STAY ALERT - KLASHNEKOFF and TTP ft. K9

Kings of the City - Darkness feat. Klashnekoff (video & free download)

One of several live hip-hop bands who have sprung up over the last couple of years, Kings of the City drop a new video. Klashnekoff drops in to drop the third verse on the track. The moody guitar-based track is matched with catchy hook. Not completely sure about the vampire flex in the video though...



The track is also available to download for free from the group's bandcamp page, and while you're there, there are a few other free bits and pieces that are worth checking out as well.

LOWKEY FT. KLASHNEKOFF - BLOOD, SWEAT & TEARS (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

Lowkey is back with a banger from the highly anticipated Soundtrack to the Struggle. Produced by Nutty P and featurimg Klashnekoff.
Video by Global Faction

Klashnekoff - Brand New Day - Produced by DJ Whoo Kid and Red Spyda

Klashnekoff killin this whoo kid beat,i saw online that some "fans" werent happy when they heard this was gonna happen but no-one can deny the results,this track is a monster.
Stream it right here and become a fan here

Bonafide Issue 04 UK Special - Out Now!

Check out Bonafide's latest issue, it's a UK special so y'all should be into it. It features my interviews with the one and only Ghengis aka Cappo. Order your copy here.

What's Worth Hearing Today? Part 1 (free downloads and reviews)

Check these things out:

'Genic Riddim' ft. Skamma & Joe Blow - Stagga - very heavy, dubstep-ish, stripped back, bare and banging.

'Close Reminder' (clean) - Wio-K - beautiful sunshine music from a guy who understands quality control.

'My Estate' ft. Stat Quo - Jaycee Payaso - more sunny production from Sermstyle, raps from the Shady soldier and skilled tones from Jaycee - the next Akon? Maybe. Taken from his mixtape 'Sing City' hosted by DJ Rockstar DevonDJ(Bumsquad), featuring Vado (UN/Dipset), Lil Chuckee, (Young Money), Yung Berg (Epic) + more, with exclusive production from Sermstyle Wiz Khalifa & Young Buck. Mixtape coming August 8th. 'Honour Amongst Thieves' featuring Vado ain't bad either.

Hmmm, more summer vibes - 'Party Tonight' ft. Jean Grae - Dres (Black Sheep). Buy some more Dres from Black Sheep material here and trust, it's worth it. These old guys still got it!

If you've still not picked up Klashnekoff's 'Back To The Sagas' then here's something to whet your appetite: 'Somebody Tell Me' featuring Wretch 32 and K9. It's a thoughtful and soulful track with strong contributions from each MC - still love Wretch.

You may not have heard of Cookbook and Uno Mas (I had) but they've got a song with Evidence of Dilated Peoples (one of my favourite Hip Hop groups) called 'When You Rock and Roll' and it's pretty dope. I'd say it's not Evidence's strongest performance (but he's made it hard for himself with some of his past raps) but Cook and Uno both come very correct so check it. It's taken from their album 'C & U Music Factory' which can be picked up on itunes.

Dels has a single out on Big Dada and it's pretty mental - as you'd expect of a Big Dada release. Dirty electronica backs up this UK MC's figurative and imaginative rhymes - it's hot and it's called 'Shapeshift' and it's produced by Joe Goddard of Hot Chip. Buy it now, innit.

'Back To The Sagas' - Klashnekoff (review)

As far as I'm concerned ‘Back To The Sagas’ doesn’t have its own ‘It’s Murda’ - let’s just clear that up before we begin this review. It’s all too easy for fans to force artists to live in the shadow of their greatest work but this shouldn’t be.

The fact is, Klashekoff has created a superior album which runs circles around most of the UK’s Hip Hop output. It’s his lyrical propensity that does it – Klash is a gifted MC possessing each gift needed for success: passion, delivery, lyricality… I could go on. Klash’s words are easy to tune into and because of this listening to any track is an entertaining thing.

Perhaps the track many Klash fans wanted to hear was the one which explains certain things that happened in the last few years – ‘Back To The Sagas Intro’, wisely Klash does this then gets on with things. ‘Tek Time’, ‘Music Game’, ‘Klash Anthem’ and the leaked ‘Paper Up’ all stand out although it’s much better to see this album as a whole; it’s more like one long track just with different rhythms, hooks, melodies and tempos.

