Following up on one of the best headlines of 2018 regarding Tom Hardy’s retro rap album, there’s now news that the star is writing a brand new hip-hop record with the help of professional producer Sam Williams.

Yes, this really is happening apparently, with The Sun reporting on Friday (September 14th) that the 40 year old Legend and Dunkirk star is penning a collection of rap and grime tunes for a putative new album, enlisting the help of Sam Williams, a producer who has previously worked with David Bowie.

A source told the tabloid: “Tom has always had a huge passion for rapping ever since he was a young boy. In the past he's put song- writing on the backburner but just recently decided to pick things up again after building a friendship with producer Sam Williams.”

“They've been busy working on a selection of songs together for an album and it's really starting to get some steam.”

Tom HardyTom Hardy filming 'Peaky Blinders' in 2017

It follows news from earlier in 2018 that a long-lost mixtape of Hardy rapping, made 19 years ago and titled ‘Falling On Your Arse In 1999’, had surfaced and been placed on Bandcamp.

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Hardy told BBC’s Newsbeat in 2017 that he started MC’ing when he was “14 or 15” years old, and that he remembered it fondly as “an important time for me to stand on my own and do what I thought was important.”

Less than a year later, and major labels are apparently interested in snapping Hardy’s material to be recorded in a professional studio and released widely, with Warner Music one of the big beasts said to be in the running.

However, the same source added that Hardy’s slightly hesitant about plunging himself fully into this new endeavour.

“Tom's a bit tentative about releasing it for the world, but big labels including Warner have already shown an interest in picking it up, so there is real potential for it to hit the charts.”

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