LordWillin feat WordSmiff (Free Download)

The latest installment from LordWillin with his "The Ski Mask Monk Chronicles" series.

Loads of bangers dropping in the build up to his First Son Records official video and project.

Get LordWillin's Ill Roc Street Album on itunes now

Download LordWillin feat. WordSmiff here

'Heavyweights of the Hip Hop Division' - T.S.K. & VA (free download)

Check out Thetford's T.S.K. as he reps a cross-section of the UK Hip Hop scene covering artists as diverse as Wretch 32 and Tom Caruana. Also featured are battlers Arkaic and Kulez, producer Jon Phonics, Thetford heads Franko Fraize, Lyrical T and Red Eye, UK legend Wordsmith as well as AC and Terra, 'On The Radar' artist Reain, T Leevz, Wazlee, Jabba Tha Kut, Forbidden Tongues and Mr. Drastick - see I told you it was diverse.

This is available at Datpiff so go download, burn a CD and support the cause.

'The Digital Revolution Vol. 3' - VA - Tricksta (free download)

Tricksta's back with his third volume of 'The Digital Revolution'. This time it's hosted by the beast from the east, TB aka Tuberculosis and it features a whole host of Hip Hop from the UK streets. TB, Manny Moscow, Skandal, LATE, Tricksta, Jay Full Stop V, Stylah, Yogi, Suparnovar, Wordsmith, Mr Drastick, Lowkey, London Zoo, S.A.S, Streetz, Kyza Smirnoff, The Last Skeptik, Tricksta, Show N Prove and Mr. Ti2bs all feature.

This is a great chance to get your hands on tracks like The Last Skeptik and Lowkey's latest BNP protest track 'We Don't Want Them' and Mr. Drastick's latest mixtape taster 'So Many Devils'. The track selection once again reflects the new age of UK music that is still Hip Hop.

Tea Sea Records CDs Available!

Big ups to Tom Caruana, UK producer and boss of Tea Sea Records. I've just got home to a fat pack of CDs from him, 7 in all, so thought I'd big them up a little (if that isn't a contradiction?).

He's sent me, in no particular order, 'The Rough Versions: Bootleg remixes by Tom Caruana' (which features tracks from D.I.T.C, J-Live and Busta), 'Tom Caruana Instrumentals Vol. Two' (which features beats from Dr. Syntax's 'Off The Radar' and Wordsmith's 'The Roadman Showcase'), 'Boiler Room Collective: The Mixtape' (with tracks from Dr. Syntax, Wordsmith, SkinnyMan, Genesis Elijah, Supar Novar and loads more), Longusto's 'Back In The Bad Books', 'Tom Caruana Instrumentals Volume 3', 'Boiler Room Collective: The Album' and his own 'Welcome Aboard'.

All of these CDs are available to you from Suspect Packages (just click on the CD names above) for the very reasonable price of £4.99 or less! There are also other bits and pieces available over at SP from TC's stable. I'll be working my way through these and keeping you updated on my progress!

More Forthcoming Reviews

As usual I've got a never ending pile of CDs and a hard drive full of mp3 awaiting review. Here's what I'll be covering soon, hopefully before each of their release dates:

JVF Clique - 'Alternative Income' (album)
Big Narstie - 'The Big Man Returns' (mixtape)
Elemental & Tom Caruana - 'Rebel Without Applause' (album)
Dialect - 'D.Day' (album due out April)
Delegates of Culture - 'Bad Guys' (album due out on 27th April)
DJ Vadim - 'Hidden Treaure' (single due out 27th April)
Wordsmith & I.N.C. The Poet - 'Take a Walk in My Shoes' (single due out 27th April)
The Score - 'Opus' (album due out 27th April)
Yung - 'Unconditional Hustle' (mixtape due out 4th May)
Mr. Lif - 'I Heard it Today' (album due out 4th May
Homecut - 'No Freedom Without Sacrifice' (album due out 18th May)
YNR Records - 'Feeding Time At The Zoo' (album due out 25th May)
Wordsmith & I.N.C. The Poet - 'A Baltimore Martini' (album due out 25th May)
Choong Family - 'Baptism of Fire' (pre-album due out 25th May)
The Early Man - 'Alpha' (single due out 25th May)
Resin Dogs - 'More' (album out 1st June)
DJ Vadim - 'U Can't Lurn Imaginashun' (album due out 8th June)

There are probably more too. I'll try get these done for y'all!