‘Back To The Sagas’ is available now as a download and the CD will be out later on this month.

'Back To The Sagas' - Klashnekoff (Preview)

Head over to Juno to hear a fair chunk of Klashnekoff's new album 'Back To The Sagas'. Each of the 15 tracks has a two minute preview so you can get a pretty good idea of whether or not you want to invest in this (you will want to).

On 'Back To The Saga (intro)' Klash lays bare the goings on surrounding his last album 'Lionheart: Tussle With The Beast' (which, 3 years ago on 13th March was the first review I wrote on Certified Banger). Hopefully he'll be happy with this release, as I've already said, I'm sure his fans will be.

He's also been up early this morning spreading links to this and a new track that he only made yesterday. I'm not sure of the title of the track but it appears to feature K9 and Ric and it's over a really chilled beat. Download it for yourself now.

'Kill 'Em Wit The Flow' ft. Klashnekoff & P-Money - Skandal

'Paper Up' - Klashnekoff

Brand new Klashnekoff! Big beat!

Klashnekoff's 'Back To The Sagas' To Be Released in April

Amazon.co.uk and Play.com both have this eagerly-awaited UK Hip Hop album up for pre-order with the release date of April 12th (on Amazon). Play.com have a tracklist, although I guess this is porbably subject to some change. Anyway, it seems the album features alot of Skriblah (who stuck by Klash after the Terra Firma fallout a couple of years back), D.Ablo (who featured on Kyza's 'S.O.S.' recently), Wretch 32, Smasher, The Thirst and K9. I would love it if this is going to be as classic as some of the tracks that made up 'The Sagas...'.

Intro
Forever more (feat D.ABLO)
Piano (Feat THE THIRST)
Keep It Moving (Feat D.ABLO)
Hands Up (feat SMASHER amnd SKRIBLAH)
Skit
Ric O Chet K Lash Nek Off (Feat D.ABLO)
Tek Time (Feat SKRIBLAH and CAPITO)
Come Soon
Paper Up
Reppin Hard (Feat SKRIBLAH)
Raw (Feat CAPITO)
Cold World
Son Of Niya Pt. 2 (Feat K9)
Show Me The Way (Feat SKRIBLAH)
Get It Too
Feal Kuti (Feat SKRIBLAH and DIAM RUFF)
Somebody Tell Me (Feat WRETCH 32 and SMASHER)

DJ IQ's UK Hip Hop Evolution Mix (free download)

DJ IQ was invited onto the BBC to do a UK Hip Hop mix to document the evolution of our scene. After asking for requests on Twitter IQ came up with around three quarters of an hour's worth of top notch UK Hip Hop. It was on the radio. Now we've got a rip of it for you to download so you can listen to it any time you want.

The tracklist is as such:

Malcolm McLaren - 'Buffalo Gals (Instrumental)'
HiJack - 'Hold No Hostage'
Silver Bullet - '20 Seconds To Comply'
SL Troopers - 'Movement'
Demon Boyz - 'Vibez'
London Posse - 'Money Mad'
DJ Pogo, Monie Love, Mc Mello'O' - 'Juss Badd'
Lewis Parker - 'Walk In the sky'
Blak Twang - 'Dettwork South East'
Roots Manuva - 'Juggle Tings Propa'
Skitz Feat. Rodney P & Skinny Man - 'Twilight of the gods'
Mark B & Blade - 'The Unknown'
Taskforce - 'Intro'
Jehst Feat. Asaviour - 'People Under The Weather'
Klashnekoff - 'Murder'
Roots Manuva - 'Witness (1 Hope)'
Dizzee Rascal - 'Fix Up Look Sharp'
Kashmere - 'Do The Numbers'
DJ IQ Feat. Allstar Mc's - '8 Bars of Fire (Pt.2)'

Klashnekoff To Drop Free Mixtape!

Klashnekoff, on Twitter, just now: "jus made 1 sick tune for my mix tape 'P.O.P' free give away ting I'm gonna drop this 1 this wk".

'P.O.P' - very similar to 'S.O.S.', the name of Kyza's new mixtape. Is there still beef? What might 'P.O.P.' stand for? Whatever, I'm looking forward to hearing some new Klash material and you can rest assured you'll be able to find the download (both the single track and the mixtape) here when he drops it.

