At long last, some new material from Mr YG. This mixtape has been a long time coming, as he's been mentioning it, on and off, for about the last 4 years. He describes this as unreleased material, with a few tasters of things to come. Plenty of niceness on here, Time To Rearrange in particular is classic Yungun, especially for a freebie. The format is pretty original as well. Structured as an old style cassette tape, each 'side' is a distinct mix from long time collaborator Mr. Thing.
At the end, he even mentions that his long, long awaited album 'The Middle Man' is still 'coming soon'... So maybe that too will see the light of day at some point...
Yungun is back! Well, in 'feat. Yungun' form anyway... European production duo the prosoulytes hook up a funky, jazzy, piano-driven number, and YG laces it in his usual smooth style. Essa has been AWOL for far too long now, a new project from him is much needed!
Sunday 13th September: End of Summer BBQ @ Cargo Spin Doctor / Mr Thing / Excalibah / The Last Skeptik / DJ Lok / Chris Read / DJ Rags & more Friday 18th September: Tell A Friend @ Secret London Location DJ Neil Armstrong & Spin Doctor.
Friday 2nd October: The Doctor's Order @ Herbal CL Smooth & Micall Parknsun Live & Mr Thing's B-Day party.
Friday 9th October: SouBrew @ East Village Joey Negro, Kev Beadle, Mr Thing & SoulBrew residents Spin Doctor & Andy Bird.
Saturday 24th October: Hip-Hop Pub Quiz @ The 3 Kings, Clerkenwell Just like a regular pub quiz but about Hip-Hop.
Friday 30th October: The Doctor's Orders @ Fabric Shortee Blitz, Yungun & Mr Thing, Spin Doctor & DJ Lok.
Friday 6th November: The Doctor's Orders @ Herbal: Def Jam vs Motown special with DJ Semtex, Phil Asher, Spin Doctor & Rob Breezy.
Australian band (but not a band in its traditional sense, they'd have us know) Resin Dogs released their album 'More' this month. It's a Hip Hop affair featuring voices from the US, the UK and Australia – a fact that keeps each track fresh and different.
Haiku D'etat (Aceyalone, Mikah 9 and Abstract Rude) do the opening honours with 'Coming With The Sound' and they set things off on a very good foot – headnods and singalongability. Oneself MC BluRum 13 follows up with 'End Game' with a cool, calm and collected manifesto. Disco beats abound on 'Definition' (click for free download) as Mystro, Hau and Abstract Rude opine on what makes a real MC, none disappoint although UK favourite Mystro does stand out.
More quality Hip Hop follows with a trinity of tracks with more serious musings – but don't worry things are still upbeat (which I'm all for). Yungun chats about the business of life and Abstract Rude discusses how people treat money. Trendy sounding, bashmenty 'Peace & Love' (the albums first single) features Demoliton Man and is just a bit too try hard and out of place. '2 Sides' featuring JSD and MC Wrec uses the reggae influence to better effect. Yungun returns to rightfully brag about his style on 'Nasty' – gotta love this boy's rhymes. Mystro makes some great observations on 'Sex Cells' although some of Abstract Rude's rhymes are just a bit, erm, rude! The album finishes with a 10 minute long Beastie Boys style funk jam session reminiscent of 'The In Sound From Way Out'.
This album has been on rotation in the CB lair, which is fairly unusual – it's a really listenable LP and now I'll be checking for the Resin Dogs back catalogue. I'd advise you buy a copy soon! It's out now on Hydrofunk Records.
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.
"When I hear the words UK Hip Hop I can’t lie; the thought of unfinished beats, raps about rapping come to mind…"
Asaviour has been on the rise for a few years now and his forthcoming LP 'The A Loop Theory' will surely cement him a place at the top of the UK Rap pile. Here he is talking about his past, Lowlife, who he's worked with and which tracks off his new album with DJ IQ are his favourites:
Certified Banger: Yo Asaviour! You’re gearing up for a new release but before we get into that, for those who have kept their ears closed over the last 3 or 4 years, can you give us a quick history of Asaviour?
