Africa Stop Ebola awareness song....

Raising awareness of the need to go to a doctor as soon as symptoms occur. English translation and info below....

A collective of African musicians have come together to record a song to help raise awareness about Ebola in Africa. The song, entitled “Africa Stop Ebola”, features the singers Tiken Jah Fakoly, Amadou & Mariam, Salif Keita, Oumou Sangare, Kandia Kora, Mory Kante, Sia Tolno, Barbara Kanam and rappers Didier Awadi, Marcus (from the band Banlieuz'Arts) and Mokobe, and also includes the musicians Sékou Kouyaté (electric guitar, bass, electric kora) et Ludovic N’Holle (drums).

The song is a message to citizens about what they can do to help stop the spread of Ebola in Africa. The song is performed in French and vernacular languages widely spoken across the region to ensure that the message is understood regardless of the level of literacy and education of the population.

Thanks to Cheick Tidiane Seck for his active participation in this project.
LYRICS IN ENGLISH

Kandia Kora (Guinea / sings in French)
Africa is full of sadness
To see our families die
Do not touch the sick
Do not touch the bodies
Everyone is in danger
Young and old
We must act for our families

Chorus x 4
Ebola, Ebola
Invisible enemy

Tiken Jah Fakoly (Côte d’Ivoire / sings in French)
Ebola you are our enemy
If you feel sick the doctors will help you
I assure you, the doctors will help you
There is hope to stop Ebola
Have confidence in the doctors

Chorus x 4
Ebola, Ebola
Trust the doctors

Amadou & Mariam (Mali / sing in French)
Ebola is not good
You should see a doctor
Ebola is not good
You should see a doctor
Ebola hurts
You must see a doctor
Ebola is not good
You should see a doctor

Chorus x 4
Ebola, Ebola
Invisible enemy

Salif Keita (Mali / sings in Malinké)
Take Ebola seriously
This is a very serious disease
Once you have symptoms, please seek doctors
They can help you
Wash your hands and avoid shaking hands with others

Sia Tolno (Guinea / sings in Kissi)
Beg you, dear parents,
Follow the advice of medical authorities
Ebola came to hurt us
Respect their advices

Barbara Kanam (DRC / sings in Lingala)
Ebola you came to suffocate our people
You add pain
To the DRC
But we will overcome
Stay up
Sooner or later we will beat you

Mory Kante (Guinée / sings in Malinké and Soussou)
Get up, stand up
Ebola is a problem for us
We cannot greet someone
You cannot kiss someone
It does not mean that person makes you ashamed
It’s just a reality

Oumou Sangaré (Mali / sing in Bambara)
Ebola has become a problem for us today
I ask all the doctors in Africa to stand up
Ebola has really become a problem for us

Chorus x 4
Ebola, Ebola
Have confidence in doctors

Didier Awadi (Sénégal / sings in French)
Again we talk about tragedy
As a false note in the melody
Ebola we thought you were since abolished
You are walking around spreading disease
We will not flee from you we will not hide
Because we know we have the means to push you away
We will strike you, we are not a plague
We will get together and we will beat you

Marcus (Guinée / sings in Soussou)
Among them there are many who have access to hospitals
Those who are cured are no longer contagious
There are some who remain at home until the evil gets bigger
Oh my God
Mama Africa get up and stand united as we used to do before for other battles
Ebola you also shall be defeated

Mokobé (Mali / sings in French)
Another tragedy strikes the continent
Africa needs vaccine, medicine
Hope for them is permitted
Should we close our eyes and let them into oblivion? (not !)
Then unite for a good cause
Mobilize and break the closed doors,
Ebola I swear we will evict you
Africa needs vaccine and treatment

Ebola, Ebola
Invisible enemy
Ebola Ebola .....
Ebola, Ebola
Trust the doctors x2

Itch FM's Weekly Wind Up; Capone N Noreaga, Saddat X, Idris Elba and more!

Shout out to Eza, Shante and the whole Itch FM massive; they've been putting out a beacon for hip hop for a long time now and these Weekly Wind Ups are a great way to get your hiphop fix. Got inspired to blog up a couple of the items....though I don't think the Connousiours of Hip Hop show has the Chester P feature; keep updated on that one and all the banging shows on their Soundcloud page.

SKANDOUZ & Tom Foolery Beats - Connoisseurs Of Hip Hop 15 - ITCH FM (03-OCT-2014) by Itch Fm on Mixcloud

New Music from Saigon, Benny Diction & Mnsr Frites and Chima Anya

Had to celebrate Saigon's eagerly anticipated release "The Greatest Story Never Told Part 3" with a video, check the poweful track putting pay to the glamour of a street life that had him behind bars for a long stretch. Then buy the CD or digitally via Spotify or itunes check the album, a revalation for positive lyracism in hiphop these days....