Go here for his swanky myspace which also has handy links to his blog, facebook and his twitter!

Klash Is Back! And On The Blog!

The latest rapper to start blogging is none other than Klashnekoff and he's got new for you over at http://www.wattheblogclart.blogspot.com/.

Here's some knowledge: "the album was meant to come out last year"... "most of it was recorded from last year, but the studio got robbed"... "Smasher began rebuilding the beats from scratch (big up Smash Man m.b.k) and since then it’s been nothing but back and forth beef wid the management, label, and people in the game who owe me money"... "the album is gonna be called Back to the Sagas"... "the album's about 4 weeks away from being completed and mixed now that the issues have been ironed out with the label"...

Visit the link to read his whole post! Welcome back!

Original Version of Klashnekoff's 'Murda'

For those who aren't following Harry Love on Twitter, check this little gem he just dropped on there as a world exclusive: A clip of the original version of Klashnekoff's 'Murda'. To be honest, the final track is better for the beat change (new beat still by Harry Love) but it's interesting to hear how it once was. More of these please producers and rappers!

'Jimstrumentals' - Jimmy Green (free download) **New Link**

Rapsploitations Sessions man Jimmy Green has put this awesome mixtape together of his beats with UK Hip Hop verses from the greats - just check the image for the list of MCs. Let me assure you now before you listen in, Jimmy Green's beats are HOT, next thing he'll know is that these rappers will be calling him for beats and next thing we'll know is that his beats are on tracks and albums by said rappers.

Check out the way he totally changes the vibe of Rodney P's vocals from 'The Doggist' and how he re-flips Premo's 'It's Yours' beat! Listen as he throws in quotes from 'Dead Mans Shoes' and comedy routines about bad breath. Get this for yourself and if you're an MC get in touch. If you're a producer - watch out! Click for tracklisting.

Here's a new link that includes DPF's verse:

DJ Step One - New Blog

DJ Step One (no I'd not heard of him before either) has just joined the geeky world of Hip Hop blogging at his nicely titled 'Only Built For Zshare Links' site.

He's basically posting up a load of material that no other blogs have ever posted and in doing so is providing a valuable back catalogue of 90s Hip Hop radio shows and the like.

The thing most relevant to this blog is his own 'UK Bubblers' mix which is "a selection of some of [his] favourite UK tunes. Mostly they're from 2001 -2005." It features tracks from all the big boys: Lewis Parker, Rodney P, Roots Manuva, SkinnyMan, Klashnekoff, TY, Fallacy and loads more.

Another thing he's just posted is again, some of his own work. It's a mashup/refix of the Ultramagnetic MCs' 'Poppa Large' and Ronny Jordan’s ‘So What’. It's a jazzy banger!

'The KHZ Project' - JC (free download)

If you like your Hip Hop music to cause you to screw your face up and stamp your feet and if you like your Rap to be hard and gully then you really need to get your ears clamped onto JC's latest project 'The KHZ Project'.

Coming straight outta South Yorks, Sheffield to be precise, JC is the guy who produced most of the massively underrated 'Bringin' It Back' album by Steel City residents Hoodz Underground.

This project features MCs more than sympathetic to JC's crushing sound - they take the mic and truly mangle it. R.C., Nicky Taurus, Vendetta, Tef, LKC, Menace, Karizma and Joe Kobi are names you may not know but you're sure to have heard of (if you're into UKHH) of SonnyJim, Kosyne, Shade1, Yogi, Skandal, Kyza and Klashnekoff - all lend verses.

I keep saying this (free downloads are just getting and better) but this is unbelievably good to say it's free. You'd be a proper idiot to leave this one here, or even to leave it in your itunes - you need to burn it to CD or stick it on your ipod and prioritise 'The KHZ Project'. Awesome.

Download it here

On The Radar Artist Profile: Safron

Name: Safron

Age: 19

From: Somerset, Southwest England

Track on ‘On The Radar’: Nightbreed Remix

Tell us the story behind the track: Well I was sat in my room chilling to some Bob Marley, when I suddenly heard this sick, one bar sample, I had to have it. Loaded it up into the pads and the rest is history really. I wasn't originally planning for it to be a remix, But while searching for some cuts, playing acapellas over it, Nightbreed was one of them and I thought it sounded heavy, so I just left it on there.