Asaviour: First appeared on Jehst’s ‘Premonitions’ EP, worked with artists like Konny Kon and Strategy, featured on a track by Jehst called ‘People Under the Weather’, worked with a number of artists like Yungun, Kyza, DJ IQ, Dubbledge, Micall Parkinsun, Verb T, Ghost etc. Dropped an EP called ‘Savoir Faire’ on Lowlife Records. Then released the single ‘Money in the Bank’ REMIX backed with ‘The Homecoming’ on YNR Productions, followed that up with a debut LP on Lowlife records called ‘The Borrowed Ladder’, released a series of mixtapes called ‘Play 2 Win’ and I’m about to drop a new album alongside DJ IQ called ‘The A Loop Theory’. There’s a few different records in between all that but… you get the idea!
CB: So, what is it that you’ve got coming soon? Tell us a bit about that:
If it's beats you're looking for then look no further than Evil Ed's 'Edstrumentals Vol. 1'. It's 20 tracks of Evil Ed's best knon instrumentals used by Yungun ('The Art of Celebration' and 'Nico Suave'), Task Force ('The Tournament'), Tommy Evans ('Alright/OK'), The Colony ('Back Up'), Asaviour ('Field Of Dreams') Conspicuous & Shameless ('Write A Song For Me'), Ricochet aka Ric Branson ('A New Way of Thinking' & 'No Pressure') and Jehst ('Alien').
As well as known beats there are a few bonus beats thrown in for good measure and the liner notes include Ed's thoughts and recollections of each beat.
If they're good enough for those MCs then surely they're good enough for you to spit to/juggle with on your CDJs/kick back with when no words are required. Its also pretty chilling background music for Hip Hop Heads to remax to. This is probably a release that will appeal more to existing fans of Evil Ed but any beatfreak should be feeling his classic production style.
Get yersen a copy from Suspect Packages or somewhere like that. If you've not already got it, buy 'The Get Together' too, the album he did with Conspicuous not a few months back.
Ozzie producer type M-Phazes has cooked up some right bangers on his barby. His album 'Grindin'' is a selection of already big but newly remixed tunes.
Featured are tracks from worldwide artists like Scribe, Blak Twang, Ayak, Mystro, Phat Kat and O.C. The album is currently available on Beatsource but as yet, I don't think it's available anywhere else.
I've already posted his remix of Foreign Beggar's 'Hold On' but here are two more tracks for you so you can check out his steez:
Baby J has rapidly become well known in Hip Hop, mainly in the UK but as a result of working with Wu-Affiliate Shabazz the Disciple, Brand Nubian and Dead Prez and others there are some in the US who will also know his name. His knack for sampling already insanely catchy songs and matching them up to MC's and singers who are actually decent has seen him score a few successes. 'Young, Gifted & Black' featuring Dynamite MC got loads of Radio 1 airplay, he produced a good few tracks on Skinnyman's album debut 'Council Estate of Mind' and entirely produced Blade's last ever album 'Guerrilla Tactics'. He has had two great 'Mixtapes' (F.T.P. & FTP2: Fight The Power) that are really more like production albums featuring the likes of Fallacy, Mr Ti2bs, Rukus, Yogi, Ty, Klashnekoff, A-Alikes and Moorish Delta 7 as well as others.
Now, Baby J has 'Fix The Problem: FTP The Mixtape pt.2' which slightly confused me because I didn't even know the first one existed (it does, it's called 'For The People: FTP The Mixtape' and if anyone wants to send me a copy, be my guest). Anyway, 'Fix The Problem' seems to follow along the lines of the first mixtape in that it's got hundreds of tracks, each one a verse from a different rapper.
Actually it's got 'MORE THEN 60 OF THE WORLDS BEST BLACK MUSIC ARTISTS, PERFORMING OVER BABY J'S GREATEST INSTRUMENTALS' - and this is where I take my only issue with this CD. In that one sentence, emblazoned (well not quite, but it's there) across the front there are 2 errors that annoy me and something else that just nags me. First, 'MORE THEN' - it's 'More than' and secondly, 'WORLDS BEST' when it should have an apostrophe - 'World's best'. Now I know that sounds fussy but if you want to be professional, spelling and grammar is important. The third thing that gets my goat is 'BLACK MUSIC ARTISTS'. I don't like that as an umbrella name for Hip Hop, Grime, R'n'B and whatever else it encompasses, especially when half of the folks on here are white! Gripe done.
It's a great collection of guest verses (there are 65 tracks/verses) from the likes of Million Dan, Jehst, Shameless, Brotherman, Asher D, Young Max, Yungun and Dynamite MC and obviously, a flippin' truckload more. Consider this a starter course for Baby J's 'Baby Food' album, scheduled to drop in October.