Meanwhile in the relatively more sedate UK, Benny Diction has been getting together with Granville Session's Mnsr Frites (thats Mister Chips to you matey) to celebrate the life of a gourmet with a vibrant video in Bllomsbury Market. An audio tribute to MadLib's "Chitlin & Pepsi", "Rubicon & Pasties" is a gem in it's own right! "Shouts to all the ladies who don't skimp on the portions....." Also watch out for a cameo from Chief Quiche ;)


And finally the homeboy Chima Anya smacks it with a new track as part of a sequential release series you can check by hunting the man down here. In the meantime enjoy! And yes, you can enjoy Lil Wayne and Big Daddy Kane!

Golden Age Goodies

Can't believe I hadn't had the treats of these verses before, powerful video with clips from the Panther film.

Check the Piano lick on this one! The classic gravel voice of the Underground, Nine, hooks up with Smooth Da Hustler over some smooth jazz infused instrumental....

Killer Mike Special

Vibing off the Ghetto Gospel video after a promo tweet from legendary Poor Righteous Teacher, Wise Intelligent, I realised Vocalswords has not yet done much jutice to the big man with the social vision, skills and imagination behind the Classic R.A.P. Music and a score of other great albums and mixtapes. Check out in particular the incredible video for "Reagan" in which he which brings a sledge hammer blow to the Neo-Con society America, and increasingly in the UK find our selves wedged into.

SigNif comes to claim the game; meanwhile Chima gets introspective plus New MC Lyte, Common, 10 Beats, Has Lo & Castle !

 Signif has just droppedan incredible full length album....go get that on a loop here right after readin this post!







MC Lyte featuring Common and 10 Beats "Would you rather be fathers to your daughters?" Common absolutely smashes with the last line of a heavy verse....."Read a letter from the World and it said "Yes Y'all" ...MC Lytes' distinctive, conciously analytical and straight refreshing flow bookends this banger that is a welcome relief to to some of the more dubiously flossie material thats been submitted here lately...

And the guy who never puts out dubious business, Chima Anya come with some deep thinking on this ultra slow burner....


 And finally, fresh in the inbox comes a Cerebral Slammer from Has-Lo & Castle for you to vibe with, Peace!

Scottish Referendum Special! MOG, Kurly Hypa, Louie & Fliptrix & Rag N Bone Man....

So on the eve of a Historic decision to be made by the people of Scotland, I thought I might join the political excitment not with any analysis but just a couple slices of hip hop representing all over the map. Enjoy.  

First up bit of a lazy journalistic endeavour but by typing in 'Scottish Hip Hop' to a search engine this gem appeared. Rugged and raw and fairly apolitical, in terms of the referendum at least!



And if you managed to keep up with those speedy bars check out Louie's ode to the city of Glasgow....







Curly Hypa repps Leicester and goes in mad deep on this ill slice of real life lyracism

Last but not least the scientific funky cinematic styles of Fliptrix are given Anthem status by Rag N Bone man on this track while its visual existance rocks over the Molotov bumpin instrumental.

Audible Treats Podcast Flava plus King Sterlz, The Infamous Malcolm Tucker and other People of the World Today!

Holy Sound, I swear I'm blessed Featuiring Kool A.D. and DJ - I wasn't sure what to make of this joint when it first banged out the speakers but I was enjoying the sounds and got a bit amped off some of the lyrics..."Fuck hydro fracking, they making filthy water. Fuck Paul Ryan, he seems hella shady...Shout to Pussy Riot, those Russian bitches crazy" Check it! Shout to Audio Treats for putting together a banging new podcast featuring Deltron 3000 and many more...check the playlists the gang have created too, a lot of good stuff. Annnnnd finaly, a bit random but in the spirit of Vocalswords my mate on twitter@BenBrazier highligghted a series of posters on Inspirational sweary shit inspired by the one and only Malcom Tucker, check the posters here and check out the man himself if you have no clue about Mr Capaldi's skillz

Has Lo & Castle

GTS Mob, Audible Doctor, Guilty Simpson & Freddro Starr

GTS Mob have created a UK summertime anthem over a very nice laid back beat produced by Big Dockz who spits alongside Crime, and I have to agree that their stated aim "to capture the sunshine, good vibes and fun times we look forward to every year" comes through especially with lines like "We were having fun till the feds come" and "Season up the Best Grub" and is evidenced next to a poignent Coke bottle bigging up "Mum". However the darker side of London life is reflected with numerous references to gang culture and guns, and for me some of this gave me pause for thought as to whether I should post the video, so I appraoched Big Dockz from the team who reflected "We intentionally made casual references especially in the chorus to show the harsh reality that as much good that goes on in our summer in an instant one of us could be gone. Some of my circle aren't here due to this reality already hence why in my verse I said 'praying all my donnys see the next one' we are detailing our own reality." This caveat rang true for me in a way that highlights the differences in life and perspectives that make up UK street and hiphop culture, and one that this blog can't afford to deny.

