ZooLoop EP preview

Highly underrated producer Mr Loop, and long time collaborator Mark from the Zoo apparently have a joint EP in the works. In this admittedly extremely budget video, Mark gives you the first verse and a half from a tune called 'Cathedrals & Cobblestones'.

Overlook the basic visuals, and you'll see that the tune knocks. I'm sure that the project from these two heavily slept-on artists will be one to look out for.

Rapskallions & Yosh Release News

Fresh from the Sweatbox with some characteristacally dope artwork are two albums soon to drop: Yosh's 'An Audience With The Baron' and Rapskallion's 'Slicker Than A Bucket Of Snot'.

The Rapskallions joint features production from Vee-Kay and Mr. Loop as well as guest vocals from Yosh, Dr. Cerberus and Vee-Kay and should be out digitally at the beginning of July with a short run of limited edition CDs coming around September - I've already heard the album and best believe I'll be having a hard copy for my collection.

The Yosh EP is being mastered right around now so hopefully there will be a release date for that sometime this year.

If you haven't already picked up a copy of Mr. Loop's excellent production album 'The Bury All' then do so now - this album kicked 2009 off with a bang and it features 777, B'tol, Beit Nun, Dr. Cerberus, Eva Lazarus, Humble Pious, J-Soles, Mudmowth, Slippa, Super Dertie, Vee-Kay, Wordsmith, Yosh and Zoo Mark all up on the microphone. You should also go download Vee-Kay's album 'The Audio Workout'; it features Cariz, Dialekt, Dr. Syntax, Dubbledge, Lowercase, Micall Parknsun, Stig of the Dump, Wordsmith and Yosh.

Exclusive Rapskallions Tracks!

Got a couple of tracks taken from Rapskallion's forthcoming album, the pleasantly titled 'Slicker Than A Bucket of Snot'. Just in case you didn't know or you forgot, Rapskallions are Slippa and Zoo Mark. 'Just Another Day' is produced by Vee-Kay & Gut1 and 'The Joint' is produced by Wosk Master Astek. If all goes well the album will be out in June on Sweatbox Sounds, around the same time as the Yosh EP, also on Sweatbox Sounds. Oh and Mr. Loop says he's got some stuff on its way too!

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On The Radar Artist Profile: Mr. Loop

Name: Mr. Loop

Age: 26

From: Whitstable

Track on ‘On The Radar’: 'Grown Man Music' ft. Zoo Mark, Yosh & Slippa

Tell us the story behind the track: It’s one of the tracks of the forthcoming collaborative project between myself, Vee Kay, Yosh, Zoo Mark & Slippa called ‘Sweatbox Sounds Presents: Our Soles’. This track is the emcees having a pop at some of the people in our scene that end up damaging it in the long run.

Record Label: Sweatbox Sounds

Who you roll with: Vee-Kay / Yosh / The Rapskallions / The Kojak Brothers

Favourite album(s): The Quantic Soul Orchestra - 'Tropidelico'

Describe your style in three words: Dug from Oxfam

Past/Present/Future projects: My debut album ‘The Bury All’ came out in January and is getting some good reviews and exposure which is nice! I’ve got a track on the forthcoming Rapskallions album ‘Slicker than a Bucket of Snot’ which is out shortly. The aforementioned collab ‘Sweatbox Sounds Presents: Our Soles’ should be out later this year. I’m also building tracks for another solo album, and have a lot of collabs with people underway.

'Grown Man Music' ft. Yosh, Zoo Mark & Slippa - Mr. Loop (OTR promo video)

'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.