The big single off 'Baby Food' is 'Lies', a simplistic track that features Asher D (going by his real name - Ashley Walters - trying to shake off the old So Solid/jailed for gun crime associations?). For you Americans, he's the guy who played one of Marcus's mates in 50 Cent's 'Get Rich or Try Dying' film (y'know he got shot and was in hospital and that). It also features UK R'nB 'sensation' Nathan. It's a really catchy,insanely radio friendly, modern sounding piece of slick UK Hip Hop; it's destined to attract teenyboppers/radio listeners and props to Baby for that! It's got a nice, light summery vibe to it too; it'll be unoffensive to your ears as you sit back in your hammock this August.
Check back here in the autumn/fall for a review of 'Baby Food'. As a fan who has actually bought his previous work (Gasp! People buy music?!), I'm really looking forward to it especially since I know it's going to feature guests old and new: Million Dan and Farma G (of Task Force) being my most anticipated collaborations!
First post in May, a month that has proven itself to be beautiful (weather-wise) so far, so I'm in that sunny mood despite the fact my car is intent on terminating its own existence and that someone I had a lot of love for passed away (Rest With God Baby Ali).
A couple of tunes that I happen to have been sent at just the right time really fit my feelings at this time. Analogic & Rashid Hadee have a long player named 'Serenade For The Moment' coming and if this pair of tracks are anything to go then it's going to be a real solid record. I'm quite a fan of tracks reminiscing of good times, they remind me of summer and make me feel good (even though the memories are usually nothing like mine!) and 'Memory Lane' is a tip top Hip Hop example. 'Explode' has a slightly sadder feel to it, a close your eyes and lie back type vibe, it's a thing of some beauty.
Hero have another nice track too featuring Sage, it's called 'What We Gonna Do'. It's got a funky but lazy summertime kick to it and is basically a track about a special lady. Defo one for the discerning BBQ head.
Last month's HHC cover CD was a BBE Records sampler mixed and scratched by Mr Thing (ex of Scratch Perverts) and where Yungun is involved, I'm down. He features on 2 tracks, one by Aaron Jerome ('The Bump') and one by Katalyst ('All You've Got'). Both are awesome and I really should buy both albums. The other main artist on there is J-Live and I also really need to get into him some more too!
On Friday night I had the pleasure of witnessing Roots Manuva perform live at The Faversham in Leeds. He was as brilliant as you'd expect him to be; kicking off with 'Join The Dots' and pretending to end on 'Witness' (WOW!) but returning to stage to perform the always lovely 'Dreamy Days'. On Monday I happened across the Limited Edition CD of 'Awfully Deep' (I only had it on vinyl). It has an extra CD of live tracks, demos and versions played by a band and it was only £3 at HMV. The £3 for the whole album plus the extra tracks is great value but the tracks are priceless, they really are something special - I might just have to upload the whole thing.
Another CD I picked up recently and again for a bargain price was 'Mark B Presents Delta The Lostralian'. It's flippin' brill. I can't recommend it enough. Before I listened to this I was never sure whether or not I liked Australian rappers but now I know I do. Delta is a real pro at making intelligent rhymes accesible and entertaining. 'One Less Gun' features Skinnyman and is his anti-gun track (no surprises there) and cleverly utilises a perfect sample in the chorus. 'Mayday (This is It)' kicks off with some of my favourite lyrics for a long time - 'Let's start Mark B, this beat is raw//Seems more like a B-Boy theme for Jaws//Freestyle, 3 miles from the beach or shore//Can't swim, one fin was all you saw'. Awesome. Murs features elsewhere on the album.
Drastick’s rigorous training for the Colosseum has been in the form of self promoted street level mixtapes and it’s truly made him battle ready. As any Romanophile will know, Gladiators were allowed to use whichever weapons suited their fighting style and armed with an arsenal of original beats and rhymes that go 5 or 6 syllables deep Drastick is prepared to defeat all opponents.
Chemo produced opener, ‘Give it Up’, is a straight banger, Drastick lays down his manifesto in no uncertain terms. Jaw-dropping rhymes that sound like everyday speech get his message across with ease. This skill isn’t confined to one track - every verse on each song has been expertly written and is impeccably delivered. As well as being extremely lyrical, Drastick knows how to tell a story. ‘The Cycle’ is an innovative track about a son repeating his father’s mistakes.
