Today I joined thousands (an estimate of 100,000; although the BBC reported 20k, a figure that even my poor maths brain finds rediculous judging by the density of the protesters over a very large area) of citizens including Muslims, Jews and Christians in a peaceful protest against the Israeli war in Palestine. It was a very emotional event, and I was sad to hear of clashes between protesters and police later this afternoon after I had left. This did not come as much of a suprise however, as the Police had set up security railings around the streets in such a way that a bottleneck effect was bound to happen. Thousands of protesters squeezed into a small area surrounded by riot helmet clad police will inevitably raise tension.
Trying not to dwell on the negative, it was great to see so many men women and children of different background uniting for a common cause. Representatives from Palastine and Jewish organisations made passionate pleas for a halt to the violence, Annie Lennox spoke and Michael Rosen read a poem from the perspective of a child growing up in Gaza. As the protest set off, the ever concious Lowkey performed his poem for Palestine, which you can check below from where he performed it an earlier rally.
One good thing I've heard to have come from the current economic downturn is the 50 Cents forthcoming reality show has been axed - don't worry Fiddy, I'm sure Ja Rule will still give you a job as an extra in a video! So will the coming fiscal difficulties finally make people take a more cynical view of mainstream pop and propaganda shamelessly promoting cash grabbing materialsm? Probably not, but the real hip hop shit is certainly going to sound more appealing. Check Scholarman for a prime example.
Originality, Innovation, Realness - phrases often bandied around by hip hoppers of all walks; Dan Bull proves he is the possessor of all three with his quite stunning 'Safe' album. His verses possess a refreshing honesty that, although it may not be appreciated by all, provides a much needed alternative voice. The musicality of the set is brilliant; fantastic use of guitars, melodies,rhythyms and superb sound layering complements Dan's varied styles - his ability to not just rap but really atune to the music reminds me of an indied out, slightly fragile Roots Manuva.
The album isn't a barrel of laughs, but then it's theme (attempting suicide during a thermonuclear holocaust) doesn't suggest it would be. Dan's introspection can sometimes feel overwhelming, but it is this that makes the album so authentic and is well tempered as an underlying strain of hope and beauty can be found teased out by the vibrant rhythms and soundscapes. 'Misfit' is typically brilliant ode to the loner exasperated by the banality of life which slams into the excellent uptempo disillusionment of 'Thistopia', also 'My Catharsis' puts more advice into 3 minutes than a library of self help manuals; whilst After life showcases cleverly brutal and dextrous flow. Definitely something different; people interested in creativity and all genres of music will be well impressed by the magnificently crafted 'Safe'.
No excuses not to investigate this; you can download the entire album right here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HMMBYOTZ For more info and to buy the high quality version on CD check www.myspace.com/DanBull
The man behind the boards of the excellently atmospheric "Two Cities" album is also one third of "The Kemistry" alongside beautifully soulfull singer Kemi and hard hitting emcee Smokey. Check two of their latest videos right here; smoothed out goodness of 'Mascot' and nice uptempo lyrical lashings over a Hammer Horror video with "The Core"...for more go peruse www/myspace.com/thekemistrymusic...
Today a Palestinian School with UN affiliation was the target of attack from Israel, killing at least 30 people and injuring 50 plus. Surley the world must wake up and stop these horrific attacks on civilians. Check the video below putting some of the conditions into lyrics, and if your able join the march in London this saturday, detailed below. Nevermind religion, this is about basic humanity.
SECOND GAZA NATIONAL EMERGENCY DEMONSTRATION STOP THE MASSACRE NOW: ISRAEL OUT OF GAZA
SATURDAY 10 JANUARY ASSEMBLE HYDE 12.30 PM MARCH TO ISRAELI EMBASSY, LONDON W8 Organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, British Muslim Initiative, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and many other organisations.