'Flying the Flag' - VA - Tricksta & Lunatrix (album review)

When Tricksta and Lunatrix are ‘Flying the Flag’ you’re guaranteed that your tastes will be catered for. Whether you like Hip Hop flavoured Grime, Boom Bap flavoured Hip Hop or Rap flavoured Ragga it’s all here – providing its origins are in the UK. This does mean that probably not every track will be to your liking – some of the Grime tracks I still can’t get with, mainly based on the daft lyrics (Spitta raps about Slimline PS’s and DS Lites).

On the Hip Hop side of things there are loads of artists on here to make this more than worth a purchase: Wordsmith, Kashmere, Jehst, 10Shott, Sir Smurf Lil, Ramson Badbonez, Dr. Syntax, SkinnyMan… I could go on but instead, go check the tracklist. Some of the tracks are little dated but it’s still great to have them alongside newer and more exclusive material.

This is a significant release – it’s the first time Grime and Hip Hop have been mixed together on one release - a good sign of some unity between the two scenes. The music from both sides is of high quality and Tricksta and Lunatrix do nice job of mixing it and making it flow.

‘Flying the Flag’ is out now on RGS Entertainment on 2xCD or mp3 download. UK Record Shop have it in stock now.

Producers - Tea Sea Records Remix Opportunity!

It's that time again when I big up the virtual treasure trove that resides in Tom Caruana's (tea) sea chest. If you pop over to his Tea Sea Records website and click on the button that says 'remixs' (their spelling not mine) then you will be able to download about a million acapellas from some of your favourite UK rapperinos including Wordsmith, Koaste, Dr Syntax, DPF and Genesis Elijah.

All you have to do is join the site, which will get you a whole load more than a bunch of acapellas (so even if you're not a beatsmith, do it). If you make a remix and send it to Tom, he'll feature it on the page and he'll consider it for inclusion in an album of remixes he's planning for later in the year. Can't say fairer than that can you?

Also keep your ears peeled for his new album with Elemental called 'Rebel Without Applause' which will be out soon.

'N.O.V.A.' - Supar Novar (free download)

The F.L.I.P. fam have got a new blog called Explosive Muzik. Home to artists Wordsmith, Supar Novar, Big Ben and Ragz its full of inside exlcusive such as these three tracks from Supar Novar:

'N.O.V.A.' is taken from Supar's forthcoming mixtape ‘N To Tha IZZO’ which will be 100% over Jay-Z instrumentals and will be available as a free download.

The other track is Supar Novar's version of Lil' Wayne's 'My Life' which is taken from Tricksta's latest and newest venture 'The Digital Revolution', which is a free to download mixtape hosted this time by LATE.

'Sweet 16' is taken from his mixtape with Tricksta 'Wordz From The Frontline' but there is a reggae version on Youtube and there will be an album version on his forthcoming album.

'Spread The Word Vol. 1' - VA (free download)

The boys over at the Can't Stop Fanatics blog have put together their first compilation download.

Unlike my On The Radar series they have made the world their oyster and featured artists from all over this beautiful planet.

On the UK side of things it features an exclusive from Dan Bull, Bradford's own Dr. Crobe, Legs MC, Pat D and Lady Paradox, Wordsmith, Teej and Tom Caruana. It also features artists from USA, France, Poland, Brazil, Japan, Germany and Sweden.

Oh, and if you're on here and you didn't consent, don't shoot the messenger!