With a total of six songs on here about women, Drastick’s softer side is on display too. Two of those songs are moral tales intended to provide a warning against the life choices some girls make but the others are essentially love songs and 4 love songs (no matter how good) on a rap album is too many.
Drastick’s raps “I have the passion to succeed in this game”, it may just be true. This album is amazingly listenable and nearly every track is pure heat. I hope he wins the rap emperor’s favour.
Certified Bangers: ‘Give it Up’, ‘Baby ft. Yungun’ and ‘Stuck’
Top Lyric: “The truth is we’re never movin’//We’re just going round in circles talkin’ about revolution” (from ‘I don’t Wanna See’)
Silent Soundz is a label whose output is so consistent that I just wish I owned their entire back catalogue. The label is the home to some of the UK's best Hip Hop artists and the mix CD that came free with HHC a few months ago really proves my point. This is a CD to put on replay. It features tracks from all of their big album releases (past and upcoming) including Verb T and The Last Skeptic's 'Broken Window' (an amazing album, watch this space), Verb T and Harry Love's 'Bring It Back To Basics' (Yes, he's a busy man), Blind Alphabetz' 'Luvolution' (a good album) and Yungun and Mr Thing's 'Grown Man Business'. It also features loads of the tracks that were released as part of other projects. The CD really is a very generous slice of what Silent Soundz are all about; they're all about GREAT Hip Hop.
I'm not going to just wax lyrical about this CD as a whole, anyone could make that up. Here are my favourites:
All tracks on here by Brotherman are purely delightful but one grabbed me so hard that it stands out a mile; 'Who Knows What'. When the first 4 bars of a rappers verse are this awesome, I have no option but to be their captive audience, these are honestly some of the best lyrics I've ever heard. Who knew rapping about C-sections could be this lyrical and this beautiful; they are a perfectly painted picture: "I was born Ceasarian section, this first thing I saw in this world was a weapon//A blade cutting a line of light in the heaven, severing the life line on which I was depending". Enough said.
First Man produce some bangers for sure but the one that caught my attention was the track with Ayak. It's not common for me to feel a track with a female MC this much and all credit to the label for making this happen. Ayak is an MC and singer who also featured on Hi-Tek's 'Hi-Teknology 2', if that doesn't give you some inkling of her prowess then check this track: 'How I Feel'.
Blind Alphabetz put out a quality album last year and one of the tracks from that is the Kyza featuring, Beethoven sampling 'Concrete Lands'; a righteous and urgent yet chilled out piece of thoughtful Hip Hop.
Yungun was one of the first UK MC's who really grabbed my attention after I borrowed his album from Lancaster library (whoever was in charge of their CD library is a legend). A snippet of 'Spitfire Pt.2' from 'Grown Man Business' is included here and Mr. Thing's beat is a joy to behold, not to mention Yungun's oh so lovely flow. 'Jackin' 4 Breaks' is also just perfectly grin inducing. Yungun nimbly skitters over big tracks by Jay-Z, Biggie, Snoop, Nas and others, switching up his flow to mimick (but in a very original way) the MC's who first rocked the beats.
As I've already mentioned, Verb T and The Last Skeptic's album is brilliant and one of my favourite tracks from that release is 'March' which features Sway and Kyza. Verb's lyrics here are excellent and the two guests bring their own thing to the table; it's one of those collaborations when you can actually tell there are 3 different and original rappers on the mic.
Keep watching this label if you are a serious Hip Hop fan and acquaint yourself with their history too, what better way to do this than to listen to the excellent mix CD?
>>Mission: To make people aware of some current UK Hip Hop artists through words and audio downloads<<
>>Commence Mission<<
Name: Skrein From: North London Record Label: Dented Worked with: Foreign Beggars, DJ IQ, Shamless, Plan B, Verb T, Dubbledge & Stig of the Dump... Other info: Has a mixtape out called 'The Eat Up' and is currently touring with Verb T & The Last Skeptik. Sample Track:Where It All Started
Name: Young Kof From: Liverpool Record Label: URBeatz Worked with: Nutty P, Logic, Lowkey, Alex Blood, Instinct, Karizma... Other info: You can go to his myspace and download a whole mixtape for free. Sample Track:80's Baby (Calvin Harris Remix)
Name: Yungun
From: North London
Record Label: Silent Soundz
Worked with: Mr. Thing, Harry Love, LG & Lopez, Doc Brown, Tommy Evans, Jehst, Asaviour, Kyza...
