3 CDs or Vinyls for a Tenner!

Some news from the DTTS camp:

For a limited time only, buy any 3 CDs or Vinyl Records from The Dark City Store for just £10 shipped worldwide! Just add the first 2 items you want to the cart and state the name of the 3rd item you want in the notes field at checkout, simple as that!

(The offer excludes Chief Wigz 'Never Speak Ill Of The Dead Vol 1 as only 2 copies remain)

http://www.thedarkcityblog.com/2010/05/any-3-cds-or-vinyl-records-for-10.html
http://www.dtts.bigcartel.com/

also last few White Tee's with Orange Paisley WY logo now only £5 shipped! All sizes but SMALL in VERY limited numbers...http://www.dtts.bigcartel.com/product/pre-order-orange-paisley-on-white-wy-t-shirt-limited-to-50

This offer includes the No Pretense album 'Music & Mouthwords' (which features Cage and Prince Po), the self titled Chief Wigz LP, the orange Chief Wigz 'Sunday Service' 12" and the No Pretense 7" green vinyl 'Self Harmonic' (click on each title to read my reviews). It also includes the brand new Knew Jeru'slum LP 'Jerus and Gentiles' which I can't recommend enough - keep 'em peeled for a review here soon!

As if that's not enough, free up your diary for this:

'Changes (An Open Letter To David Cameron)' - Dan Bull (video & free download))

Download it for free here.

'The Deepest Cellar' ft. Matt Henshaw - Reggiimental (review)

Reggiimental has been featured regularly at Certified Banger and he keeps on going from strength to strength. The Birmingham MC's latest release alongside Matt Henshaw is the toppest notch in his ever-growing portfolio. It features some very shiny and on-point production (mainly on the flagship track 'The Deepest Cellar' and its Unfriendly Neighbours featuring remix) as well as a few more undergroundish, lower-fi efforts. 'Wanting More' is a fine example of a Disco/Rap track so you should check it. This is definitely Reggii coming of age and producing music that deserves to be heard. It's out now on Bandcamp so you know the drill - try before you buy bwoy.

'Chief Wigz' - Chief Wigz (review)

Those who know will recognise the relaxed but passionate, Yorkshire-tinged flow of Chief Wigz – those who don’t will soon realise that he’s something a little different.

Lyrically Chief Wigz has gone from strength to strength and on his self-titled opus a matured, measured wordsmith is on show. Whether playing on root words, penning poetry or speaking from the heart to loved ones Wigz is in no way painful on the ears – many MCs could learn a lesson by simply absorbing this material.

From the fuzzy warmth of ‘Real’ to the 90s Jazz Rap-esque ‘Movements’, the mellow but heavy ‘Write Rhymes’ to the positive electronic vibes of ‘Don’t Want Much’ this album is immaculately produced by Brutal Artistry with crackle in abundance and not a hint of anything plastic. This LP is definitely one to kick back with – the nonchalant feelings ooze from its every fibre.

Chief’s tracks with fellow 9 Livez MC Proptic prove that years of on-stage chemistry makes for great music – the two bubble and bounce off each other and their conversational style choruses just sound so cool. Other guests include Bane (of No Pretense), Spida Lee, Jack Flash, J Simple (of Jack Flash’s Groundwurq Crew) and beatboxer Megamouth.

‘Chief Wigz’ by Chief Wigz is out now on DTTS and is available to order on CD from the Dark City Store or can be downloaded digitally from places such as itunes. Get it.

emceeKilla Interview

"I think with whoever gets in power, we will still be in a war, the economy will still be down and slowly picking up, our taxes will be raised and the poor will still be hit the hardest. All views aside I would like to see Liberal Democrats get the vote just to give them a chance, what have we got to lose?"

Politically-minded MC emceeKilla featured on the very first volume of 'On The Radar'. Since then he's gone on to release his debut album 'Mind Of A Tehranist'. I was reading his blog and realised that he had a lot to say, and people with things to say get interviews:

Certified Banger: For those who haven’t heard your music; introduce yourself and describe your music:

emceeKilla: I’m emceeKilla; a rapper originally from North London but have lived in the sticks and Nottingham too over the years. My music is conscious, deep and heartfelt and focuses on the reality of social pressures and political issues and many other types of high rank buggery. I am versatile though and do like to move away from that when I can and want to.

CB: What inspires you to write and record?

eK: Everyday situations are the main thing that inspire me; anything that I feel is interesting to rap about I tend to rap about. I’m not really a materialistic person so fashion and jewellery aren’t things that inspire me to write - I write a lot more about the ups and downs of the life we lead whether it be through my eyes or another person’s. My surroundings also play a big part, I live in the city and gain a lot of inspiration from just witnessing things walking down the road but also have people in the countryside I see which again inspires me to write as things are seen from a totally different perspective there. Beats are also a great inspiration.

Read on to find out his top 5 of socio-political tracks and what he believes is happening behind closed doors in this country

Mystro & Nathan 'Flutebox' Lee on 1Xtra

'Devil's Rejects' - Baron Von Alias & MistaBreeze (video)

Weird video, oddly hypnotic actually - more madness from Baron Von Alias and MistaBreeze.

Despite The Cynicism - Don't Forget To Vote!

Download 'Election Debate Rap Battle'

'Prolusion Plus' - Delusionists (review)

Delusionists have swollen their portfolio since they released 'The Prolusion'. Now it's back; bigger and better than before - kinda like Hercules' Hydra (and if you don't know Greek mythology - bone up).

'Prolusion Plus' adds 6 tracks to the original release, omits 1 weak link and contains remixes of a couple of the original tunes (which I reviewed way back when).

Opener 'Who's That?' benefits from an alternative beat before a new banger from the boys and Jon Phonics kicks in: 'Digital Connects' is a celebration of Hip Hop's online community and with lyrics like "Oh Word? you never heard the fly chatter of a bonafide nutter on the Certified Banger?" you know you need this in your life. Love this track - salutations to all those who get mentioned beside me.

Old favourite, and the track that did a lot for them on the interweb, 'Trunk Rattle' is up next followed by 'The Low' which premièred on the 'On The Radar Vol. 5'. Kelakovski lends his signature production sound on the operatically chorused '12 Letters' - this, along with the Jon Phonics track, is a great new sound for Delusionists.

'Work' is a gloriously hazy instrumental track which updates the famous 90s Hip Hop sound and they've added the Slim Pickens produced 'The Movement' to the package. Tom Caruana comes up with a remix of 'Supa Lyrical Excursion pt. 2' which is as dope as you'd want it to be. They've also thrown in Ed Strong's minimalistic spaced-out remix of 'On The Radar' exclusive 'Parallel Worldz' (check the other remixes here).

Are Delusionists the mystery saviours of real Hip Hop from the UK? It's a very strong possibility. All in all this is a terrific new package of music, perfect for Delusionists beginners and fans alike. The download is only £4 and for a beautifully crafted CD version it's only going to set you back £6. Even better, since you read about this here, if you type in CBFAM when asked for a promotional code on the download, you'll get 25% percent off! How's that for goodness? Click here to be whisked away to the magical, mythical place where all this purchasing can happen.