brought together a collective of performers and artists to create music and art that celebrate the power of many, showcasing and challenging the...
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Our Third Single – D.N.A
I can’t believe that we are about to release our third single from the album - things are going so fast! We always wanted his track as a single release from the moment we laid down the first vocals. Though at that time the track was a lot more clubby than now and it’s...
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The Urban State, Releases New Single “DNA”
Funky Pop Collective, The Urban State, will release their new single “DNA” on the 5th December 2017 The Urban State have proven without a shadow of a doubt that pure funky-pop brilliance really does run through their veins! DNA - will be released on the 5th...
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About Roderick from The Urban State
Name: Roderick Service to the State: Singer, songwriter, founder Manor: Leicester Born: Accra, Ghana Classics: Amerie – 1 Thing, Basement Jaxx – Jump and Shout (Stanton Warriors remix), Kylie – Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (OH yeah) Right now: Beyonce – End of Time,...
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The Urban State New Single Release – 27th October 2017
Infectiously catchy pop collective, The Urban State, are ready to fill the dance floor once again, with yet another great offering from their latest album, Introducing Angela. “Now That You’re Gone” is the second release from the album, and is in keeping with...
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3rd album release from Funky, Pop, Disco collective, The Urban State
October sees the 3rd album release from Funky, Pop, Disco collective, The Urban State The Urban State are poised to release their 3rd Album in late 2017. With a nod to all things funky, pop and disco, “Introducing Angela” is an upbeat funky ride for the senses....
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Now That You’re Gone
The Urban State New Single Release - 27th October 2017 This track which has gone on to be our second single was recorded mid session and was always an up beat number dealing with the regret of being hasty when it comes to affairs of the heart. The grass is not always...
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Just how personal are the lyrics?
When people find out I am a song writer they often ask two questions- what comes first, the music or the lyrics and are the lyrics about you? In answer to the first question with me it really depends. Sometimes I get a melody that I put words to or some times it's...
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BBC Music Introducing
Thank you to BBC Music Introducing On Saturday 14th October a very intimate album launch party was held which had been planned in for quite a number of weeks. Most amazingly it coincided with the debut radio airplay of our next single Now That Your Gone and we could...
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The Urban State – Meet the musicians
Meet the musicians behind the "Electronic Pop Collective" The Urban State is the brainchild of Roderick (R-Jay) Williams, a Leicester-based songwriter has brought together a collective of performers and artists to create music and art that celebrate the power of many,...
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BBC Music Introducing – Saturday 14th October 2017
The Urban State are on BBC Music Introducing tonight from 8pm with Dean Jackson Dean will be playing - Now That You're Gone. Tune in to the show on any of the...
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BBC Music Introducing playing The Urban State
We’ve just been told that Let’s Dance by The Urban State will be playing on BBC Music Introducing tomorrow night Saturday 14th October 2017. We are so pleased to be picked by BBC Music Introducing to play our latest track - Let's Dance on Saturday night. The track...
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BBC Music Introducing are listening to The Urban State!
We are being listen to by BBC Music Introducing. So please keep listening to BBC Radio to see if you hear Let’s Dance being played or one of our other tracks! If you do hear one of our tracks being played please let us know. Thanks, Roderick...
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Funky, Pop, Disco Collective Release New Single – Lets Dance
PRESS RELEASE Funky, pop and disco collective, The Urban State have announced their first single release for some time. Lets Dance - an upbeat track with plenty of funk, looks set to put The Urban State firmly back on the map. One of the earliest songs recorded for...
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Choosing The Singles
So what song do you chose and why? Well its not an easy thing at all. The first single needed to be strong and catchy but in our case should reflect the general sound of the album so you can listen to it and understand what the project has been about. With this...
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Our new album
Over the last 2 years we have been working away on our new album. It's been a long process but one of pure joy. The very first song we recorded was called Dance Like You Do and it was the first session with Angela and in many ways a test. It had an electro Kylie feel...
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The latest from the studio
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Welcome to our new website
The Urban State have just launched their new website and we hope you like it! The Urban State is the brainchild of R. Jay, an East London-based songwriter has brought together a collective of performers and artists to create music and art that celebrate the power of...
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