Other info: Has an smooth relaxed voice, is very funny, also goes by the name of 'Essa' and is bringing out a new album called 'The Middle Man'.
Worked with: The Last Skeptik, Harry Love, ED O.G, Sway, Kyza, Jehst, Syanide, Kashmere, Karizma, Yungun, Ramson Badbonez...
Other info: Currently going by the name of Verb T100 (alongside Kashmere who called himself Kashmachine) and has a whole album with Harry Love and another with The Last Skeptik
Any Hip Hop head dwelling in Great Britain worth his/her salt will be a fan of UK Hip Hop. I am a great believer in what is sometimes termed as Brit-Hop and I honestly prefer it over the majority of the products of our American counterparts.
Now let me counteract some common retorts to that statement before they are said; I don’t like ALL UK Hip Hop, I like what I deem to be GOOD UK Hip Hop. Let’s put it this way, just because it’s on Channel U it doesn’t mean I like it. I could get on Channel U if I wanted, they show anything.
In this post I aim to provide a sample of some excellent Hip Hop that may have passed by even the most avid fan’s radar. There are obvious acts that would be recognisable by many, even those who have just scraped the surface of UK talent; Skinnyman, Blade, Klashnekoff, Sway, The Streets, Roots Manuva, Jehst, Rodney P, Blak Twang and erm… Goldie Lookin’ Chain. Getting hold of UKHH is hard - simply because it’s so much more expensive to buy.
Chester Copperpot – Moneygrip ft. Braintax – Not 100% British as I believe Copperpot resides in Roxbury, US, but featuring Leeds born label owner/vinyl presser/MC/UKHH legend. Braintax spits his usual easy on the ear and witty lyrics over this funky beat.
JTWR – Backlash ft. MCD – There may be a reason why this guy went unnoticed but I do like him. His moniker stands simply for John the White Rapper, cool eh? No. However, this track featuring one of the UK’s stalwarts is just goodness.
aRRO - 1066 – Yes! A medieval knight rapping about rescuing princess and killing folk who rape and pillage in his village. This is concept rap at it’s best and although I’ve heard a couple of other similarly themed tracks since I think this was first. The chorus even contains battle sounds! This Geordie born, one time leeds resident would be the first round my round table should I ever create one.
Inertia – Hostile Takeover ft. Analyst, Gentleman & Trotter – Rap from red rose country, Lancaster to be precise. I met Inertia whilst at uni and I don’t just like his music cos I know him. Check it out, he’s talented on the mac and the mike. Listen carefully to analyst’s verse, this guy is funny and has a quick mind; his freestyles are possibly better than his written lyrics. Check the website.
Zionnoiz – And What? – Look, their name spells the same both ways; clever! This London collective are all professing Christians and both versions of this are heavy, party orientated slices of rap.
DJ Pager – The Product ft. Ironbridge – A tuba loop and a scratched chorus with witty simile and metaphor laden raps from Ironbridge, a duo from somewhere in this country. Jibberish is probably the fastest rapper in the UK - fact.
SK Crew – I wreck the Mic – First time I saw the SK Crew live supporting Adam F they did a track along the lines of ‘If you go down to the clubs today’, based on…you guessed it, Teddy Bears Picnic. Then in their DJ/freestyle set after they rapped about me. Then I discovered Stoopid Ill was actually the cousin of a girl on my course, so I invited them to perform at the hip hop night I had. Again, great, hilarious freestylers and always with tongue firmly in cheek. Go to theirspace.
Mr. Spleen – 1st Class Delivery – As far as I can work out, Spleen is the producer of this Andrew Lloyd Webber raiding, fast paced banger. Various MC’s and a DJ provide verses and scratches. Some Yorkshire rappers here too.
I guess the main reasons I like UK Hip Hop are it's fun, fresh and closer to home.
At long last, some new material from Mr YG. This mixtape has been a long time coming, as he's been mentioning it, on and off, for about the last 4 years. He describes this as unreleased material, with a few tasters of things to come. Plenty of niceness on here, Time To Rearrange in particular is classic Yungun, especially for a freebie. The format is pretty original as well. Structured as an old style cassette tape, each 'side' is a distinct mix from long time collaborator Mr. Thing. 
Rapsploitations Sessions
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