'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.

May I?

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.

Roots Manuva - 'Rebel Heart (Manuvadelics Version)', 'The Falling (Demo Version)', 'Chin High (Manuvadelics Version)' & 'This World is Mine (Demo Version)'

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.

What Come Around (Go Around, Kid) #2

At number 10 we branched and the first option for the tenth track was N.O.R.E and Kanye West with ‘Ima Get You’. In 10 tracks we’ll cross the pond to London, take the seacat to the land of frogs legs and snails and then hop right back to Rodney P.

Download this lot here all zipped up

11. Kanye West had a big hit with the Shirley Bassey sampling ‘Diamonds (from Sierra
Leone)’, a bigger hit for me is the remix with Jay-Z…”Yup, I got it it from here
‘Ye”.

12. On what was supposedly Jay-Z’s departing album a different producer was
drafted in for each track. One of these was the most reliable 9th Wonder who
produced the excellent ‘Threat’.

13. 9th Wonder got together with Murs to make the underground smash – Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition. Pick of the bunch is title track ‘3:16’.

14. Murs, who seems to tirelessly put out music, featured on the Z-Trip produced ode to cartoons and cereal ‘Breakfast Club’ with Supernatural.

15. Z-Trip gave us ‘Something Different’ by getting Chali 2na, Keno-1 and The Hermit to guest on the same track.

16. Chali 2na, who seems to have his fingers liberally dipped in a few pies at the moment, features alongside Roots Manuva on the lyrically awesome ‘Join the Dots’.

17. Roots Manuva took a trip to France to join Saian Supa Crew on their international version of ‘X-Raisons’, this genius manoeuvre (sorry) resulted in ‘Hey Yo My Man’.

18. Saian Supa Crew featured on a remix of Mark B & Blade’s ‘The Unknown’.

19. Mark B & Blade did alright for themselves and UK Hip Hop in general when they released the album ‘The Unknown’, guess who featured on ‘We Stay Rough’? Yup, Rodney P.

20. Finally, the 20th track, from Rodney’s ‘The Future’ full length is ‘I Believe’ featuring Olivia Chaney.

Whadya think ‘o that then? I reckon you could do that with most semi known artists, have a go yourself.

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

Collabo Connections #1 - Blade

Here begins a series which after some thought I realise could run for a long time. Collaborations and rap go hand in hand. There are few rap albums out there that don’t feature a cameo from another rapper or group. Some artists rely on paying a bigger rapper to help them either launch or revive their career. Other artists have the insight that fans want to hear two (or more) of their favourite MCs together on one track. Often collaborations are frowned upon for the first of the above reasons but I would be so bold to say that without them the rap world would be slightly boring at times.

There is no reason for starting this thread off with this artist other than I wanted to write a post on him anyway. Whilst meditating a post on Blade I realised he had worked with many other artists who in turn have worked with other artists, and so on. Then (slightly influenced also by ‘Comedy Connections’ off the telly and maybe my mums obsession with family trees) I came up with the idea of creating a string of posts that map out who’s worked with who and how hip hop eventually links up into one big family.

Growing up in Yorkshire and being born in 1984 means I missed out on all of Blade’s earlier work. I haven’t yet had a chance to familiarise myself with his back catalogue it so most of this post will be focussing on his work following Mark B and Blade fame.

In 1989 Blade released ‘Lyrical Maniac’, his first official single (go here for more info). In 1997 during depression he released ‘Rhyme Bomb’ (go here for more info).

2001 saw Mark B and Blade being played on Radio 1 with their track ‘The Unknown’ and then ‘Ya don’t see the signs’. The former was released with, amongst others, a remix featuring France’s premier rap collective; Saian Supa Crew. The latter hit the airwaves in the form of a rocky remix by Grant Nicholas of Feeder and frankly rock and rap rarely sounds this good together. The album, also entitled ‘The Unknown’ featured collaborations with Rodney P, Lewis Parker, Skinnyman, Chester P and Westwood (!).

In 2002 Blade reared his head on Lewis Parker’s ‘It’s all Happening Now’ on ‘The Chase pt. 1’.

Blade’s next big move was in 2004 with the release of ‘Storms are Brewing’, an album on which he collaborated with only session musicians and DJ’s, he produced and wrote it all himself. The flip to the single ‘Reflection’ was ‘Soldiers’, a track featuring Life (of Phi-Life Cypher) and Respek BA.

2005 was Baby J’s year in the UK and Blade was making moves with this modern superproducer. He appeared on J’s excellent album F.T.P. on Mumps (also featuring Laurissa). This hook up obviously worked so well that Blade decided Baby J would produce his entire second album, my personal favourite being the excellent ‘UK Hip Hop’, a track with which Blade hopes to educate people about the roots of rap in Great Britain simply by name checking all the greats (note – I’m not going to use that fact to make tenuous links to all and sundry in Brit Hop!).

2005 also brought us a solo album from The Scratch Perverts DJ First Rate. Blade cooked up a feast on the tasty ‘Hamburger’; a semi-hilarious ode to eating fast food on tour.

Blade has worked hard for decades now so please go buy some of his music if you do like what you have heard. Visit his website and go to the store.

I’m sure you’ll agree there are many roads I can now take and I shall endeavour to explore all of them. I’m pretty sure I’ll get quite confused on the way and we’ll see how truly intertwined the web of the hip hop spider is.

If, during any of this series, you have tracks and collabos to add then feel free to leave comments or drop me a line. I’ll gladly add them to expand the wealth of knowledge available here!

Blade - Lyrical maniac.mp3
Blade - Rhyme bomb.mp3
First Rate - Hamburger ft. Blade.mp3
Blade - Soldiers ft. Life & Respek BA.mp3
Lewis Parker - The Chase pt.1 ft. Blade.mp3
Mark B and Blade - The Unknown ft .Saian Supa Crew.mp3
Blade - UK Hip Hop.mp3

UK Hip Hop - 'We are the unknown'

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.

Asaviour – Money in the bank (remix) ft. Kyza & Yungun – 3 great British MC’s here; Yungun being my favourite mainly for his quotable lyrics. You should def listen to his album ‘The Essance’. This track is produced by Jesht so best believe it’s good.

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.

Infinite Potential – I excel ft. Amber MC – From Brighton’s Catskills records comes this short track featuring lots of scratching and some rhyming about how Amber MC is better than all the rest, classic Hip Hop fare.

Mark B – Ya know we don’t stop ft. Tommy Evans – Wooo, another Leeds born MC, this came off the flip of radio played ‘Move now’. A more classical driven beat here, some solid hip hop.

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.