Hip Hop and Breakz

Roc Marciano has been a dope emcee for sometime now dropping dope vereses over some nice beats especially the Pete Rock one.  Well now he has managed to snag a dope Madlib beat for his upcoming mixtape The Pimpire Strikes back.

As a teenager I spent many days skating at the Southbank; making friends, learning tricks, injuring myself and taking part in the wider community that skateboarding introduced me to. My hope was that when my son was old enough he too would be able to do this. Unfortunately the short sighted owners of the Southbank plane to tear it up and replace it with commercial units and relocate the skating area to the under Hungerford bridge 120 metres further down the Thame. However what they continually fail to understand is that the Southbank is an organic evolution created by skaters that has been used for over 40 years. Please support the Long Live Southbank campaign.

RIP to Lou Reed the man that influenced almost 50 years of Rock Music.   "One chord is fine," he once said, alluding to his bare-bones guitar style. "Two chords are pushing it. Three chords and you're into jazz."

Homework Volume 1: Birthday Beats by DJ Harry Love My man DJ Harry Love has been producing classic Hip-Hop joints for a number of years now featuring some of the UK's finest lyricists; Verb T, Ransom Badbonez and Jehst to name a few.  He has just released a new compilation via Bandcamp called Homeworkwork Volume 1:Birthday Beats.  It os ten tracks long and can be bought from Bandcamp for as little as £3 although listening to it will surely prompt you to make a more generous donation.  Its a dope little project with some interesting beats and rhymes.  Hopefully the first in a series of compilations from one of London's finest.  Pick that shit up y'all.

This is latest video from R.A. the Rugged Man's dope album Legends never Die.  This is a nice joint with a piano loop and guest verses from Brother Ali and Masta Ace.

The first joint from Madlib's Rock Konducta LP due to drop in December.  The track is called Black Widows and the album will be released on Stones Throw as per usual. Madlib will also be appearing across Europe in October and November Oct 19: Madlib on Boilerroom.tv Oct 29: Madlib in Budapest @ Trafó House of Contemporary Arts Oct 31: Madlib in Brussels @ Europalia Festival Nov 2: Madlib in Manchester @ Warehouse Project Nov 11: Madlib in Glasgow @ SWG3 Warehouse Always worth seeing Madlib live if you can so I would recommend catching a show.  Unfortunately no London show.

After a long delay the Kool G Rap and Necro album, Once upon a Crime is almost ready to drop. This is the first video from what promises to be one of the best underground albums of the year.

Back in the 1997 when Eminem was first introduced to Royce da 5'9 Slim Shady decided this was a lyricist with who he could make some serious Hip-Hop and he was right.  He went onto work with Eminem on The Slim Shady LP but what most hardcore hip hop fans were waiting for was Royce to step to the mic on his own.  We heard him on the Grand Theft Auto III soundtrack on the track "I'm the King" which was produced by The Alchemist and it was a dope track.  A nice beat which allowed Royce to show off his skills.  However its impact was small when you compare it to his next single "Boom".  This 12" was released in 2000 and was destined to be a big club banger.  DJ Premier produced it and he did a superb job.  The track starts off with a clock ticking and then jumps into a fantastic strings sample before being joined by some signature Premier drums.  Royce kills it lyrically just check out this first verse I'm the verbal-spit Smith Wesson I unload ...

I first heard of Cypress Hill when I saw the video for Phuncky Feel One on MTV Raps back in August 1991.  At the time you could only get MTV on Sky or Cable in the UK and although my family did not have it I would carry my video recorder the three miles to a friends house every week to record videos off MTV.  Up until that point I had never seen a Hip Hop video unless by some chance it had made it onto BBC's Top of the Pops or ITV's The Chart Show but these outlets were only for the mainstream Hip Hop acts or occasionally De La Soul or even PE.  When I saw the video for Phuncky Feel One I was struck by how diffeent and fresh this sound was.  the video was weird as hell but it really caught my attention.  I never managed to get the 12" but I certainly got the subsequent 12"s from that album.  The first of which was Hand on the Pump. Hand on the Pump is a song that immediately grabs your attention by using a vocal sample chopped expertly by DJ Muggs befo...

One of the problems that comes with have an extensive iTunes collection is that you sometimes overlook or even forget you have entire albums and projects.  This collection of remixes is one such forgotten gem.  Back when Method Man first stepped out from under the Wu Tang Clan's shadow and dropped his solo effort he was very much in demand and all sorts of people were remixing his work.  Some of these were only released in Japan, were B sides on Wu Tang 12"s or on some obscure soundtrack.  This here collections collects up a lot but not all of the obscure tracks that were around at the time. I'll Be There For You (Razor Sharp Mix) (Feat. Mary J. Blige) is the first track on this compilation.  Originally this was the on the All I need remix 12" that dropped in 1994.  The 12" also featured the Puff Daddy remix and the Soul inside remix.  This however was in my opinion the strongest of the remixes featuring a nice saxophone loop and some crisp snares...