Over the ocean, Audible Doctor has as ever been cooking up treats and the latest features heavyweight Guilty Simpson on another solid headnodder.

 

 

Next up, from the Press Release...."Hailing from Hollygrove, the artists of 0017th return with visuals for their latest release, "Black Man," which illustrates the hardships that can come along with being an African-American man in the land of the free. 

The recent shooting of Mike Brown closely mirrors the murder of their childhood friend and Hollygrove native, Keith "Magic" Atkinson. Atkinson made headlines as Lil Wayne's friend who was unlawfully killed by NOPD the morning after they had reunited in celebration. "Black Man" is a powerful tribute to Michael Brown, Keith "Magic" Atkinson, and the thousands of others murdered just because of the color of their skin."...... ..I've finished off with Fredro Starr's "Made in the Streets" track taken from the album of the same name which has just been released on CD, and paints some powerfully devastating portraits of race related violence.

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

Ras Kass, P.A.T, Lil Futa & AmaZin

I was having a conversation with an actor doing a great job of promoting the work of Alexander Von Humbolt, an explorer and scientist who saw the need for an approach to science that could account for the harmony of nature among the diversity of the physical world. We explored the nature of education in its current system which has a huge tendency to categorise and isolate and subjects, as oppose to education that allows to see the 'bigger picture'. We discussed how there are no formal lessons in how to recognise and analyse propaganda; and the conversation came to mind whilst listening to this excellent track by Patrick "P.A.T. Barnett". Have a listen and remember, "What you see on TV is a smoke and mirror factory"

At Vocalswords we endeavour to provide a blog that presents hip hop in a positive light and as a counter weight to mainstream dominance but understand that often the backgrounds of artisits and subject matter that underground artists present may not always necessarly be uber positive, but when we do post music containing these themes we try to do it when emcees present the content in an artisic, realistic or retrospective manner. Lil Futa has jus posted a mixtape that fully fulfills these criteria and is well worth checking out, especially as the production by AmaZin is  well worthy of the self  accalaimed accolade.

Track to Watch - Just BARS  ft Chuck Kayocee

"yall the kinda niggas that get chicken from lies
but aint a nigga in the world that is crooked as I....
I had it hard coming up
but a nigger never cried
my uncle was up in the pen
my daddy he had just died
grew up with out a dad i gues a nigga traumatised
mumma had a different nigga living on the side "

And finally, a blast from the past from the Van Gogh of Rap, Ras Kasiano; who releases the Goldyn Chyld Album on Bandcamp. Plenty of tracks you've heard before but well worth checking the whole project.

Nottinghill Carnival Warm Up and Prize Givaway!

Props to J Squared and Steve the Sleve as part of the The Breakin Bread Crew who have put together this selection of Carnival Bangers in anticipation of London's original andmost lively, colourful and good vibe carnival in Nottinghill on Sunday 24 and Monday 25th August. Really looking forward to this years event as a lot of good homies are going to be rolling with me; if your in the UK and rolling on either day holla at me on twitter @solocypher and if you manage to find us in the melee I'll get you a free hard copy of my album 'Elephantitus' seeing as independent record shops I've approaced in Nottinghill won't even stock for sale or return nowadays!

Carnival Classics by Breakin Bread on Mixcloud

Rhymes galore from Scorsayzee, Meridian Dan and Scottie Flippen

Nottingham's finest Scorzayzee is back on the mic with this up beat positive banger.....gotta couple lines of poetry? Share it! Good call Scorz.....


What you mean you never heard of Cullowhee!? Scottie Flippen holds it down for his North Carolina ends with a beat made by cartoon villain sounding Mike Machete.

Shouts to Itch FM DJ's Schroff and Primvte for playing this 'I'm from a Place track on their Rap Nation Radio show.I really aint been feeling the radio repitition of German Whip so it's good to hear a little sumpthin' more thoughtfull.....

Solocypher - Elephantitus Album

I'm excited to anounce the arrival of my first studio album 'Elephantitus' (available via Bandcamp, click on the album art above, look out for clean and explicit lyric versions) ; it was recorded by Chemo at Kilamanjaro Studios in South London, UK and is the result of the last few years rapping and lving in Elephant & Castle, and contains a variety of tracks documenting London and hiphop life, hopes and fears.   

Kicking off with 'Welcome to Elephant' produced by my flatmate-at-the-time James, the track gives a little tour of the Elephant and Castle area of South London, its sights, smells and feelings of the local people. The album features a guest appearance from my long time collaborator and friend Doctor Chima Anya on the super lively 'Anthem' produced by Fat Gold Chain DJ TacticK; a document as to why we spend so much time and effort on the cruel mistress that is hiphop (see performanc photo below)

Many beats are provided by one of my main dudes from my home town of Ipswich, DJ Nifty aka Sulako....Nifty has sent me piles of excellent beats over the years and there is plenty more to come from this collaboration, but on the album the funky 'Bad 2 tha Bone' is a favourite cheeky banger, and his work on 'Candide' and 'Lord Knows' gave me the inspiration to create a couple ot thematic tracks. 

