End of the Weak first heats review

First off it was wicked to see such a lot of heads passing through Brixton Jamm for this event, nicely organised by End of the Weak. Stig did a great job hosting; I'm sure he's lost his calling though he'd be a hit on the stand up comedy circuit! Louis Den was in the house for a bangin beat battle; plus Bass6 repped alongside Kingpin for the post battle performance...

All good ish but the heart of the night was the End of the Weak heats. 4 heavyweight emcees stepped up and repped hard through a great format of rounds; prewritten, freestyling on random objects pulled from a bag, Emcee vs DJ freestyle and final a 2 person cypher where the emcees had to spit frees back to back without falling to the temptation of battling one another.

All was good entertainment but I felt the crowd were a little harsh on certain emcees in a vague undiscernable way. For me Birmingham's Justice smashed it in 3 rounds, with Genesis Elijah coming very close and topping the first round prewritten with a great diatribe against reality shows, Jordan etc by comparing their problems with what is going on in Palestine. Most unfortunate was Phoenix the Icefire who clearly had some devastaing lyrics. He was right up there in the fight to begin with but the DJ vs Emcee round completely through him...not suprising at all for me though as the beats he were given were absolute dogshit, barely sounding like music at all I have no idea how anyone could have spat over them at all.

Verb T also presented pretty well lyrically although he seemed pretty petulant at having to spit first in a few rounds. This was decided by the crowd and although to me it didn't really seem to make much different his sarcastic 'Thanks a fucking lot' comments didn't seem to help his cause, though he did seem to have a lot of support in the crowd. Anyways was a tight battle; for me Justice smashed it with concious, dope flows, a wicked persona and an ability to flow rediculous over most beats...I didnt find out who won it as I had to split fairly quick so answers on a postcard please!

UPDATE NEWS FLASH! Managed to get a quote from the good lady herself; in true flambouyant style she says she "Floated into Brixton like a butterfly and stung like a queen bee!! Justice was done !!" Go check the myspace here!

New Kashmere ft Truth

Check one two the big homie Truth has hooked up with that space time continuum hopping Kashmere for a nice slice of freshness...Free Download Link Here **Cuts By Jimmy Green, Mixed By Cross Bone T** Taken from the Rapsploitation Sessions compilation CD "3 Years High & Rising" out on 4th February ya heard!

Crucifix "Glorious" alongside Krate Krusaders

Crucifix has certainly been "granted serentity and its calming effects" through both his intricate, knowledgable and uplifting wordplay and great backing from a great piano led track from the Krate Krusaders. Enjoy some lyrical Hip Hop at its most inspiring. Taken from the new E.P The Cornerstone out 27th January.

Lowkey - Long Live Palestine Part 2

Watching Lowkey perform a poem with the chorus "Long Live Palestine, Long Live Gaza" to a multi ethnic crowd that included Jewish and Israeli protesters against the Israeli bombardment was a humbling experience...hearing that the music resulting from this has reached number one in the Amazon charts gave me a great feeling. Please excuse the following rip from Hip Hop press but it does a better job than I could!

Mesopotamia Music rapper Lowkey has stormed to Number 1 in the Amazon hip-hop download chart with the highly anticipated charity single "Long Live Palestine Part 2". The song features verses from international artists, including DAM, The Narcicyst, Eslam Jawad, Hich Kas, Reveal, Hasan Salaam and Shadia Mansour.

The underground rapper behind 2009's protest anthem "Long Live Palestine Part 1" has defied critics who called him "too political" by toppling well known artists Jay Z, 50 Cent and the Black Eyed Peas. The achievement is most profound as Lowkey did not have the promotion from a lucrative record label, nor the support of any major radio DJ's.

Lowkey, who is a patron of UK based Palestine Solidarity Campaign, says: "Through the universal language of hip-hop, this song aims to unite people from across the globe to express their solidarity with Palestinians in their struggle for freedom, equality and self determination."

"The support for this single amongst the general public has been overwhelming and is testament to the fact that Gaza is not forgotten even though it no longer makes mainstream headline news."

Lowkey releases this tribute single alongside the 1 year anniversary of the Israeli massacre in Gaza, labelled 'Operation Cast Lead', which killed 1,400 Palestinians and maimed hundreds more. Profits from the sale of this single will be equally shared between Interpal and Islamic Relief, two leading charities undertaking much needed relief and development work in Gaza.

Anti-war veteran and former UK Cabinet Minister Rt. Hon. Tony Benn has been forthright in his support for the single. "The song speaks to people about the struggle of the Palestinians and their fight for freedom. By buying it you, your friends and your colleagues can show support for the Palestinian people in their hour of need. The single is supported by Stop the War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Viva Palestina. I hope we can count on yours too."

Listen back to the Lowkey interview here on Conspiracy Radio with Menace and Montana.

Go download "Long Live Palestine" from all your regular ituney style spots!

Cyclonious - What's a Postcode?

Real talk from Cyclonious on this heavy release from forthcoming debut album...the post code beef thing is having serious consequences not only in London but across Britain's cities and this track brings a timely call for unity, and looks towards a positive future...plus the track bangs, the bass is rediculous and Cyclonious spits with the confidence of a real serious talent. Check www.myspace.com/cyclonious for more info, plus support the movement and get a Whats a Postcode? Tee. Single out on itunes 27th Feb.

Punning Clan Aint Nuthin to Fudge With!

Whilst sharing a bevvy with homeboy & fresh producer Rishi at the Brick City Boutique a while back I was privilidged to be introduced an elequent young man known as Benny Diction...him and his accomplices The Punning Clan have been hard at work putting the final touches to a full release "Pun & Dusted" but have been fresh enough to leak out a few full tracks for the head to get a feeling for their flavour.

Checking the Punning Clan as a unit is a real hip hop treat with all emcees trading entertaingly fresh, quick witted rhymes over some bangin beats.....quotables like 'Its all relative like inbread families', egg on your face like John Prescott punching and buckets more are topped with masterclasses in extended rhyming which finishes in stunts such as the jacking of harrier jet to breat the sound barrier. I could do with breaking down each emcees styles a bit more, but for now that Wu like depth and intricacies is enough to keep me happily banging it on the old walkman.

Benny's solo efforts are similarly quotable packed "Get stuffed like Paxo" and some great beats are laced with some fresh scratches to keep the name Benny stuck in the dome. Not content with just punchlining through a set, World on a Plate gives a nice take on the consumerist zeitgeist...smell that petroleum pou pourri people.

Go see for yourself now and get a taste of Punning; Download Here! and cop the joint when its fully released..,loving the current UK take on Game Records themed covers ha!

Sonny Jim - The Purple Patch

Easy now the Eat Good fam have kicked off the year with a tasty treat, SonnyJim doing what he does best, "Taking it back to when MCs just used to rhyme, spazzin out with the bars, fuck a hook straight up smack u in the face hip hop how it used to be before our emcees started rhymin over that house music shit" hells yeah, ya boy Jim definitely delivers over this heavy Kelakovski beat, the first installment of a four part series. Nice

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD (right click and save)