Easily the most underrated producers in the land, The P Brothers have released four instalments of their incredible vinyl series ‘The Heavy Bronx Experience’, each one being a testament to true hip-hop, and that the UK are keeping the genre alive as good as anyone else - maybe even more so.
The old school sensibilities are rife within the tunes - booming bass, beats that can easily blow speakers given the chance, and guest rappers that have only one focus - bludgeoning the track lyrically. P Brothers have aligned themelves with some of the best Nottingham talent - Scor-Zay-Zee, Cappo, Mr 45, Lee Ramsay, aswell as some legendary US rappers that have stood up and took notice to their sound, namely Sadat X, and a handful of other New York-based rappers such as Milano & Gang Starr-affiliate Smiley Da Ghetto Child.
Their sound is their ace in the hole - it can’t be ignored or shrugged off as poorly made or set in its ways, because to do so you would be insulting the very essence of hip-hop. Paul S & Ivory have recreated the sound of ‘88, and backed it up with a British sensibility to prove it to be more than just a US knock-off.
Here is their ‘Best Of’ compilation, an album taking the best tracks from the Heavy Bronx Experience series and putting them all on one CD for new ears. I hope you all enjoy this album as much as I do, and support their live show, along with buying their vinyl series up quick sharp.
1. Live Intro 2. The Illest (feat. Cappo) 3. 45 & Cappo Live From The Boat Club 4. 3 Kings (feat. Scor-Zay-Zee, Cappo & Mr 45) 5. Nottingham BX (feat. Cappo) 6. Come On Down (feat. Sadat X, Eddie Cheeba & GS) 7. Showstopper (feat. Mr 45) 8. Scor-Zay-Zee & Lee Ramsay Live From The Boat Club 9. Make It Better (feat. Cappo) 10. Incomparable (feat. Cappo) 11. Rock The House (feat. Lee Ramsay & Donald D) 12. Showstopper Part II - 45 Rocks The House (feat. Mr 45) 13. 4 Kings Live (feat. Scor-Zay-Zee, Lee Ramsay, Cappo & Mr 45) 14. Great Britain (feat. Scor-Zay-Zee) 15. Kill - Make My Songs... (feat. Cappo) 16. Outro
A half-arsed post is what you’re getting here to tide you over till the end of the week. it’s a re-up of the Ty Collection from a couple of months back for some nutter naming himself ‘Blokey’ and for anyone else who wants to learn how to make great music. Ty truly is one of Britain’s most consistent artists, and if you don’t know much of his material, these 10 songs are a mix of tracks from his three albums and ‘We Don’t Care’, his contribution towards Big Dada’s ‘Extra Yard’ compilation. I’m a huge fan of Ty’s work and I hope you enjoy these songs as much as I do, enough for you to go out and support it yourself.
The Tale (from ‘Awkward’) Ghetto Perspective (from ‘Awkward’) Break The Lock (from ‘Awkward’) We Don’t Care (from ‘ Extra Yard’) Ha Ha (from ‘Upwards’) Groovement (Part I) (from ‘Upwards’) Dreams (from ‘Upwards’) This Here Music feat. Speech from Arrested Development (from ‘Closer’) Closer feat. Maceo from De La Soul (from ‘Closer’) Hustle (That’s Why We) (from ‘Closer’)
Our other treat for you today is an album from one of my favourite punchline rappers in the world. Seriously, pound for pound, when it comes to impact of words, turn of phrase and jokes in lyrics, not many people can compete with Mystro, on any shores. He truly is a great rapper to listen to and even though I’ve listened to this album on dozens of occasions, his words still have the power to make me chuckle like Skinnyman busting your lip with his knuckle (do your homework, bitches). In fact, just to highlight his talent, here’s one of his verses from the classic ‘Awkward Thief’.
“The Awkward Thief! Just give me 20 minutes And I’ll let you witness how to clean out each house on 40 streets! The smartest robber pulling scams like the Artful Dodger Even stole out my own house you can ask my lodger! So be real prepared when I’m on the road Cos I’m quick enough to steal the hair from under your nose The type to break into the bank when its closed, take a sack full of dough And take the videotapes and the cameras home, And I ain’t chatting garbage I had to grab the Tardis off Doctor Who once I bagged Aladdins Carpet And car jackers feel I’m the smartest Cos in a week I’ll jack enough motor parts to build a brand new car with And Ali Babar’s 40 thieves, did a lot of dirty work But still not more than me, I hold all the keys So getting through your dorr’s a breeze, Far from a rat but tryna trap all this cheese And from day through to evening, I make moves like reaching For the book in your hand to leave you with just the page you were reading Knew Mr T but never saw the guy since, I walked off with like 4 or 5 rings before his eyes blinked!”
I can’t think of another rapper who is like Mystro, and this is one of the reasons why ‘Music Mystro’ is so good. I don’t usually put up full albums that are studio releases unless they’re quite old, but I figured that hopefully once people hear how good this guy is, they will support his more recent projects and see his shows. Without further ado, Music Mystro!
1. Instro 2. Music Mystro 3. Nutrition 4. Skit 5. Awkward Thief 6. Yeah! 7. Tellin’ You 8. Strong Rhymin’ 9. Free The Walls 10. Don’t Drag Me In! 11. Skit 12. My Type Of Party (Remix) 13. Outstro
There you go, people. The next post will either be full of delight or despair, depending on how good ol' Blighty does in the Rugby tomorrow.
We’re on a little bit more of a commercial tip today, with some promo releases by two artists that have recently captured mainstream audiences with their two very different styles of UK Hip-Hop.
