Whole Heap of Beats and Rhymes from Nutso et al, RJD2 & STS....

First Up, really digging this, a fantastic audio back drop from RjD2 gives STS the perfect canvas to throw down knowledge....

Vocalswords try to keep things on a righteous tip and I was excited to find this selection of collabs with def rhyme spitter Nutso...so got a bit worried by the uber violent "The Reaper" but then taking it for the extended metaphore it is decided to give it the benefit of the doubt; concerns over the presentation of uber violence, misogyny and all the usual difficult subjects stick with me as the tape progresses; however the fact that many of the rhymes in this project give a much better defined narrative with explanatory caveats (or just the Nutso " FucK You Attitude") than the majority of music (much of which often only contains about the total of 2 sentences of actual lyrics) that I'm getting daily through the inbox means it deserves to be heard...especially the Ras Kass appearance from around 15mins in...plus an existential take on Shakespeare around 22mins in....will balance out the hip hop karma I reckon!....

Beat Creators - Instrumentals from Audible Doctor, Kosyne, Jas Beats, Pro P & Seattle Sans

A few hungry beat makers/producers/instrumentalists have sent through things for the blog recently, and I also get sent a lot of work from producers selling me their wares as part of their business promotion. Fair play all round, so thought I'd do a couple of posts highlighting some of these new school architects of hiphop music plus a couple of cats from the UK I've appreciated over the years. This is Part One so if anyone wants shine in Part Two holla at solocypher@gmail.com. To pay dues, gotta start off a post of this kind with the work of Audible Doctor; this tape from 2011 has some gems but dont forget to check out his more recent work too...I have no idea what his terms and conditions are but if you just want some great beats to freestyle over get familiar...

The Eat Good Family out of Birmingham, UK have been providing consistent quality over the years and stellar beats have emerged from the ingenious melting pot of Louis' Den. Eat Good's rhyming and beat producing heavyweight Kosyne, has been (excuse the pun) been instrumental in all this, however it was only in April this year that he released his own beat project. Some very creative and funky styles are given great exposure here, the dreamscape sonics of 'The God 'Shif a particular highlight.



And keeping to the shores of Albion, Manchester's Pro P has been pumping out classic headnod boom bap beats since at least 2009. Check out his catalogue of beats and collaborative projects here. In the meantime get some homies round for a cypher over the menacing vibes of 'Rep My Crew' from Volume 5 of his Boom Bap Tape series. PS Check the end of this post for a sneaky example of his work with emcees on board from yours truly and some of the illest UK spitters....



Jas Beats

16 Year old Jasmine Pope aka Jas Beats has got a pretty comprehensive Sound Cloud page showcasing her pretty impressive work. Some nice use of samples are made to get you in the mood with theme ready beats...




Seattle Sans 



Some deliciously dusty samples and production here, this one's definitely for the old school mellow heads although with the right emcee these could potentially be some classics...

 Maskerade Beats

Not a lot that immediately appealed to me as a lot on here has more of an RnB vibe so I ain't hating; Zoning out to 'See Through' beat though so worth checking out.

 Not my usual cup of tea but I guess in this day and age people may well be after some demented loony space age trap style music, and this is the sort of businiss DJ CPO seves up with aplomb.

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  

New Vast Aire, T-Rocc and Scholarman Music

Vast Aire of Cannibal Ox has been working alongside new rap record lable heavyweights man Bites Dog to release 'A Space Illiad EP' an extension of OX 2010: A Street Odyssey, and from the sounds of 'Royal Purple Bag' it's going to be pretty special. I think when Cannible Ox first smashed craniums in the rap world I was more interested in Ruff Ryders and the big shiny money, power, respect rap so this re-emergence is perfectly timed to be appreciated by generations old and new!

Big shouts to T-Rocc who hooks up with Jammy to produce this wonderful piano led tune 'End of the Day' taken from new EP 'Here Now'; a melancholic track pondering on the struggles of making a mark in the music scene that works well as the beats and rhymes complement each other; hailing from my hometown of Ipswich T-Rocc's accent comes across nicely and makes a refreshing change on the old lugholes...his positive take on hip hop is also good to hear. You can download the EP 'Here Now'...Vocalswords still doesnt have the tech access to check it out yet! (Still broadcasting live from Newington Library in Elephant)Holla @T_RoccBeats on Twitter to show love.

Scholarman kicks off 2013 with a beattape showcasing his production skills with a nice variety of mellow and headnodding beats and styles. 'Euphonious' is available for a limited time for free from Scholarman's Bandcamp.

Simon Jr - Aeroplanes

From the jump off this 24 track instrumental hip hop album from Simon JR jumps out....anything that has a Mos Def vocal cut up within the first few seconds gets a big thumbs up from me. The album lives up to early promise throughout and the global influence grouded in funkalicious and hip hop sounds is a perfect accompaniemnt to todays London sunshine, but works equally well rocking a party or on your head phones as you funk your way around through life....go download it now for free!