For those who don't already know, Chester P is one of the UK's premier emcees and as one half of the legendary Taskforce has released some of the finest quality, imaginative, dark, uplifting music I've ever heard (Butterfly Concerto anyone?) And The Chessmonsters solo joint "From the Ashes" is bad; So it's damn fine work the fellas of Rapsploitation have done by bringing him to Suffolk; if you're anywhere in East Anglia, get yo ass on down to: RAPSPLOITATION SESSIONS 2nd BIRTHDAY February 12th 2009 @ The Swan 8pm - 12:30am,Over 18s DJ's - Jimmy Green, Paulo, Muddle: Hosted by Ill Inspired PERFORMING LIVE: CHESTER P (Taskforce) w/ INJA (Delegates of Culture) & DJ Louis Slipperz (Ten Pound Bag Mixtapes) Plus Support from: TRUTH (http://www.myspace.com/reggierhythm) Set to be a banger! All this for only 3.50..........you lucky swines. For more info on the brothers McBane and a far better blog than this(!) check out:http://musicfromthecorner.blogspot.com
If you want real evidence of the abundence of talent in the UK scene, look no further than the latest 'Trading Standards' set from the Brummie bomber, aka the sharpest chisel in the toolbox. Sonny provides a stage for a multitude of talented emcees to spit bars over an impressive array of beats, complimenting his own talents to great effect. Standouts of the set come in the form of The God Complex; Cappo and Jehst prove their legendary status while Jim certainly aint out his depth. The ante is upped with the uptempo goodness of "Stack P's" with Orifice Vulgatron and English spitting bars at breakneck speed.
The Trading Standards CD shows Sonnyjim spitting rediculous punchlines that I have had the privilidge of hearing him spitting live and off the cuff at various jams around Brum. The energy and skill he and partner in rhyme Kosyne bring to the table is evidence of the sheer dedication to and love of grassroots hip hop culture that he represents. This approach enables quality product such as this and previous release the Sole Trader EP to represent quality street music through bringing a combination of excellent production with next level lyricism, wit and vigour.
An everyman approach is exhibited with the magnificent "Balancing Act" where Sonny and fellow Brum heavyweights Redbeard and Jimmy Davis wax philosopically about the trials and tribulations of balancing artistic goals with everyday grinding, a definite one to zone out to. The Lunar Society provides a rugged picture of Brum that the original members would probably be shocked to hear with SK, Malik and Eyebs providing a tour to parts that your regular tourguides would piss thier boxers visiting...
There's a load more treats that I've neglected; but rather than read about 'em all, go show some support, cop the Mix CD, grab ya poison and check it! www.dentedrecords.com http://www.myspace.com/sonnyjim01 http://www.eatgoodrecords.com But shiiit, while your waiting for postie to deliver your copy, check Jehst and Sonny ripping it down Down Under!
This dude doesnt just talk the talk; a martial arts expert and lyrical wordsmith the kid is nice over any beat he chooses to rip into. Couple this with a dude who has rediculous work ethic and knack for having fresh videos is second to none and you can tell theres some quality. I saw him live a few months ago and he ripped it down; Check the 'Grime' single here, a track that has drawn attention through Channel U and Choice FM spins.
Mr Shaodow is an emcee not afraid to rock over a wide variety of beats produced by Offkey, and its good to know that part of the mission statement is to encourage "MC's to stop taking the easy route when it comes to their music as it ends up hurting their art." In terms of creativity these guys are on point and its well worth checking http://www.myspace.com/mrshaodow for more gems. I'll leave you with this one though - what would you do when you see "A Black man coming"?
This is one of my favourite tracks ever from a mixtape; the film was incredible, making a household name of Danial Craig. Then Kano comes along and brutalises the track with hypnotic sample and the classic line "Im in the industry man. In Eng-a-land, where I'll never sell more than an indy band" unfortunatly too true!
To be honest I never really checked for So Solid back in the day but just stumbled across this and it made me realise preconceptions were wrong; as they invariably are...was checkin some new Asher D recently; boy got rhymes for days!
Yo this is some bullshit; its friday night and I'm stuck at home...I was going to watch the old favourite Have I Got News For You but ol' Daddio decides his hatred for Clarkeson runs so deep no body in the house is gonna watch it! Now I hate that smug basterd as well but come on! Anyways Im like...shiiiit what shall I do with myself; started working on some album artwork but then remembered Im wack at all that so I decided to enjoy some Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy...check this shit! (Literally!)
Now this is what I call that old boom bap, classic hip hop shit! Been a big fan of Nine for ages, but his stuff's mad hard to get hold of! If anyone knows where I can grab some get at me!
Sabac Red talks real sense with "Commitment". Ill Bill creates a powerfull plea to his uncle to clean up his heroin addiction with a brilliant animated video, plus Saigon speaks some wise words about the influence of Hip Hop on the next generation.
As a long time fan of OutKast, a group whose vision and creativity has influenced me and many others, it was great to stmble over this clip of Big Boi recieving the 2008 Renaissence Award. Dr West is an incredibly eloquent and cerebral intellectual; as demonstrated briefly here - whose work on race, religion and culture have been influential accross America and the world...also, any film buffs may be impressed that he was a central force in the development of the "Matrix" storylines and played a cameo in the last two films...
