Deadly Hunta - It's A Phenomenon (video)

Reggae artist Deadly Hunta, who has been heavily featured on Daddy Skitz releases over the last few years drops this new vid for his track over the Protection Riddim. Not the usual sort of stuff I post up here, but Deadly is repping my home town to the fullest in the video, so I had to show some love...

'Sticksman' - Skitz Coming Soon!

Scant details but enough for the salivating - May 3rd is the release date for the long-awaited Skitz album 'Sticksman'. Here's the tracklist:

1. 'Intro' ft. IYE 95 Produced by Skitz. Co-produced by The Sea

2. 'Struggla' ft. Rodney P, Kardinal Offishal, Skibbadee. Produced by Skitz. Co-produced by The Sea

3. 'Slaves' ft. Harry Shotta, Iron Braydz, Brotherman. Produced by Skitz. Co-produced by The Sea

4. 'Born Inna System' ft. Buggsy. Cuts by DJ Skully. Produced by Skitz. Co-produced by The Sea

5. 'Don’t Cry' ft. Deadly Hunta. Produced by Skitz. Co-produced by The Sea and Prashant Engine-Earz Mistry

6. 'Rumble' ft. Dynamite MC. Produced by Skitz. Co-produced by Prashant Engine-Earz Mistry.

7. 'Rebel Stand' ft. Mr Ti2bs. Cuts by DJ First Aid. Produced by Skitz. Co-produced by The Sea

8. 'Left' ft. Rodney P. Cuts by DJ Manipulate. Produced by Skitz. Co-produced by The Sea

9. 'Rainy Day Science' ft. Taskforce and Juni. Produced by Skitz. Co-produced by The Sea

10. 'Requiem of the Gods' ft. Orifice Vulgatron, Mr Ti2bs, Dynamite MC, Harry Shotta. Produced by Skitz. Co-produced by The Sea

11. 'Diamonds and Gold' ft. L Dot Man. Produced by Skitz. Co-produced by The Sea

12. 'Never' ft. Rodney P. Produced by Skitz. Co-produced by Prashant Engine-Earz Mistry

13. 'Music is my Life' ft. Darrison. Produced by Skitz. Co-produced by Prashant Engine-Earz Mistry and The Sea

14. 'Set you free' ft. Masta Ace and Wordsworth and Nathan Flutebox Lee. Produced by Skitz. Co produced by The Sea.

15. 'Plain Oats' ft. Deadly Hunta and My Sis. Produced by Skitz. Co-produced by The Sea

Free Downloads from SonnyJim & Kelakovski, Genesis Elijah, Sam Khan, JPMD, Plan B, Deadly Hunta, DPF & Yogi

Keeping things going for 2010, on a quick tip thing:

Genesis Elijah - 'Power' (produced by Beezwax)
Taken from the forthcoming 'Civil Unrest' EP from Genesis Elijah and producer Beezwax. This is only gonna be free on Bandcamp for a limited time only so get over there now!

SonnyJim - 'The Purple Patch' (produced by Kelakovski)
Look out for more music coming soon from SonnyJim in 2010 with artists such as Illmind, Marco Polo, M-Phazes, Prince Po, AG and J-Zone. Also, SonnyJim's 'Trading Standards' remix project dropping in March 2010 with exclusive remixes by Lotek Hifi, Kosyne Jon Phonics and more.

Sam Kahn - 'Fall Back'
Modern sounding but I'm feeling the lyricism. Check the video too at youtube.

JPMD - 'So Hard'
This one is a new track fresh out of the cooker for 'Know What Time Rhyme 'N' Grind Vol 2'. It features Angry, Ramboss, Grievz and Big Dange. To find out more hit up these places: www.myspace.com/jahstproduction, www.myspace.com/darealrambossneckle and www.twitter.com/jpmd_uk.

Plan B - 'Welcome To Hell'
New direction for this lad, see what you think.

Chronic Redeye - 'Stand Up' ft. Deadly Hunta, DPF & Lyrical T
Taken from 'Ruffneck Intellect Volume One' - "a mixed CD that is set to drag listeners into a realm where no amount of ice or big rims can save the weak from getting crushed under the weight of some real skills. The criteria for the ‘Ruffneck Intellect’ mix series is simple; it’s got to bump hard for the sound systems and it’s got to have depth and lyrical content that goes beyond the standard ignorance that gets peddled by many major labels today. This is real music, this is Hip-Hop and this is something fresh!"

Yogi - 'Hidden Chapter'
Dope as usual Hip Hop from the Midlands.

'Ballistic Affairs' ft. Deadly Hunta - Skinnyman (video)

Here's the animated video for the awesome Show N Prove produced track taken from the 'Food 4 Da Brain Second Serving' compilation album:

‘Food 4 Da Brain Second Serving’ - VA (album & DVD review)

If the aim of ‘Food 4 Da Brain Second Serving’ wasn’t to serve up a platter of perfectly complementing flavours then I’ll eat my hat. If that is what they set out to do then they’ve royally achieved it. The menu offers up tracks from the finest chefs on either side of the UK Hip Hop/Grime divide; in fact it tastily demonstrates the breaking down of the boundary.

With artists like Ghetto and Virus Syndicate represent Grime, rappers and producers such as Kashmere, Verb T, M9 and Jon Phonics provide the Hip Hop and MCs like Skinnyman, Klashnekoff, Mr Ti2bs and Shameless defy pigeon holing altogether.

MCD sets things off with a self-produced, firmly on the grime side, dubplate proving he has progressed and embraced newer, but rooted in older, music styles. Beat Butcha follows up with his remix of Terra Firma’s ‘Git Down’ and it’s just what you’d expect from that collaboration. Chemo then pops up as producer of Manage’s thriller ‘No One Needs To Know’ featuring LeEo. Mr Ti2bs, Virus Syndicate and Ghetto continue to provide quality platters of goodness, all challenging the listener to label it as either Grime or Hip Hop.

Skinnyman and Deadly Hunta serve one of the albums most delicious tracks – ‘Ballistic Affair’ which also comes in the form of a cool animated video on the accompanying DVD. Invisible Inc then provides a rest between courses with their ‘Invisible’ (or is it ‘Invisible Inc Theme’? It’s the same track that’s on 'Rapsploitation Sessions').

Supar Novar and Big Ben heat things up again and Jon Phonics follows with a remix of M9’s ‘Strange Fruit’ (possibly better than the album version?). Deadly Hunta brings a few more raga vibes on ‘Valley of Death’ and Foreign Beggars come with some electro-funk and Pharrell-esque vocals. Shameless, Bruza and Ghetto finish the sitting with some hard-as-nails riddims.

I can see what the guys behind this have done: they’re on a mission, a mission to blur the boundaries, to lure Hip Hop heads over to the Grime side and vice-versa. This is all about the music, and despite my review, it’s not about genre. This is, actually, what Hip Hop was – the combination of other music forms, a new way of expression that utilises the sounds around it. So whatever you’re preference, buy this and think about the message it not so subtly puts across, ask yourself: ‘Am I open minded?’ Let’s hope so.