Lewis Parker and John Robinson Live Shows

No matter where you are, you need to make it across to Leeds on 14th of August for this. Apart from the UK legend Lewis Parker being in full effect with John Robinson (and if you've not checked out the 'International Summers' LP yet, then do) you get a whole host of top notch artists from the thriving West Yorkshire Hip Hop scene including DMC 2010 set from Mike L, live shows from J Bravo, Defenders of Style, Verbal Contact and Brutal Artistry. There will be live Art from The Beat Inspection Scribblers and the whole thing will be hosted with much energy by Mr Ris of Alphabetix. DJ Prolific with Kockee K and Sir Snaff (How We Do) will also be holding things down. Tickets are only £5 from www.ticketweb.co.uk, Crash Records, Jumbo Records or The Elbow Room.

The tour also takes in Ipswich on 11th of August, London on the 12th and Milton Keynes on the 13th.

30 Tonne Slug's New Website

Check out 30 Tonne Slug's new website. Having been lauded by myself, Disorda at Suspect Packages and now Basement Sessions and Hip Hop Hype Dog it's about time that you sat up and took notice. The label's two groups are Verbal Contact and Alphabetix - two quality crews from Leeds. If you missed them, then why not check out the reviews of their EPs - Verbal Contact's 'Literary Vices' and Alphabetix's 'Alphabetix Anonymous'. Once you've read them and realised how good they are head over to http://www.30tonneslug.com/ to buy the releases in their own shop and to read more about them. Quality Hip Hop.

If you want to hear both crews head to head then check out the track 'Slug Life' on the Headspace Mixtape from Hip Hop Hype Dog and Basement Sessions.

'Literary Vices' - Verbal Contact (EP review)

Don’t know about life in Leeds? Well, Matter and Prys are willing to be your tour guides for half an hour. Their debut EP is entitled ‘Literary Vices’ - a clue to the type of intelligence behind the lyrics of Verbal Contact.

Opener ‘First Impressions’ pulls no punches as the MCs introduce themselves over a seriously heavy beat. ‘Wasteland’ is a day in the life of and ‘Tourist Information’ follows – this is Leeds. ‘Likad 2nite’ features Mr. Ris (of label mates Alphabetix) and details the highs and lows of a typical night out (as does ‘Misadventures’) whereas ‘David’s Struggle’ takes a more serious tack – a cautionary tale about the life and times of a drug dealer.

Most of the EP is on a real boom bap Hip Hop tip but the final track ‘Mind The Gap’ showcases their doubletime flows and features Grime MC Devalish aka Dialect (who recently featured on Westwood TV alongside Asher Don) – proof that this crew aren’t close minded and do whatever it take to make good music.

‘Literary Vices’ is out on 30 Tonne Slug on 30th November.

Masta Ace & Edo G Live in Leeds!

Get across to this - not to be missed! Masta Ace and Edo G live in Leeds with support from Verbal Contact (who're making this their 'Literary Vices' EP launch), Alphabetix, J Bravo, Defenders of Style plus DJs Sinical an Prolific. If you get there at 9pm there will be breakdancing battles too - and all for £5 - bargain!

The Basement Sessions Podcast

Check out the Basement Sessions podcast featuring these most excellent tracks and artists:

1. J.Rawls & John Robinson f. Rashad - She's So Brilliant
2. Son Of A Queen - King
3. Krate Krusaders f. Kasha & Logic - Stronger
4. Percy Filth f. J.Sands & K.Skills - That's Why
5. Amanda Diva - Heart Strings (UK EXCLUSIVE!)
6. Sonny Jim - CrazyIllMadRowdy (Produced by Jon Phonics)
7. Wio-K f. Ty & Serocee - An Ting
8. Alphabetix - What's The Name
9. d. C. & Pennbannekar - The Come Up (UK EXCLUSIVE!)
10. Marco Polo & Torae f. Masta Ace & Sean Price - Hold Up
11. Akrobatik - AK B Nimble
12. Roots Manuva - 2 Much 2 Soon
13. Big Cakes - Soul
14. yU - Marvelous (O.G. Mix) (Produced by Kev Brown)
15. Amor Jones - Nothing Good Comes Easy
16. Art Of Fresh - Come N' Get Some
17. Kyza - Wild Orchid
18. Sleaze - Success
19. Nova Infinite - All Of My Life (UK EXCLUSIVE!)
20. IV f. Junclassic - Please Don't Go Away (UK EXCLUSIVE!)
21. FS Green - Rusty Beat

Check out The Basement Sessions on their website and on Sensei FM and stay tuned for more podcastage with the first official CErtified Banger podcast.

'Alphabetix Anonymous' - Alphabetix (EP review)

3 MC s and 1 DJ – a good combination. When one of the MCs is a female in possession of a very unique style (Angel S), one is a classic UK Hip Hop MC with a Yorkshire twist (MrRis) and the other possesses the nicest of timbres and bouncy flows (ABD) you’ve got the ingredients for some very original Hip Hop. Sir+ provides the welcome cuts.

‘Alphabetix Anonymous’ is half an hour of high energy rap (see ‘Bounce’ and ‘You Can’t Control’ for top examples of that), thinky but funky Hip Hop (the dope West Coast-ish ‘Time Waits For No Man’ and the reggae-tinged ‘Children’), real life stuff (‘Long Day’ and ‘I Know Something You Don’t Know’) and lyrical, metaphorical bombs (the southern gospel-ish ‘Asphyxiation’).