I've just been reliably informed that immensely talented and very friendly 360 folk have got there website up and running...go check www.360.uk.com for the goodness; including the video for "Not Staying" an amazing slice of acustic vocals! Who says I'm only interested in hip hop!!? Although I do have extra love for the guys after a fair few jamming sessions where they tolerated my mashed up freestlye stylings; love shows love innit!
Just a day after I cancelled my cinema pass, (I'm getting sick of cloned CGI/Infant comedy bullshit on repeat whilst the Baader Meinhof complex and Waltz with Bashir aint shown) I find out that a film about Biggie; 'Notorious' is coming out in Feburary, then a 2 part film about general badman Che around the same time....Ah well at least it gives me an excuse to miss Giant Kung Fu Adorable Squid 57!
Anyhow, check this Baby J banger taken from his latest set "Baby Food" featuring Million Dan, another quality slice from the midlands Man, Ive been a fan since his mixtape featuring 50 different emcees rapping over his beats, always about the lyrics!....
And if that wasn't enough for you, check Baron Von Alias here showing that UK heads can produce some nice stuff without taking themselves too seriously! Nice one.
If you don't know already, you need to get to know the work of TLG, a collective from Birmingham whose consistently quality output has won them respect and appreciation from a growing fan base. Heavily grounded in reality, able to showcase great examples of penmanship, production and cutting skills TLG provide essential listening and evidence that there are still uncompromising, truthful voices out there. Check it!
Safe boys, hope your good, just before we start can you layout the basic outline of the TLG crew cos I know you boys run fairly deep…. Well as far as the music goes TLG consists of myself (Devas),Luke, Eyebs, Konn, Mikee Lazy and Essar.
TLG are well respected around the midlands scene; what sort of promotional work have you had to do to get to this sort of level?
Devas: Well our first release was a DVD showcasing local talents from around Brum, that was like an introduction to the scene for us-putting our faces out there and making links with other artists in the city. As far as promotional work goes we've had to let the music do the talking. We don't have money to invest in PR/marketing etc, so when we came to release our mixtape we pressed up 3k cd's ourself in my living room and gave them out for free.That was our promotion.
Your tunes reflect a typical state of mind of regular guys living in fairly desolate urban conditions. How far has your environment and personal experiences affected what you rhyme about?
Devas: My environment is probably the main reason why I rap.For me personally I don't really rap about things for the sake of it if you know what i mean.I talk about things that I see going on, both in my life and the lives of people around me.
Leading from that, you are very critical of the current political
establishment. What for you are your major concerns with this government and what would you envision as an alternative?
Devas: haha How long we got?I've got alot of negative views on the way this country is run, number one probably being the amount of tax payers money spent on illegal wars. As far as an alternative goes tho, I don't know, I'm not a politician.
Mikee Lazy: I think the major problems with this goverment is that they have told too many lies .They took us to a war when they didnt need too ,and look at what has happened there. They need to get to the root of the major problems and issues we have in our culture and tackle them before they get out of hand ... There are so many people suffering and living hard lives when this doesnt need to happen . We need a "peoples goverment" , a leader who we can all relate to. Luke: I'd like to see a transparant government. A real democracy.
The tracks you choose to rap on provide perfect backdrops to your themes.Tell us a bit more about the production side of things and how a beat goes from sitting in the lab to becoming a heavyweight track on a mix cd or album….
Eyebs: Sometimes when your makin the beat and your zoned out , its like you can allready see the scene or the track, i can imagine how how them mans are going to spit it.Sometimes though its just about finding the right beat for something thats already been written, and when you hear it you just know.
Mikee Lazy: The whole of The lost generation are sick producers and everyone brings there own flavour. Its all about digging for the right sample and creating some magic by putting your own twist on that original piece of music.
Konn: The thing is with 4 producers in the camp, theres new beats coming in every other day it. Alot of the time there’s no real set plan to how beats get laced. We stay spotaneous!
…and for the emcees, what sort of processes do you go through when writing lyrics? I know I’m always impressed by the craft that goes into them, especially when revolving round a particular concept…
Devas: It depends, I write lyrics anywhere and everywhere, i write in my phone and mostly late at nite.Sometimes we will sit in the lab together, come up with a concept, write it there and then and lace it straight away but most times theres not enough hours in the day to work like that.
Luke:Yeah sometimes we might agree on a concept, then take the beat away to write and do it the next week.Sometimes we might end up not doin it for months but sometimes it takes that long to be in the right mindstate to write it.