01 - Intro (beat by kuroioto) (assembled by nofrillz)
02 - Paradox - Life Of An Artist (feat. Jeremiah Bonds)
03 - Subway - Not Your Average
04 - Marcelo D2 - Ela Disse
05 - Funkoars - Let You Go
06 - Dan Bull - Doorways (Exclusive)
07 - Dr Crobe-No Money Broke Life
08 - Move.Meant - Myself In You (feat Mike James) (Michitaro from Cradle Orchestra Remix)
09 - Michita x Haiiro - Way Back When
10 - Legs MC - Obsessed With The Theatre feat. Crespo of Monkey Sons
11 - Cradle Orchestra - Food For Thoughts (feat. O.C.)
12 - Funky DL - Jazz
13 - Nefew - Because I Can (Exclusive)
14 - Dialect Music - Parano Star (Atom Remix)
15 - K. Sparks & Pajozo - Posers
16 - O.S.T.R. - Dlaczego Mamy Dac
17 - Robot Koch vs. Cerebral Vortex - Vortex Cookies (Flako Omegaman Remix)
18 - Scott Burns - Shift Gear (feat. Rass & Sereck)
19 - Pat D - Moments (feat. Lady Paradox & Lauren Jade)
20 - Bliss N Eso - Lonely Streets (feat. Debaser)
21 - Dela - Veuillez Veiller Sur Vos Reves (feat. Les Nubians & John Banzai)
22 - Wordsmith - Beautiful Life
23 - Eloquence & Truths - The Exit
24 - Syntax - Make It (feat. Tactic One)(prod. Mules)
25 - Small Professor, C.L. Smooth & Skyzoo - Perfect Timing (Small Pro Remix)
26 - Teej & Tom Caruana - The Divinity Of Femininity
27 - Daz-ini - Avec Le Love On Donne Ca (feat. Dernier Pro)
28 - Moon Blazers - Feels Like
29 - Outro (beat by ghost) (assembled by nofrillz)
30 - Bonus Track - Taybot - We Homie's Now (Exclusive)

New Suspect Packages Show with Chester P!

New Suspect Packages show with Chester P as guest! It features Wordsmith, Salvo with Kashmere and Chester P, Asaviour, Ghost, Jyager, Two Fingers, Bradford's Dr. Crobe and loads more as usual. It also finishes off with a new beats section.

Download the radio show here!

Also, read Disorda's post about illegal downloading and uploading and check out what some had to say about me below in the comments! (It's not all good, I mean why would anyone care what I thought?! It's a good point.)

'In Pursuit of Harmony' - Wordsmith (album review)

Nearly 4 years has passed since Wordsmith dropped his debut LP ‘The Roadman Showcase’. Now he’s back with follow up set ‘In Pursuit of Harmony’, an album sure to make a mark on UK Hip Hop this year.

Wordsmith takes a mature approach to many issues – the ins and outs of weed smoking (‘The Cro Debate’), being a father (‘Son’), gun crime (‘Never Would’ve Thought’), the ups and downs of life (‘Carry On’ and ‘Beautiful Life’) and today’s youth (‘They Don’t Seem To Care’). When he’s not proving he could teach an MP a thing or two he’s straight illing out with his partners in rhyme – check ‘Lok Dat’, ‘Runaway’ and the ridiculously tense ‘Leave It Alone’ for a few examples of that.

With perfectly crafted rhymes Wordsmith proves he’s not a one trick pony – he’s a well rounded artist who has fashioned an actual album, rather than a collection of songs. This LP really deserves one of those track by track breakdowns; every one is of such high quality.

With a list of producers like this (Apa-Tight, Vee Kay, Chemo, Beat Butcha, Ido, Tom Caruana and Show n Prove) I don’t have to tell you that the beats are proper, heavy Hip Hop with an emphasis on the uplifting. The fact that there’s not a skip-able track on here speaks volumes – you’ll wanna listen right through.

Mic duties are shared with Foreign Beggars, Dr. Syntax, Dubbledge, Micall Parknsun, Skribblah, Diamond Ruff, Big Ben, Genesis Elijah, Supar Novar and Ahmos –all of whom put in sterling work.

‘In Pursuit of Harmony’ is out now and is available from Suspect Packages as a download or on CD. Support the music, pay the pounds, don’t download! Check the snippets in my last post to get a taste of greatness!

Wordsmith Album Snippets!

Come check the whole Wordsmith album in 30 second snippets - I tried it, it's a really good way to get a feel for this album. It's a really good way to get a feel for the fact this album is awesome and you should buy it!

