This must be Love

I remember watching a video either at school or at a youth group that was all about love and sex, you know how they do. Anyways, at the time it was made (it was outdated when we watched it then) Simon Mayo was the big cheese in the radio DJ world. He worked at Radio 1 and was excited to show us how he’d categorised all the records he receives into ditties about love and, as far as I can remember, ‘other’. He proved his point, there are a lot of songs about love, the majority of those played on Radio 1 in fact are about love.

Love is a powerful emotion so it’s unsurprising that there are so many tunes about it. It’s almost a requirement for an artist to make at least on track with ‘love’ in the title or somewhere in the lyrics. Here are 10 tracks, not a top 10, just 10 tracks about love that I like.

Busta Rhymes – I love my Chick
All there is to be said is ‘Yup Yup I love my chick’ and ‘comedy’.

Lady Sovereign – Love me or Hate me
So this isn’t strictly about love but it is in a way. Plenty of people do bother about whether people love them or hate them, most people are insecure in this way…and I just wanted to post the S.O.V.

Labi Siffre – Turn on your Love
This is the guy (not the song) Dre sampled on Em’s ‘My name is’ so you know he’s got that funky soul going on.

Huey Lewis & The News – The Power of Love
One of the songs going by this title, definitely the best by far. A great feel good tune perfect for driving.

K-Os – The Love Song
Hailing from Canada and contradicting the title in the first line (“This is not a love song, it’s a sonnet”) K-Os brings dusty beats and sing-song lyrics and if I remember correctly this was used in an advert that had a fly in it.

Peace 586 – Love’s still there
Not man/woman love this time but man/God love, 586 explains a relationship with God easily over this laid back, sweet, headnod beat.

Erick Sermon – Love iz ft. Al Green
A song about all sorts of ways that love is manifested all built around a sample of Al Green singing, you guessed it, ‘Love is…’.

>aRRO – I Luv U ft. Digga
Sharing a title with a Dizzee track could be a bad thing, but in this case it’s not. This is something a little different for y’all, from the vocoded fart bassline to the 80’s rock snare via the Grange Hill theme tune breakdown this is pure fun (and love).

Uffie – First Love
Yeah so posting Uffie is a little hypocritical after the whole Justice thing, especially since I got this off someone else’s blog but it fits right in here. This has 80’s written all over it and Uffie’s cheesy lyrics fit nicely with that but the fact they are slightly vocoded really brings it bang up to date, as does the broken electro beat.

Codebreaker – Are you ready 2 love?
This is probably thieved off another blog too but it’s infectious with more vocoder, funky guitars and bass and simple lyrics that I challenge you to not sing along to.

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.