First up, we have Plan B, a rapper/acoustic guitarist who instantly gained success with his hard-hitting lyrics and delivery and his nod to the British Indie/Rock scene (who incidentally seem to welcome him with open arms, word to NME). His songs are said to use ‘shock lyrics’ in a similar way Eminem did back at the turn of the century, but I disagree. Plan B just raps in a way that makes you listen, which in my opinion, is exactly the point of rapping in the first place.
Before he released his critically acclaimed debut album ‘Who Needs Action When You Got Words?’, he released two different Promo CDs. The first, was an introductory CD that was making the rounds, featuring his breakthrough songs ‘Kidz’ and ‘Sick 2 Def’. ‘Its Time 4 Plan B’ really got people listening, and it features some exclusives tracks such as his remix to Blade & Baby J’s ‘Its Your Time’ and the extremely err…interesting ‘Hows It Feel’ featuring Skrein.
1. Intro 2. Sick 2 Def 3. Hows It Feel (featuring Skrein) 4. Its Your Time 5. No Good Cuts 6. Kidz 7. My Life 8. Rakin’ The Dead 9. Some1’s Switched In Harvey Nicks
While touring to help promote his music, Plan B sold a homemade album called ‘Paint It Blacker’, which featured his songs along with some freestyles and exclusives tracks over beats created using samples from various classic tracks. The album features samples from The Rolling Stones, Thom Yorke of Radiohead, Nirvana, Coldplay & more. it’s a great album, and really works well as a demo to show off his sound. This album is worth it even just to hear how he’s flipped the samples to use them in hip-hop tracks.
1. Paint It Blacker featuring The Rolling Stones 2. Luscious (skit) 3. Who Needs Actions featuring Nirvana 4. Happy As Larry featuring Larrikin Love 5. Missing Links featuring Radiohead 6. Not This Time Gal (Skit) 7. Kidz featuring Willie Mason 8. Dave From Leicester (skit) 9. Knoxville Girl featuring The Lovvin Brothers 10. Hustling featuring Coldplay & Rick Ross 11. Mama Loves A Crackhead featuring Hall & Oates 12. Wild Horses featuring The Rolling Stones 13. Couldn’t Get Along featuring Thom Yorke 14. James Brown Is Dead (skit) 15. Suzanne featuring Leonard Cohen 16. Cast A Light featuring Jose Gonzales
Plan B - No Good (Video)
Our second artist that has broken into the mainstream in recent times, and maybe even more prominent than Plan B, is Sway Dasafo. He dropped the second name, and released a series of mixtapes that garnered a lot of attention on the British Underground, and soon enough a very sizeable bidding war between record companies ensued. Sway deserved all the success he has got, and I bought the vinyl singles of both ‘Up Your Speed’ & ‘Little Derek’.
However, that said, I must admit I was a little disappointed with ‘This Is My Demo’ and thought that it could have been much better. Not to let that spoil anything though, I’ve always been a fan of him as a rapper. Over time he’s released the ‘This Is My Promo’ series, and a LoveDough mixtape entitled ‘This Is My Rave’, which should get an honourable mention because it features a lot of skits set in my home region, the North-East, and specifically Newcastle.
The CD has Sway rapping over a lot of the well-known British songs at the time (2005-2006), along with er…the Magic Roundabout theme tune, and many others. Well, if Sway could only be a bit more selective in his beat choices I think he really could be a great artist - he just has to break free from all of this grime rubbish that seems to hold him back in among some lesser intelligent emcees.
He is unquestionably a legend in England for his contribution to hip-hop. He’s a former member of one of the true classic groups ever to come from our nation’s loins, and he has done nothing but help the profile of British hip-hop on a national and international scale with his deejaying and radio shows, such as his show with Skitz on 1Xtra. Aye, its Rodney P.
Rodney P is an artist all fans of British hip-hop know about, and he’s fairly well-known in the grand scheme of things, comparatively to most British artists. However, Rodders hasn’t really released much in the way of albums. His album with Bionic as London Posse called ‘Gangster Chronicle’ is an undeniable highpoint in 90s Blighty rap, and he managed to get a good promotional push for his only true solo album ‘The Future’ a couple of years back, but Rodney has stacks of material that got released as singles, on compilations and such, but never made it onto a full-length. I’m fairly certain he has had at least one or two albums shelved completely by past record labels too (but don’t quote me on that one!).
So, to help fill the gap that I’m sure everyone in the entire world has under ‘Rodney P’ in their immaculately alphabetised music collections, here’s some Rodney P goodness for you. These songs range from unreleased material and singles to guest spots and such that I have compiled into a neat little album to be digested worldwide by all people who can afford broadband internet. How nice of me…
1. Ganja Smuggling 2. I Like London In The Rain 3. Love & Hate 4. Murderer Style 5. The Nice Up 6. Tings In Time 7. Tour Stories 8. You Know Who You Are (with Farma G, Mystro & Braintax) 9. UK Bubblers (with Skinnyman & Skitz) 10. Shelter (with The Brand New Heavies) 11. Can You See Me? 12. Big Tings We Inna
As a Brucey Bonus, here's two Rodney P videos for you. First, you have the cameo-heavy video of the brilliant 'Riddim Killa', and then, you have the more bouncified collaboration with two other veterans of British rap: Million Dan (as discussed in the last post, formerly of the Demon Boyz) and MCD (I need to do a post on this guy!). Its DJ First Aid's cut 'Devon Cream', produced by Baby J.
Rodney P - Riddim Killa
DJ First Aid featuring Million Dan, MCD & Rodney P - Devon Cream