1) THEY DON’T SEEM TO CARE* – produced by Beat Butcha
2) NOMAD – produced by Chemo
3) THE CRO DEBATE* –produced by Chemo
4) STICKS & STONES (feat. Foreign Beggars) –produced by Ido
5) RUNAWAY – produced by Ido
6) SLIP & SLIDE *(feat. Big Ben) – produced by Caruana
7) BEAUTIFUL LIFE –produced by Ido
8) LOK DAT (feat. Dubbledge & Micall Parknsun) – produced by Vee Kay
9) THE BAD GUY –produced by Show n Prove
10) THREE STRIKES (feat. Skribblah & Diamond Ruff) – produced by Apa-Tight
11) WAIT AND SEE – produced by Chemo
12) LEAVE IT ALONE (feat. Dr Syntax) – produced by Ido
13) COMMON CAUSE (feat. Genesis Elijah) –produced by Show n Prove
14) CARRY ON – produced by Apatight
15) NEVER WOULD’VE THOUGHT* (Feat. Ben & Novar) produced by Apa-Tight
16) SON – produced by Chemo
17) OUTRO –produced by Caruana
18) THE COALITION (feat. Big Ben, Genesis Elijah, Micall Parknsun, Dubbledge, Ahmos, SuparNovar, Diamond Ruff) – produced by Show n Prove

Worsmith Album Launch Party

Wordsmith Interview

"Violence and weapons are a whole separate story... We as public entertainers have an opportunity and responsibility to discuss these problems!"

UK Hip Hop legend Wordsmith is a week away from the release of his second album 'In Pursuit of Harmony'. 18 tracks of pure goodness that will easily be one of the UK albums of the year can be yours in 7 days. In the meantime, check out what the man himself has to say about it and some other things (including his US namesake, his new label, the album's guestlist and his social involvement):

Certified Banger: Yo Wordsmith! What’ve you been up to for the last couple of years?

Wordsmith: To be honest, just working hard on my grind, trying to make ends meet and get some music out there.

CB: So your album is going to be out soon, tell us some more about that – a lot of people are anticipating it. What can we expect?

W: The official release date is March 2nd. It's been a long time in the making but on the whole its 18 of my favorite tracks. All in all it’s a solid piece of work and big steps have been made since my earlier releases. S**t’s Banging. Buy It!

Click here to read on and check back here on Wednesday for an exclusive sneak preview of the album.

The Clash of the Wordsmiths

Things is about to get complicated! UK heads will know of Wordsmith, the man who dropped the sought after 'The Roadman Showcase' and is about to drop his new album 'In Pursuit of Harmony'.

Some folk who keep their ear to the virtual streets of the internet will know about another Wordsmith, the Baltimore rapper who is constantly on his grind, dropping mixtape after mixtape, track after track and doing show after show at the same time as keeping us bloggers well up-to-date with the happs.

Well Wordsmith (US) is coming to the UK: "For fans of Wordsmith across the Atlantic we have another collaboration album for you. Baltimore artist, Wordsmith, and Dutch artist I.N.C. The Poet, signed a digital distribution deal on 9/19/08 with Dented Records in the United Kingdom to release their album "A Baltimore Martini" and Word is currently working on a 3 year P&D Deal with the major UK distributor Pickwick group for the album/other projects as well. This unique concept album is Hip-Hop in its truest form and with it we hope to cement our artist Wordsmith as an international superstar."

That's Dented Records who currently distribute a sizeable proportion of the hottest UK talent such as DJ IQ, Dr. Syntax, Dubbledge, Foreign Beggars, Kashmere, Kyza, Skrein, Stig, Verb T and more!

If you want to get up on the US Wordsmith then download some mixtapes here.

'The Bury All' - Mr Loop (album review)

Mr Loop’s ‘The Bury All’ is the second release from Sweatbox Sounds, a label shaping up to be one that only brings quality to the crowded table of UK Hip Hop. So far their less-is-more approach suits me to a T; 40 minutes is a perfect length for an album. You still get 11 tracks of goodness wrapped in great artwork so let’s explore it more:

Mr Loop is the producer and he’s brought along a truck load of guest artists for the ride; no less than 15 (including Wordsmith and Mudmowth) if my counting skills are up to scratch. A few appear multiple times – Zoo Mark and Slippa of RapSkallions and Yosh all hold down multiple mic duties.

