Hip Hop Kemp 2009!

Hip Hop Kemp! Hip Hop Kemp! Was the battle cry to be heard until 4,5,6 in the morning accross an ex military base in the remote centre of the Czech Republic. Hundreds of different languages, nationalities, styles and skills were repped to the fullest in this insane global hip hop gathering. I love hip hop but I think I met people out there who properly LOVED hip hop. It was dope as hell and I gotta big up my wingman Conweezy for rocking through it with me (plus the lovely London girls we were camping with...holla!)

So many good artists I cant really begin to do a review of it all;p just some honourable mentions to those who tore the place down rediculously; Reks (We crowd surfed the dude), Reef the Lost Cause, Termanology, Devin the Dude (insane) Camp Lo (beyond immense)and J-Live who stepped the plate up with an ill set of live spitting plus DJ'in similtaneously. The whole event was cool, the local town has some marvelous arcitecture...there is even a lake into which Jimmy the most hip hop Scot ran in fully clothed and ruined his digital camera (It was 1o in the morning and we had been up drinking since 7 after 2 hours kip!) Anyway enjoy the photos, holla if you're in any anf big up to Fallacy who also ripped the place up and kindly posed for photos with us! (Respect to Black Twang also, I'm pissed off cos he was the only artist I missed like a dumbass)

Michael Franti - Don't Give Up On Me

As the front man for The Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy I always had a lot of time for Michael Franti as an uber concious lyricist, but his more melodic efforts I think suit him well. This was a nice accompanyment to the trailer to the new Micheal Moore film "Capitalism : A Love Story" that you can check here. A super blog post is coming soon on Hip Hop Kemp so make sure you check that! Sorry bout a lack of posts lately; have been overwhelmed by Summer in London and getting a job as a Bibliotherapist! Go google it! :)

Poaching as Usual

I'm sure Certified Banger are going to start yelling 'Get Off Moi Laaaand' if I keep robbing all the stuff posted there, but stuff it I'm a raven and CB keeps throwing up gems. As such check these two videos showcasing the ends of the hip hop spectrum represented in the UK...not as different as they might first appear, I reckon they demonstrate how our scene is embracing all the elements of reality, fun, lyricism and self motivation that hip hop was based in. Enjoy.

I wish this happened on my tube journeys!

Props to Oh Word! for reminding me of this slice of fun!

Dr Dre Detox Ludacris OG's Theme

Although this blog is generally on a real liberal/positive hip hop steez I can never really get away from the fact that I got into this ish through the gangsta shizzle of Snoop, Eazy E and the whole NWA movement...I mean who really didn't? So in light of that fact I get hyped over any info about Detox (which after reading a Dre bio in 2006 that was still speculating over release dates I had consigned to the dream bin) so hearing this Ludacris tune apparently chalked to be for Dre I was excited. Even though its leaked (dont blame me, this shit is public domain!) I reckon Dre would still sound dope as hell even though Luda kills it. The fact Dre didn't write it is a moot point; everyone knows Ice Cube wrote all the dope verses for NWA so why continue the debate? Either do your history or just enjoy suckahs!

New Dopeness! Chima and Certified Banger

Mad props to Aidan from the ever ready heavy Certified Banger blog coming back with yet another rediculous free compilation of quality tunes from the UK shores. Under the Rader Volume 4 is available for free download as usual, and this one is in my opinion the freshest and most consistant yet. Having only listened through a couple of times, the whole project struck me with the high quality high temp beats that proved a wicked accompanment to a high octane workout. The lyricism was well above UK par and really showcased how UK emcees are embracing their own identities and putting in verses of a calbre worthy of international recognition. The fact that most of them are still 'Under the Rader' is fairly rediculous but proves how needed this sort of compilation is. There are enough quality bars in this release to literally bury the mainstram 'hip hop/grime/pop/autotune' garbage currently being bandied about by mainstream outlets. Go cop it now, its free so no excuses, and then go support the artists involved.

In other news every mothers favourite rapping Doctor Mr Chima Anya is back on the scene with an exceptionally well produced and flavoursome tune alongside big sax dog Soweto Kinch. Get with the movement folks!

New Scholarman

Much love to the big homie Scholarman hooking up once again with the ill K-Mynez for a dope celebration of hip hop music on the streets of Maryland. Loving the old folks getting down with the love vibe haha.