'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

'Devil May Cry' - IronBraydz (review)

With legendary DJ Marley Marl getting really excited about this, ALL you fans of Hip Hop should be sitting up to listen. The 'this' I refer to is IronBraydz's debut solo LP 'Devil May Cry'.

It's fairly different in sound and style to his group Blind Alphabetz's 'Luvolution' which had a very summery, jazzy vibe to it. This release features darker, grittier production and the seriousness dial has been turned up a few notches. Religious ideas and socioeconomic concerns meld to provide subject matter perfect for fans of those who he rolls with - M9 and Cyrus Malachi, for example, who both feature on this release.

'Savin Artillery' features the mighty Guilty Simpson and Sav Killz over a suitably Detroit-ish wonky production from Proppa. 'Death Machine' utilises Lewis Parker's 'Rooftop Drama' (from his 'Sniper Beats' CD) and for that reason alone it's totally dope. The self-produced 'Feelings From The Heart' brings the dusty jazziness as Braydz reminisces about his father - a beautiful thing.

Buy it now from Suspect Packages for just £6.99.

'Needle Drop' - Endemic & Cappo (EP review)

Most hardcorest producer from the UK – probably Endemic. One of the UK’s most legendary but underrated MCs – definitely Cappo. They’ve got together to create the ‘Needle Drop EP’ on No Cure Records.

Cappo goes solo over Endemics gritty, orchestral, solid and sometimes soulful boom bap beats on 3 tracks – ‘Intro’, ‘Crumbs’ and the title track. With strictly lyrical raps Cappo proves that going in hard doesn’t mean being offensive.

‘Hacksaw’ features Cyrus Malachi, Lee Ramsey and Ironbraydz – this comes off very much like a Triple Darkness track. Cyrus Malachi also features alongside another legendary Notts MC and man of the moment Scorzayzee on ‘Eagles’ – a concrete slab of Hip Hop.

This EP is nothing new – it’s just good, reliable Hip Hop designed for playing loud and admiring. It’s out soon on No Cure Records.

'Hacksaw' ft. Cyrus Malachi & Iron Braydz - Endemic & Cappo

'Digital Revolution Vol. 2' - VA - Tricksta (free download)

On the second installment of 'Digital Revolution Tricksta has got together a great line up for his new internet-age-embracing free download. One of last years heroes M9 of Triple Darkness hosts and Ironbraydz, Stylah, Skandal, Kyza, Grit Grammar, Joker Starr, SonnyJim, 10Shott amongst others feature.

Interesting, and relieving (for me, because Tricksta is big in the game and knows what he's talking about whereas I'm guessing and hoping that I'm right) to see, a whole host of artists who I've featured on 'On The Radar' on there! These are the next men in this UK Rap thing - look out for them 'cause Tricksta says so (and for what it's worth, I do too)!

'The Digital Revolution' - VA - Mixed by Tricksta (free download)

Tricksta is no stick in the mud. His latest venture is a free, download only series of UK Runnings mixtapes entitled 'The Digital Revolution'. He sprung this one on me on Wednesday night and I had no idea he was doing it. Now it's available for you to download.

The first installment is hosted by LATE and features plenty of Certified Banger favourites such as Kyza, Supar Novar, Jyager, Dabbla, Miss Tofelees, TB, JC, Skandal and more!

He also assures me volume 2 will be out very soon and that it is hosted by M9.

Get your free download now!

For those of you into US rap you need to check out LATE's other er, latest mixtape 'Undergound Exposure Volume 6'. It features JT Tha Bigga Figga, K-Rino, Rapper K, Jai Boo and loads more. It's also a free download, here's the link.