Mr Loop’s production is wide-ranging, his sample pool is wide and deep – he steals from medieval England’s lute-strumming bards, slices up whole orchestras, mugs jazz bassists for their dusty low frequency goodness, sneaks easy listening breaks from under relaxed musicians noses and swipes 60’s pop and all for his own gain – and yours. This CD really is a treat – the sounds are so diverse and so obviously the produce of a crate digging whiz kid.

The MCs offer a largely cheery body of work and things get rowdy on both parts of ‘Satisfaction’ as 13 MCs vie for mic time. Yosh, Slippa and Zoo Mark explore both sides of drinking to excess on ‘Out on the Razz’ and ‘the Middle Path’ and B’Tol’s Eva Lazarus assisted ‘Try Again’ is sure to allow you to sink into its gently ebbing waters. ‘The Infamous Baron Spittswell’ is made to have a video – although Yosh paints a more than vivid picture of this maverick character, this is a lyrical imagination at its best!

‘The Bury All’ will be out on 12th January 2009 on Sweatbox Sounds and will be available on CD (you can get one now direct from the man himself for £5) or as a digital download. Visit his myspace page for more info.

'The Audio Workout' - Vee Kay (album review)

Vee Kay’s producer album ‘The Audio Workout’ is a perfectly cut gem. At 11 tracks and 34-ish minutes long it’s short but incredibly sweet. Vee Kay himself said “I don't listen to music to bring myself down, I listen to it to try to cheer myself up” – this album makes it evident he makes music to please himself; whilst in no way soft it’s cheery stuff.

The chosen samples are funky, soulful and uplifting. The productions don’t just fall back behind the voices of the MCs – they have their own presence (an area where producer albums often fall). It’s the pure musicality of this album that’s made it one of my most played in the last month or so.

The guests are a well selected mix of known names and the skilled up-and-comers. ‘Lok Dat Remix’ is just that, a version of Vee Kay’s track from Wordsmith’s forthcoming LP (Vee Kay has other beats on there too) and it features Dubbledge and Micall Parknsun – in my world that’s star studded! Stig and Syntax rear their double-time heads on ‘Goldwings’ and Dead Residents own ‘Bogey Homecide’ – a hilarious ode to flicking snot. Wordsmith features a second time on the tuneful ‘Bring Me Down’ – it gets me in sing-a-long mode!

Dialekt, Lowercase, Yosh and Cariz provide the other vocals, holding their own on the bangers courtesy of Vee Kay. Of the 7 MC-fronted tracks here there’s no stinker, it smells just rosy.

‘Third Child’ is an awesome demo of skill – a Hip Hop show tune if I ever heard one. The ‘Intro’ and ‘Outro’ are also worth a listen, they bookend the album nicely making the whole affair comprehensive.

‘The Audio Workout’ is one of my favourite releases this year and it’s released digitally on November 24th on Sweatbox Sounds.

Hip Hop Producers - Vee Kay interview

After producer Vee Kay sent me a copy of his forthcoming album 'The Audio Workout' I had to know more. The LP is excellent, full of good vibe boom bap rap and a few little surprises too. We hooked up an interview to let you know exactly what he's all about:

Certified Banger: Yo Vee Kay! How are you today?

VK: All good thanks fella.

CB: Let’s get things cracking, I’ll switch things round a bit: Tell us about your latest piece of work: ‘The Audio Workout’.

VK: Well, the record is a long time coming, it's been 4 years since my last solo release, in that time I've been busy, but I decided that it was time to have my name at the front again, rather than in the liner notes, haha. It's a collection of songs that have been recorded at my Studio over the last year or so, well, the best ones anyway, so there's a variety of tracks on there, from the classic sounding hip hop to the more up tempo double time type tracks. Listening back to my last release, the whole sound of it was similar to that golden age hip hop, and that was pretty much it, so this one's tracked my maturity in production. There's still the classic hip hop sound on it, but I've peppered it with other bits and pieces too.

CB: Your instrumentals, certainly on this album, are top quality – I’m a big fan. What do you aim for when making a beat? What sound do you look for?

VK: Cheers mate, appreciate it! Without a doubt, the most important thing when making a beat is that it catches you straight away, ‘cause no one's gonna want to use a track that sounds s**t or doesn't grab you. The drums gotta bang too, I'm a complete sucker for big drums, I listened to nothing but boom bap for years, so I was immediately grabbed by big heavy drums and breaks. It's also gotta sound as original as possible, because when sampling, you're already taking something that’s been finished, so now you've got to try to mould it into something completely different, so that the first thing someone hears isn't the track you've sampled, but the track you made, using bits from other songs.

