New Az, Strange U, Statick Selectah, Joey Bada$$, Freddie Gibbs, Stoki Papi, Fat Salad & Frida Precariat & Introducing Comrade

Chima Anya Live, Ryan Turner, Demrick, Armani of York, Mellow Music and Orie Pierre New Hiphop

We kick off this time around with the live video version of "What Now" Chima's lively anthem with an healthy call to arms to live life to the full whilst questioning everything whilst still smiling for the camera. Real music as ever from the doctor.

Ryan Turner, producer from Norfolk, VA recently sent me this tasty beat tape through his 'Click N Spark' productions company that rolls along very smoothly, not suprising as he has recently worked with hiphop legends Nappy Roots for their 'Sh!t's Beautiful Mixtape. A real proponant of making good music organically, he is up for these beats to be taken and used as long as credit is properly given; as he says "You never know what could be a hit until it is created"; true indeed so emcees out there have a dig through and see what magic you can make (before I get off this blog and do it my damn self :D!! )

And now, I must admit my day job has been breaking my balls lately and as such a massive bag of mail has been accumulating leaving precious little time to listen to let along comment on some of the illness that has been coming through. Suffice to say hiphop is well and truly vibrant in the underground. Some efforts havent quite made the cut this time around; if you're an artist or company who has made a submission but not been featured please don't stop the sending music through, next time it may get a prominant feature! For now how could I not kick off with this ill track to my favourite colour (ever since I discovered it was the favoured ink of Roman Emporors; everyone has a little dictator complex hidden somewhere) 

@ArmaniofYork  

Xzibit, B-Real, Dizraeli & DownLow, Black Milk

"When everybody though I was insane, I stood tall after all of the pain"....."I left my mark on the game" If anyone can atest to that it's Xzibit and B-Real; who both lay down some hard lving verses on this guitar led joint. It might be a bit too consciously going for a pop market with Statick Selectah emplyoing a soaring vocal approach (curtousey of Demrick) but I'm not complaining as that hard core rap sound is clear enough, if it gets radio/club play I'll be first in the mosh pit.



Black Milk has a new album coming out that you can check over on Pitchfork as a stream before pre-release. Interpret Sabotage is a rapid fire track over some nice spacey synths with a luscious sounding hook from Mel; lyrics bringing that David & Goliath type feeling of trying to maintain and become successful.

Deoins house is a nice retrospective on the positive influence of matriachars in different situations; bringing hiphop for the family...one your gran could vibe out to.
Codes and Cab fare is a pretty slow burning spacey affair and features a Black Thought verse which I was excited to check but unfortunately underwhelms a little bit as being full of contradictory non-sequiters. Ive probably missed something there so will come back in a few years and re-evaluate!
Ghetto Demf features Quelle Chris and from a start point of not knowing what DEMF stands for it probably means I m not remotely qualified to write about it. Starts off with some thugged out gun talk but contextualises by describing the rough environment from which this stems. Vibing it out to it I realise this is not one to be over-analysed, its some thugged out pimp party shit that I wish I still loved as much as I used to; still wilding out though! Sonny Junior (Dreams) is a great piece of music production with some lovely sax rolling through a hypnotic heavy drum pattern. Sunday's Best is a real nice track to relax to; its a shame there isnt an extended version to play first thing of a morning, even though the critical stance it takes on religion and society means it may open up more of a debate than you'd bet on. Monday's Worse snaps us out of the good times to more sombre, sobre rhymes but the Motown sounding hook brings the track a classic sound. Perfected on Puritan Ave is one of my favourites with a reflective description of Milk's formative surroundings. Love the lyrics, just couldnt quite deal with the instrumental breakdown towards the end of the track. Dismal envokes the mood you might expect; very brooding and menacing, I got a bit freaked out and zoned out of this one to be honest. Parrallels ft Ab is one of the 'talking to the ladies' tracks; sounds good but I never feel I can comment on these as Im never a fan in general. X Chords is another nice instrumental that leads into the clattering  beat of Black Sabbath which features some haunting vocals from Tone Trezure; Money Bags brings back that hard hiphop swagger to an album that is very enjoyable and atmospheric. As a rap fiend I would have preffered more vocals but as a musical project its pretty great.

Menagerie member and show rocker alongside the Small Gods, Dizraeili has joined forces with Downlow for this new mixtape. First track Rise is an absolute belter. Do You is a family tree of influence though youth that leads into an impressive history of living for hiphop in the face of adversity whilst maintaining an inspirational amount of positivity. Minny the Moocher kicks off with some amaxing crowd hyping and DJ skill flexing, Dizraeli kicking rhymes making himself a new CV; "I am Cardinal Hume" in impressive style. I've been playing the Mixtape on rotation ever since, and rather delay any further just gonna post this up with one question....Can you dig it?  