Record label: Unsigned

Who you roll with: Big shout out to the fam, and anyone I've worked with over the past few years. Big up J-Styles, Tommy T, Ralph, Shum, Bean, Marco, Jonny, Ayo. Shout out to Megamouth, Livewire, the whole DTTS crew and everyone keeping it real up north, Shouts to Student Of Battle in the states. Big up to Hi-Rolla, Raab Orwin, Abstract, and anyone else putting in the work and still making real music

Favourite album: Tough, tough question. Although It may sound like a bit of a cliche answer, honestly, I have to say Nas, 'Illmatic'. The beats on that album are what made me want to start producing in the first place, its an album I, my friends, and I'm sure many of you have grown up with. I don't really feel it needs much of a reason, It's 'Illmatic'.

Describe your style in three words: I like to produce lots of styles of hip hop, but for the majority of my beats I'd have to say - Experimental, Clean and Deep? I dunno, I try to make music that represents how I feel at the time

Past/Present/Future projects: I'm currently in a gap year between college and uni, So at the moment I'm just trying to develop my techniques as much as possible, So I have basically just been banging out beats on a daily basis. I've yet to release any 'official' work, so that's also something I'm planning on doing in the next year, putting together my first instrumental album. Watch this space.

www.myspace.com/safronproductions

'Certified Banger Presents On The Radar' - VA (free download)

Certified Banger, a blog (almost) dedicated to the art of Hip Hop in the UK proudly presents this 21 track compilation of some up-and-coming artists and their music. Taking in many different angles of UK Hip Hop 'On The Radar' attempts to bring some new music to your ears, all for the princely sum of nothing.

It features never heard befores, heard before but hard to get hold ofs and tracks already available on the respective artists own pieces of work. With 21 tracks, you're bound to find something you like, and for free, you can go much wrong by downloading it and giving it at least one virtual spin.

This compilation should appeal to Hip Hop fans and people of other persuasions alike, so if you fall into one of those categories (and I think you do), you should right click, left click, save target as with the quickness.

Once you have and you've heard it, be sure to keep coming back here for more features on, and free downloads from the artists involved. Check the 'comments' section in the song tags for the artists website addresses and give them a shout. Drop me a line at certifiedbanger@gmail.com and let them know how you feel about this (wonderful) release.

Download it now! (alternate link) - WinRAR files

Download a ZIP file

Tracklisting:

1. Queens English - Mind The Rap (produced by Skinnista aka Nu Balance)
2. Safron - Nightbreed remix ft. Kyza, Jehst & Klashnekoff
3. emceeKillah - The Guns of Britain (produced by Zoutr)
4. B'Tol & Jagos - Finish This (Rassclat Rappers) ft. Da Herbalis of FDB
5. JVF Clique - Those Dudes (produced by Pappa Doc)
6. Spee 69 - Lemonade (produced by Jay Large)
7. Grimlok - Magic (produced by Shears)
8. Revilo - Mr. No Names
9. TLG - Let Me Be ft. Reggiimental, Ras Supa, Biggaman,S.C, Joe Gutta & Rukus
10. Skillit - Talk of the Town (produced by Cable)
11. Conman - Streets Unsafe (freestyle)
12. Loudmouth - Real Talk (produced by Loudmouth)
13. Manny Moscow - You Can't Tempt Me ft. Shepherd
14. Size8 - Watchin Me (freestyle)
15. Skandal - Venom (produced by Chemo)
16. Truth - Been a Long Time (produced by Prolifik)
17. Late - The Villain Man (freestyle)
18. Antmysta - Taste of Ink (produced by Shadowville)
19. Beit Nun - The Music (produced by Illskilz)
20. Reps - Spit ft. Jid Sames (produced by OSTR)
Bonus Track: Uncle Dicky - Neighbourhood Star remix ft. Witchdoctor Wise

A big thanks goes to all the artists and label peeps who contributed to this, without you it couldn't be done - hope it's all helpful promo for you!

If you are an artist or PR or whoever and want your tracks on the next one, start emailing me!