Fat Gold Chain collaborators TacticK and DJ Dave provide the backdrop to an ode to the importance of love and family on 'Be Kind'. Further contributions come courtesy of DJ Sugai who provides some ace DJ Premier inspired cuts on 'Eco-Tech' and Dooban who gets mega technical on my lyrically dense 'Figureskating Lessons' track.  The album also features Mista P and Mole D as lyrical guests and thier contribution makes double time track 'The Chasm' produced by JG Beats a personal favourite. 

Album Tracks have so far been supported by DJ 279 on Choice FM and on the LC Show on Itch FM so massive shouts to those guys and all support on social media. For now enjoy a few album tracks I've splurged on Sound cloud and if you're feeling em please go get the whole album (Free download or Pay What U Like!) 

For those interested in more Solocypher stuff check right here.

Lil B - No Black Person is Ugly

 Say it one time! Beautiful and moving lyrics and video from the base god!

Vibe to these....Hip Hop from G.Young, Cormega & Busta Rhymes

Legends, New Jacks and General Business

Had a fine weekend of hiphop and just wanted to salute Nas, Immortal Technique, Soul II Soul and Hassan Salam for keeping London very lively these last two days. Seeing a whole sea of fans rapping along to classic lines from the 'Illmatic' album was a beautiful thing at LoveBox, an event which apparently has a bit of a bad rep in terms of attitude all I saw was love especially as veteran smooth party rockers Soul II Soul did thier thing in the late afternoon sunshine! If anyone happens to read this and has photos of the event holla and I'll re-edit to stick them in; I was too busy partying to document anything! Anyhow a lot of cool shit right about now so check these if you gots time to chill!

First up, the big questions....Why has religion always been so powerful? A strong contender for reaon number one is the dicipline it teaches. Becoming very focused on a set of ideals can imbibe one with a feeling of enormous power and Hopsin demonstrates this incredibly well, even as he shares confusion his dedication to questioning and searching ".......Theres way too many different religions
with vivid descriptions begging all fuckin men and women to listen....." this is great, intense stuff in this the latest "Ilmind" of an amazing series.



Another great lyricist is the irrepresable Jehst, whose performance of  Camberwell Carrots at the Jazz Cafe here in London is well worth checking.....



Now a little treat for Onyx heads who have had to wait 10 years but now the crew are returning with a Snowgoons produced album....first cut visuals, produced by Trash Secco and Rome York, for 'TurnDaFucUp' are right here, and its as rugged as you could possibly want....



Mean while emcee Adil Omar takes raucous hiphop to another level with the fisticuff flaunting  'Paki Rambo'




And finally, I was sent some music by Skipp Whitman, and though it was solid I thought it may not be his best so I did a bit of digging and found this little honest gem.....recently my girl has been forcing me to watch old episodes of Glee I was actually appreciating the glitz and ceremony of the big band stuff; the unabashed optimism of this dude is pretty refreshing, though I reckon a bit more work on the complexity of his bars could help push him further.....

Domineko, Chima Anya and Nas Mixtape

Chima Anya is a creative beast and you can never quite tell what he's going to hit you up with next. Seeing the title of a track "Smoke it, Drink it" I was looking forward to a bit of a mindless banger (Chima is occaisionally capable of these) but had my mind seriously challenged with a hard hitting reflection on the perils of hardcore drug addiction; a topic Chima is well qualified to discuss after working closely with addicts. Well worth a watch, a cartoon sterotype this aint.



Domeniko comes correct with a great mini video for an uplifting and lyrically concious track. This is taken from his new album "Wood Floors" about which he writes "It’s the audio summary of the lessons and bits of inspirations that helped me achieve the long fight of getting back to who I know I want to become as an artist.  I've realized the only person you have to beat is yourself."




And finally, if you happen to be feeling a little nostalgic or just fancy a good blast of Nasty Nas, DJ Reminise has put together a great overview of the legend's progression through life....possibly could have done with a few more early bangers but overall this is well worth a listen....love the intro track as Nas waxes lyrical about going full circle through the medium of Cognac!

Eliza Shaddad premieres with Wonderland Magazine "Waters"

Eliza Shaddad is going to be a big name very soon as her incredible talent, writing skills and work ethic are coming to the fore. She has recently been working and touring with Clean Bandit but her solo material is culminating in a 4 track EP; the lead track 'Waters' is being Premiered by Wonderland Magazine....quickly followed by Vocalswords and hopefully many other blogs and sites! Spread the word :)