London Posse Biography

The multi-talented DJ Jimmy Green aka Jimbo Jones has written some essential reading for fans of UK Hip Hop. He's done a concise history of London Posse, or a biography if you like. It's really worth a read and there's a chance you'll learn a few new things:

"London Posse were one of the most influential groups in British hip hop, and one of the first to sound authentically British. Pretty much everyone who MCs now in the UK owes them a debt, from Roots Manuva to Jehst to Wiley to Ghetto to...well, you name your favourite UK rapper, or anyone who raps in his or her own accent about things that are local to them, and it'll be pretty much down to the London Posse's trailblazing series of classic (but sporadic) releases in the 80s and 90s."

You can read the article here on his blog.

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)'

'Hip-Hop Connection Presents Recognition...' - Various Artists (compilation review)

Reviewing a CD without listening to it isn’t standard procedure (for me anyway). But when it’s a compilation CD supposedly containing genre-defining tracks it’s a credit to the compilers that listening isn’t necessary. And what more would you expect from the worlds original rap magazine?

‘Hip-Hop Connection Presents Recognition 20 Years Of Fire-Starting UK Rap Anthems’ is 20 tracks of…well; the title is pretty self explanatory. In roughly chronological order, HHC curates the annals of the art form done Blighty’s way and succeeds in drawing together some of the most influential specimens. (Click here for tracklisting)

As I hinted before, anyone interested in the UK Rap scene will have heard the majority of what’s on offer here, meaning this serves perfectly as an introduction or education to the un-schooled. It also provides perfectly for that car journey when you forgot to burn off your favourite UK tracks onto a compilation CD.

There are one or two surprises; Blak Twang’s ‘08 album cut, ‘How Long’ fills the gap between ‘91’s ‘Son of Noise’ and ‘01’s ‘The Unknown’ by Mark B & Blade - a gap that Twang’s ‘Red Letters’ would have filled perfectly. Or with a little re-sequencing ‘So Rotton’ would have been more than fitting. The last tracks, although good, are probably not the best representatives of the evident creativity of UK Hip Hop’s last couple of years.

If I didn’t have this I’d probably get it, A) for lending to ignorant friends and B) for an effortless stroll through some of the masterpieces of my collection. It’ll be released on 8th of October on the Hip Hop Village label and there’s no doubt everywhere will be stocking this.

Collabo Connections #3 - Rodney P

The links - Rodney P made Mark B & Blade’s ‘We stay rough’ his own in, you know the year; 2001. Rodney also featured alongside Skinnyman and others on ‘Twilight of the Gods’.

2004 saw Low Life Records release Rodney’s album ‘The Future’ on his own Riddim Killa imprint. The two main MC collaborators on here are M.C.D. and Mystro but production comes from Joe Budha, Skitz, Pepper, Dobie, Stone and The Sea.

Before all of this Rodney made moves with Bionic (and Sipho and DJ Biznizz for a while) under the moniker ‘London Posse’ and had big UK tracks like ‘How’s life in London’, ‘Money Mad’, ‘Live like the Other Half do’ and ‘Pass the Rizla’. They also toured with Big Audio Dynamite (with Mick Jones from The Clash).

But all this pales into, well, not insignificance, but rather lighter shades of grey when compared to this list of collaborations:

1996
Bjork – I miss you (dobies rub)
1997
Us3 – I’m thinking about your body
The Brand new Heavies – Shelter remix
The London Allstars – London Convention ft. ESP, Fallacy, Funky DL, Kwestmann, MCD, Phoebe One, Q-Tee, Rodney P, Skinnyman, TY, Taipanic
1998
Dobie – Consider
Dobie – Luv n hate (can never be friends)
MSI & Asylum – Northernly winds ft. Rodney P, produced by Baby J
1999
Simply red – aint that a lot of love (desert eagle discs remix)
Pharoahe Monch - Simon Says Skitz remix ft. Rodney P & Roots Manuva
2000
Deckwrecka – Frontline ftr. Intenz, MCD & Rodney P
2001
Skitz – Dedication
Skitz – The Killing
2002
Deckwrecka – The Juks
Desert Eagle Discs – Bigger Better Deal (Big Deal mix)
Angie Stone – Brotha remix
Roots Manuva – Witness the swords ft. Big P, Blackitude & Skeme
DJ Die & Skitz – It’s on
Blak Twang – Dirty stop out uncovered
The Nextmen – I’ll try
Moorish Delta 7 – Where we from ft. Rodney P & Venom
Joni Rewind – Rude Boy Link ft. Rodney P & Cocoa Brovaz
2003
Nightmares on Wax – 70’s 80’s (upbringing mix) ft. Rodney P, Roots Manuva, Toz 180 & LSK
Roots Manuva – Swords in the dirt ft. Rodney P & Fallacy
Fallacy – Rap Folly
Freq Nasty – Come let me know
MJ Cole – Foot to the Floor
The Nextmen – Firewalking ft. Rodney P, Dynamite MC & Cutty Ranks
The Nextmen – Hear what I say
Various – Freestyle Frenzy ft. Canibus, Masta Ace, Maylay Sparks, Mr. 45, Rodney P, Scor-Zay-Zee, Scorpio, Skinnyman, Wordsworth
I Kamanchi – Sounds of the culture ft. Rodney P, Tali, Retna & MC Darrison
Gemma Fox – Messy
Nitin Sawhney – Rainfall
Joe Buhdha – The Big up (re-edit) ft. Estelle, Klashnekoff, Rodney P, Scor-Zay-Zee, Tempa & Wildflower
2004
Roni Size – No trouble
2005
Blacknificent 7 – ‘Ere comes the Black ft. Estelle, Jeff3, Karl Hinds, Roots Manuva, Seanie T, Skeme & Rodney P
David Banner – Ain’t got nothin’ (UK Remix) ft. Rodney P & Durrty Goodz
King Bicuit Time – C I Am 15 (C. Swing remix) ft. Braintax & Rodney P
K-Ners – I am K-Ners (remix) ft. Skeme & Rodney P
Timo Maas – Release
Keith Lawrence – Style & Fashion
2006
Stanton Warriors – Dip & get low
Braintax – What the Huh?
2007
Dub Pistols – Speakers and Tweeters (album)

Phew, I’m sure there’s more too. This is a busy man, if I was getting paid for this Collabo Connections series I’d be eating for a long long while. Just to point out a few collaborations that are a bit different: Bjork, Nithin Sawhney, Roni Size, Freq Nasty, Angie Stone, Simply Red & The Brand New Heavies. Rodney P certainly gets around.

The Blacknificent 7 - Ere comes the Black!.mp3
The Blacknificent 7 - Stay Black.mp3
Rodney P - The Nice Up.mp3
London Posse - Pass the Rizla.mp3
Rodney P - Big Tings (Mark B Remix).mp3
Rodney P - I believe.mp3
Rodney P - Can you see me.mp3

Right, now I'm off to post that list onto wikipedia.

Here are a few extras to fill some gaps in Collabo connections #1 & #2.

DJ Mentat - When I give my heart to you ft. Skinnyman.mp3
Omni - The Hot ft. Blade.mp3
Sway - Up Your Speed remix ft. Skinnyman & More