Hip Hop and Breakz

It was 1999 and although we had heard rumours of this entity called Quasimoto and even heard him on the Lootpack album we were unsure of what exactly he was. Was he a rapper in his own right or was he Madlib on helium ? The names Quasimoto and Madlib have been linked since the Soundpieces album that we first heard him on. Yet they’ve never been seen in the same room together. In fact, Quasimoto’s never been seen in the same room with anyone – he’s The Unseen as his debut album's title told us. But you can hear him - and there’s no mistaking his voice. The rumour goes that Peanut Butter Wolf first heard him on a dusty old tape, one of Madlib’s infamous beat tapes – the kind he’d make to listen to himself or pass around to the Likwit crew. Madlib and Quas had been up in Oxnard, CA, making music for years without the slightest intention of releasing it to the masses. Wolf got it out though – after some begging and pleading, and after signing a contract with Quas vowing not to revea...

After the success of Raekwon's Only Built for Cuban Linx Part 2 and the untold amounts of leaked track that never made the album it was only a matter of time before a deluxe version was released. The Deluxe Gold version is currently only available on the US iTunes store but will hopefully make it over to Europe soon and maybe even get a vinyl release sometime in the future although I wouldn't hold my breath on that one. Below is the listing of the extra tracks the Deluxe Gold deluxe version; About Me (rmx) f. Game Broken Safety (rmx) Penitentiary (Travis Barker Remix) Never Matter to You f. Bun B New Wu (rmx) Rock Stars f. GZA & Inspectah Deck Check the link above for the MP3 of the New Wu remix. I like the idea of these extra tracks but surely he could have just combined them with some of the earlier bootlegs, mixtape joint and that rare purple 7" of Flawless Crowns to make Cuban Linx 3? In fact you can check out a number of these bootlegs...

It was 1998 and although the name Madlib had been known to underground heads since Tha Alkaholiks superb Coast II Coast album where he had produced the smoking WLIX no one had even the slightest idea how Madlib would go on to become a musical Juggernaut who would drive through genres with more aliases than Carlos the Jackal over the next decade. He went on to produced on the Alkaholiks' follow up album, Lkwidation in 1997, he secured himself and the rest of Lootpack a slot in the Likwit crew. But it was The Lootpack's debut album in 1998; Soundpieces: Da Antidote that really allowed Madlib to show just how creative he could be. The album was a success and allowed Madlib to introduce his style of bass heavy, Jazz and obscure sampling production. Not to mention a certain Quasimoto, my favorite of all his aliases. It was a long album, 22 full track to be exact and 2 or three interludes. Although Stones Throw had already shown themselves to be the best indie label on the Left C...

If you are in London this Friday the only place to be will be the Doctors Orders Birthday Bash at Fabric . Westwood will be dropping a 90s only set followed up by MK, Harry Love, Shortee Blitz, Chris P Cuts and Spin Doctor with a Live performance from Guilty Simpson. Goldie will be dropping some Drum and Bass in the 2nd room alongside Klute and Storm amongst others. This promises to be another dope night.

Its crazy to thing this came out over 13 years ago and that to some younger hip hop heads this is Old Skool. This is another Rawkus gem also picked up from Deal Real in 1997. In fact I think I may have bought this the same day that I bought the Universal Magnetic 12", a good day indeed. I remember going into Deal Real with only enough money for one 12", £6.50 at the time and struggling to decide which I should buy. In the end I paid for one and got the other on tick and paid for it the next week. I had heard of Hi-Tek before as I had picked up the terribly underrated debut album, Doom by Cincinnati duo Mood. Hi-Tek had handled the majority of the production on that album and I had been impressed with his Tribe influenced sound. I had not heard from Kweli before this 12" but was immediately impressed with his intelligent and easily understood lyrics that coupled iwth the guest appearances from Mos Def and Bush Babees member Mr Man made this 12" a must have. Th...

Heres a sick new joint from the Legendary Bun-B produced by another Legend DJ Premier taken from Bun-B's new album Trill OG which drops the 3rd of August. The track is called Let em Know and starts of with Bun-B paying homage to Guru. Premier gives Bun a sick beat and Bun provides some dope lyrics to accompany the dope beat. With lines like " First on your Baby Mom's Bucket list" you can see why Bun-B is a legend. The beat is mid tempo and features an orchestral strings loop and some impressive scratching from Premier. If you don't' have any Bun-B in your collection or any UGK then this is a good starting point but go back and grab some of those UGK albums soon. Check the link for the track it make not last long. In the right game

I remember buying this record in Deal Real Record in London's West End, just off Oxford Street. They played the track for me and I immediately had to buy it. It was so refreshing and new, the beat was reminiscent of Tribe and the lyrics reminded me of De La Soul in that they were light hearted and humorous. This was my first introduction to Mos Def and I was very impressed. I went on to follow Mos's career closely and just months after buying this 12" I saw him do a live in store with Kweli at Deal Real and he was dope but more importantly a regular nice guy. A year or so later I saw him perform with Kweli and Co Flow at Subterania and his freestyle skills were very impressive. Mos was at the time so innovative and charismatic whilst not taking the whole indie backpack scene to serious, I have to say that I don't feel the direction he's taken of late is'nt my kinda thing but this is about 1997 not 2010. The A-Side is produced by Sean J Period and uses the...