‘Alphabetix Anonymous’ by Alphabetix is available for pre-order over at Suspect Packages (on CD) or can be gotten at 30 Tonne Slug or Crackhouse Global as a mp3 download and is being released by their own 30 Tonne Slug records - heartily recommended. Get yourself to the launch event in Leeds which features appearances by Alphabetix and The IRS on Sunday 11th October.

Certified Banger Podcast Pilot (free download)

Here is the first podcast from Certified Banger! The aim was to give you a taster of some forthcoming UK Hip Hop all in the space of an hour - hopefully I succeeded. Let me know your thoughts and ideas for the official #1 episode. Go here http://feeds.feedburner.com/certifiedbangerpodcast to subscribe in your itunes and other similar applications. If you just want to download the mp3 then right click here.

Tracklisting:

Famslam ft. Task Force Family - Skuff & Inja
Back Home - Yosh
Mic Check - One Wish & Stereotype
You Lot - Freyed Knot
In Due Time - J-Treole
Jamaica (Original) - Jimmy Screech
They Dont Know (Original) - J Simple
Sunday Service - Chief Wigz
Higher Higher - Juice Aleem
A.L.P.H.A. - Alphabetix
The London Convention ft. Funky DL, MCD, Skinnyman, Blak Twang, ESP, TY, Phoebe One, Kwes - London Allstars
Family Name - Bombadeal
It's Not Relevant - LDZ
Do Wah - Tactical Thinking
It's So Different Here - Tom Caruana
Sunnicide -Skuff & Inja

Certified Banger Podcast Pilot by Certifiedbanger on Mixcloud

Suspect Packages Radio Show September

More Suspect Packages news - I'm currently locked onto Disorda's latest podcast - September's Suspect Packages Radio Show. It features newness from Tactical Thinking, Contact Play, Phoenix Da Icefire, Krate Krusaders, Crucifix, The Thunderclaps, Shameless, Wizard, Unfriendly Neighbours, JVF Clique, Foreign Beggars, Yosh, Danny Spice, Rapskallions, Alphabetix, Joe Blow, Orphans Of Cush, Redbeard, SonnyJim, Delusionists, MCM, Sigher The Gutter Snype and Monkey Sons. It's great to know that Disorda is constantly ahead of the game and that he'll always be supporting up-and-coming artists to the maximum.

Anyway, visit his blog for the tracklisting, visit his mail order site to buy some of these records and visit Sensei to download and listen to the show.

'Wasteland'/'Tourist Information' - Verbal Contact (free downloads)

Check out these two dope tracks from new Leeds crew Verbal Contact. The group consists of three core members of the Northern Hostility crew - MCs Matter and Prys are backed up by beats and cuts by Mike D of Subterrania Studios (who produced Instance's 'Can't Get Down' on 'On The Radar Volume 4').

If you've never visited Leeds then take a listen to the vivid pictures being painted here to find out what's beneath the surface of the northern city. 'Wasteland' is more of a straight-up UK Hip Hop joint, whereas 'Tourist Information' features double-time flows and a stunning sung chorus by Chenai and brutally truthful lyrics such as "The filthy pigeons sit and drink the twisted city in, with s**t on their wings but I think they understand more than the citizens" - probably.

Grab these two downloads and sit tight for news on their forthcoming debut release, which also includes spots by Dialect (Senseless Records) and Mr Ris of Alphabetix.

Verbal Contact - 'Wasteland'
Verbal Contact - 'Tourist Information' ft. Chenai

Golden Mic Challenge Winner ABD Interview

ABD has been on the West Yorkshire Hip Hop scene for a while now and dues are beginning to be paid. Without fail he rocks the show and gets the crowd involved and partying without resorting to nonesense. He has dope flows, a very likeable timbre and he's taken time to answer some questions for me:

Certified Banger: Yo ABD, congratulations on the Golden Mic Challenge win! Before we get into this, let us know about yourself, give us all the info we need:

ABD: Ok I’m 23 and been rhyming since I was 14, so 9 years at some point this year. My main crew is Alphabetix, I’m also in Northern Hostility, and I usually have the odd live band side project here and there (not at the mo!) I come from York but I've been living in Leeds about 4 years. Alphabetix have our own label – 30Tonne Slug on which we plan to release our own stuff. We put out a 12” of my old crew 118SoundSystem in 2006.

• Click here to read his tips on rocking a show, his suggested reading list and his thoughts on religion

• Click here to download some free tracks by ABD and Alphabetix

ABD and Alphabetix (free downloads)

I think this may be the first example of The Stereophonics being sampled in Hip Hop: ABD's 'Maybe'. ABD, of Northern crew Alphabetix, recently won the Golden Mic Challenge (a rap competition based in Leeds which was hosted by Blade) and this track contains verses he used in the acapella round. The track is produced by 'On The Radar' artist Spee 69

You should also check the more old school sounding 'You Can Bet It's The Betix' which features all the Alphabetix MCs: ABD, I.D. and AngeleS. As individuals and as a crew they come with a different sound to most with AngeleS' female ragga raps and ABD's clear and entertaining Yorkshire flow being the key to their originality.

Check back soon for an interview with ABD.