Although this does not strictly fit into the MO for my blog.  This is an important piece of music from two important artists.   It is a rare thing when two things you love from two different worlds come together, it does not happen often and can lead to great anticipation.  Anticipation was what I felt when I first heard that Elvis Costello was going to be working on an album with Philadelphia’s The Roots crew.  Anticipation for what could be an amazing album from two acts who have the capability to produce incredible music but there is also the chance that this album could lead to something best forgotten. Although as surprised as I was when I first heard of this collaboration it immediately made sense; Elvis certainly has a soulful sound within him and we know The Roots are no strangers to Rock and Roll (remember the Seed 2.0 from 2002 for example).  The album is released on September the 17th on the legendary Jazz label Blue Note.  The album is 12 t...

One of my favourite underground NY producers from the late nineties/early noughties has joined forces the undisputed QB Legend Kool G Rap to drop an album later this year.  The album will be entirely produced by Necro and is set to drop on November the 19th.   Kool G Rap's raw street stories will work perfectly over Necro's grimy beats. Be sure to keep an eye on their Facebook page for updates and catch the album when it drops. The Godfathers Facebook page.

The year was 1997 and the Hip-Hop community had not heard from Gangstarr since their 1994 album "Hard to Earn".  An underground classic that had given us "Code of the Streets", "Mass appeal", " Suckas Need Bodyguards" and  "Now You're Mine" amongst other underground classics.  The Hip-Hop landscape had changed considerably between 1994 and 1997; the independent scene had grown, there was a new breed of conscious Hip-Hop emcees, bankable acts were losing their direction and producers were now more important than ever.  It was rare to see one producer craft an entire album for one act instead acts were cherry picking beats from the best producer's beat tapes in the hope of recreating another "Illmatic".  However more often than not it lead to disjointed albums that did not flow.  Jumping from one producer to another.  So many albums at that time featured a Premier joint, a Pete Rock joint, a West Coast joint, a Mobb Dee...

London's finest DJ MK comes with a mellow summer mix for all those heads out there enjoying the Bank Holiday sunshine.  Featuring ; Roy Ayers, Cameo, MGSB, Hi-Tension, Junior and Slave amongst others.  A sweet blend of Soul, Funk, Disco and breaks.  Follow the link to download this classic mix. DJ MK's Summer Grooves

Fat Joe is back with a new album, the third in his Darkside series.  The first tack off this is the DJ Premier produced joint, Your Honour.  It features Action Bronson and its pretty dope.  Check the link below.

King of the Beats - Looking for the Perfect Beat 2013 Trailer. from pritt on Vimeo . This is a small preview trailer for the film 'King of the Beats - Looking For The Perfect Beat', Produced by Tibba Media a film by Pritt Kalsi, Jazzy Jay and JFK Aman.  The documentary looks great and I for one cant wait to see it. Based on the concept and Idea created by Pritt Kalsi, along side his team Pritt, Steven Ellington and Andy Higgs set of to NYC to shoot this film over a 3 week period. Some of the pioneers of sample culture take on the challenge. The film gives a insight into lives and minds of some the most significant producers who contributed to the Golden Era and Beyond.

Mixtape Legend Tony Touch returns with his new Album The Piecemaker 3: Return of the 50 MCs.  The album features  Busta Rhymes, M.O.P, Sean Price, Black Thought, The LOX, Raekwon, Ghostface, Twista, Bun B, KRS-One, Fat Joe, Redman, N.O.R.E, and Eminen amongst others. Below is a link to the first track from the album produced by DJ Premier and featuring D-Stroy.  

Following the success of Killer Mike's El-P produced album "R.A.P. Music" the duo decided to produce a full length album together.  This time with both emcees rhyming over El-P's sonic creations.  Obviously this is a very good turn of events but what takes this from being a good thing to a superb thing is the fact that they have decided to give the album away free.  If you go to their website  and give them your email address they will email you a link to download the whole album (lyrics and liner notes too!).  The album is being released on Fools Gold Records and if you want to buy a physical copy there are a number of packages including CDs, vinyl and various merchandise.  El-P and Killer Mike are currently touring the album across the US and will hopefully take the show to Europe in the near future.  The album is ten tracks long with no interludes (good news) and only features three guests; Big Boi, Until The Ribbon Breaks and Prince Paul...

Jeru the Damaja is back with anew Large pro produced joint from his upcoming EP "The Hammer".  Its a nice joint that is a Traditional East Coast Large Pro track with a more mellow sounding Jeru dropping knowledge on it.  The EP this will be featured on does not yet have a release date but will feature the Beatnuts and PF Cuttin when it does drop.  Check the link for the track.

R.A. The Rugged Man is a Hip Hop artist from Long Island NY.  He has worked with MC's such as The Notorious B.I.G., Mobb Deep, Chuck D of Public Enemy, Jedi Mind Tricks, Tech N9ne, Hopsin, Talib Kweli, Masta Ace, Kool G Rap, Wu-Tang Clan, Rakim, Killah Priest, and producersTrackmasters, Erick Sermon, DJ Quik, Buckwild, Alchemist, and Ayatollah. He was featured on all three of Rawkus’s Soundbombing albums, as well as the platinum-selling WWF Aggression album, performing the theme song for Chris Jericho. The Notorious B.I.G. was once quoted as saying, "I thought I was the illest," when referring to R.A. In 2004 he released the album Die, "Rugged Man, Die" on Brooklyn based label Nature Sounds. The October 2006 issue of The Source featured R.A.'s verse on "Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story" as its "Hip-Hop Quotable" of the mo...