CB: What inspired you to make your first ever beat? Can you remember it? Tell us more!

VK: I started off as a rapper, and I worked with another Producer, who had been in the business for years, so we went ahead and made a demo, this was way back when, probably about 10 or so years ago...anyway, didn't work out, so I started learning how to make beats. I went to college to do a course, but it was s**t, and I left after about 9 months after showing the tutor how to MIDI up a sampler, I'd been going to studios for a few years to record, plus I read every magazine and book I could, so I just learnt by listening and watching. From there I just started collecting bits of kit, trying to find out what worked best for me, and the end result is the Sweatbox Studio. So I guess, back onto track, my inspiration was just so that I could have something to rap over, that didn't come off the latest Ja Rule 12"

I think I made my first ever beat on a cracked copy of some weird sequencer that Roland made, it came with a sound canvas, and it was so s**t, there was a massive latency problem and the sounds were your horrible generic MIDI sounds. I had an Akai S20, but really couldn't figure out how to use it for ages, I remember making my first 2 bar loop on it, but not figuring out how to save it, so I left that bad boy on for about a week straight, until I got bored and wanted to make another loop, so I just deleted it.

CB: So you sample? What, in a typical digging session, do you go for? What makes for good Hip Hop?

Click here to read more

'Why Oh Why?' ft. Yosh - Vee Kay (free download)

Vee Kay sent a copy of his new producer album my way today. I've listened to the whole thing and it's awesome. I'll be giving it a proper review soon but as a taster he's letting you all have a track for free.

The track features up and comer Yosh and is called 'Why Oh Why?'. Check it out.

Vee Kay has recently been at work on Wordsmith's forthcoming LP, which he assures me will be out soon. 'The Audio Workout' features Wordsmith, Dubbledge, Micall Parknsun, Stig of the Dump, Dr. Syntax and the Dead Residents amongst others. It's going to be available in a month's time on download only.

According to the press release "Vee Kay has been diligently working away in the background for a hot minute now. Having self-financed his first sold-out EP 'Mindless', he went on to put out the much sought-after 'Myster-Vee Tour' in 2004. He followed that up by producing the debut album for UK Hip Hop veterans, Beefeaterz, eating up the boards for their 'Badge of Honour' album and working with international acts, Arsonists, Dead Residents and Josh Martinez. This time, it’s all about Vee, and 'The Audio Workout' is his first full-length LP and he is hungry to finally push his sound to the forefront of the UK hip-hop scene."

'They Don't Seem To Care' - Wordsmith (12" review)

Wordsmith (the one from the UK) has an album ('In Pursuit of Harmony') out soon on the Def Ethics label. Meanwhile he has given us an excellent EP in the ‘They Don’t Seem To Care’ 12”.

The lead track ‘They Don’t Seem To Care’, produced by Beat Butcha, probes serious issues and laments a desensitized world where childhood is a thing of the past. Wordsmith takes a responsible line on children who grow up too quickly as a result of the examples they are set. Deep and important stuff.

A little more on the light hearted side, but continuing on a conscientious tip Wordsmith discusses the pros and cons of smoking weed over a funky Chemo production. ‘Slip And Slide’ produced by Caruana manages to ease the listener out of a serious state of mind as Wordsmith and Big Ben spit rhymes about having a positive frame of mind despite life’s ills. In short it’s a ‘Friday night, forget work and have a good time’ track.

‘Never Would Have Thought’, a typical Apa-tight production (he’s really carving himself a sound) featuring Supar Novar and Big Ben brings things back to reality. The three MC’s discuss gun crime and focus on the responsibility of the government and the manufacturers and suppliers of the offending weapons.

Overall, and something I haven’t mentioned yet, Wordsmith is a very accomplished lyricist. He resorts to no nursery type rhymes, each lyric is carefully crafted, on point and hater-proof and coupled with the top notch production no-one could possibly say a bad word. This is a thoughtfully put together piece of work, one which you should buy with your pounds!

It’s out now and can be gotten at all the usual outlets.