The Hip Hop Hunter - Fresh New Format ft All That Good Ish

So much hip hop, so little time. I've adopted a bit of a fresher posting style that I hope to continue, throwing in a lot more stuff into fewer posts. If you would like to contribute views or get material highlighted please email me solocypher@gmail.com or twitter @solocypher. The first section "New" might be a bit misleading as I often only catch up with tunes months after thier release; I hope this is forgivable. The first cut is from Statick Selectah which is a very encouraging example of how lyracism is still relevent....for me Black Thought absolutely tears the beat to pieces, and helps secure him in my personal "Top 5 Dead or Alive" rosta. It's a changebale and controversial list that everyone has their own opinions on, but for me (until I change my mind again!) its.......Rakim, Nas, Black Thought, 2Pac and Canibus......Get at me with your own!

New Releases



R-Jay ft G.M.I take the hiphop game 'Back to Basics' in this headnooder bought to life by an old school computer game styled video (somewhere between Atari and SNES graphics if my memory serves me well) Some great reflections on the old school aesthetics when emcees really concentrated on being fresh and being the best out of thier respective geographical areas.


Last post we bought you "Appertisers" from Bennydiction. It truly was a preparation for a main course, which Benny has released literally a few hours ago. I'm looking forward to digesting (poor pun sorry :) this, which comprises a selection of work the pair have written and composed between 2011 and 2012.....bringing in a posse of collaborators this is a diverse release with plenty of lyricism to enjoy. For me so far the life affirming "Holiday Snaps" and posse cut "Land & Sea" are getting the most pull ups. This EP itself is paving the way for thier "Life Moves" collaborative album, look out for that and in the meantime enjoy.

Got this short little banger from Stori in the mail. Initially I was a bit sceptical but after a couple of plays really got into this, ladies bringing that rawish.... Any track saluting anything that Method Man's ever done get the thumbs up from me.

Associated Minds are back with that heat provided by Metabeats, who in preparation for his second LP "Caviar Crackle" drops the joint "SLSBS" a sub sonic epic featuring vocals from Quelle Chris. Check it out


For a slightly slower summer vibe check out Chuck Inglish; one half of The Cool Kids who comes through with a slow-ass tour around his daily routine....listening in you can just imagine yourself sitting in one of those rediculous all American drop top whips as Chuck cruises around with his pager constantly blowing up....
Chuck is presenting this track alongside a freely downloadable EP inspired by a night cruising Austin Texas in drop tops; hence the cinematic feel...grab it here. 



For heads looking for a little more food for thought you should be interested in a track from Dan Status who keeps the sonics tasty but also provides some  interesting lyrics alongside  Marcus J. Higgins and Jon Blaq "Imagine if I had a son, intelligent and clever one his daddy where he get it from and anything he ever want his daddy where he get it from Mumma fine as hell drive a car, she get anyone" the hook keeps it all nicely together.




Hip Hop Radio

In this section I'm going to try and showcase HipHop shows, Radio Stations or Portals that are bringing the best rap and hiphop to the table; if you run or know of a great station (available online preferably) drop me a line at solocypher@gmail.com and I'll try to get it mentioned. So this time around......

Make sure you get your musical fix on a regular basis from the dons over at Itch FM The main site is constantly updated with new videos from US and UK, from live cyphers and freestyles to interviews and full videos its a constant stream of gems. The radio shows themselves also serve up some great blends, from classics mixed back to back to the most current in US, UK and Global hiphop and music. Recent shows I've been digging from Oli P, Thad Boogie and A.Gee check here

New Statik Selektah, B.I.G. Krit & Freddie Gibbs

Beats, rhymes, being dope and enjoying life; this is an ill track from some of the most exciting up and comers in the game...

Unbridled Land Grabbing Greed! Plus new Statik Selektah ft Big K.R.I.T & Freddie Gibbs

A pretty slick preview of a larger campaign from Oxfam's GROW campaign; a project to try and make sure the world has enough to eat. Pretty powerful stuff already.

Statik Selektah always packs a smooth hip hop punch with his consumate production and his new single featuring Big K.R.I.T and the hard-as-fuck-but-mad-intelligent Freddie Gibbs lay it down nicely. Check the new single taken from new album 'Population Control' here