You bring a load of good vibes and energy to your live shows. How much time do you spend practicing your routines and making sure the show goes down well?
Devas: Ha.I gotta be honest, we don't practice our sets at all.90% of the time we don't know what tunes we are doing untill an hour before, we'll burn a cd of the set and listen to it in the car on the way...
What is your view of the music industry at the moment, and in particular the hip hop scene – do you think the public’s perception will always generally be either negative or misinformed? Devas: I think it'll be a hardjob to change it.I'm also not sure if the public's perception is misinformed.Granted they may not know the genre in depth but it's not really like their feelings on it aren't justified.Most of the Hip Hop heard on mainstream radio and alot of the underground is undoubtetdly spreading a negative message that arguably has a detrimental effect on the youth.That combined with the powers of Murdochs media machine leave people's minds imprinted with this negative image of the culture and really it is hard to blame them.They don't understand it.The state of the music industires a differnet story though,I probably ain't the best man to answer that.
Eyebs: Hip Hop might be viewed negatively but it hasn't stopped it from becoming one of the biggest selling genres in the world.Hip Hop is Pop so obviously not everyone sees it negatively.
Mikee Lazy: I think to the average person when they think of hip hop they associate with rappers like 50cent,who lets be honest,aint given out the most positive attitude and is hardly a role model to our younger generation. The music scene on a whole has changed massively in the past few years with the rise of mp3 and demise of vinyl /cd. Alot of people are downloading illegally so record sales have dipped massively. This has had a crazy effect where by artists/groups are giving music away free or having to get music out so quickly that people have the option of buying it legally straight away in the hope this will discourage illegal downloading. Im not sure what the music scene will be like in 5 years but i hope that The lost generation are still contributing towards it.
How important do you think it is for artists to be socially aware or conscious?
Devas: To me it is not just important for an artist to be socially aware, it is important for everyone. If we are not aware of our society then how are we expected to integrate into it and live as a community?
What new projects are you currently working on and what are your ambitions for the future?
We've been working on our album over the past year or so, set to be released at the beginning of '09. It features guest spots from I.R.S, Ras Supa, Sonny Jim & Kosyne, Reggiimental & more,with production from Eyebs, Kelakovski, Konn, Lazy, Essar, Archimage and Doc Mini.Thats coming out as a joint venture between Rusty Jukebox & Eat Good Records so keep em peeled!!! We're ft on a Rusty Jukebox Compilation and an Eat Good compilation both due in the new year. Also Mikee Lazy' will be droppin an EP ft:Sonny Jim, Kyza, Dubbledge +more... Our ambition for the future is just to release music that people enjoy.
An ambition already achieved I reckon! Check www.myspace.com/thelostgen to keep up with the latest good stuff from TLG.
The world watched and waited expectedly, and I felt waves of relief as I sat glued to the TV in Ipswich at 3.30 this morning with my Dad. The hope that Americans might finally see some way out of the shambolic past 8 years and that Obama could become president was slowly realised as more and more swing states became democratic, in the true sense of the word. This has been a great and historic day and I sincerly hope that the sort of grassroots, community activism that helped propel the Senetor to his forthcoming new post will help to engage a generation around the world. I sincerly hope that Obama will be able to deliver as much as he has promised, but I already think he has given the world a chink of optimism...let's hope the 'change' agenda fully applies to foreign policy as much as domestic concerns...Its a good day!
Gotta say big Brrrrap to them GTA boys once again! Check out the dope video for the live tune "Breakthrough", another great production from the land of dons and scholars. Look closely and you might even catch a glimpse of your favourite rapping blogmeister!
Teaming up with DJ Nifty this second LP combines outer space beats with tales of the city and lyrical chicanery
Solocypher - Citizen Framed Download
Debut 2003 album features Chima Anya, Kid Anime, Serious, Concept, Eliza and Kaf. Includes smash hits "Selly Oak" "One Love one Life" and "This is what happens (when you don't stay sane) Email solocypher@gmail.com for a proper version!
Change Through The Rhyme
Check Solocypher trading international bars with Scholarman over heavy D'Logic beat
Konn: The thing is with 4 producers in the camp, theres new beats coming in every other day it. Alot of the time there’s no real set plan to how beats get laced. We stay spotaneous!
: I think to the average person when they think of hip hop they associate with rappers like 50cent,who lets be honest,aint given out the most positive attitude and is hardly a role model to our younger generation.
