After a few days that you've been given to digest, listen, learn and fully appreciate the first installment of the UK Mixed Bag series, here we are back to hitchuwitdat (word to Lootpack) second one.
All the names are here, from Blak Twang & Rodney P, all the way back to Gunshot, London Posse & the Krispy 3. One or two well-known tracks, one or two rarities. All just to keep you on your toes, keep you listening to the best UK Hip Hop, and keep you from migrating to the land of the shite which unfortunately UK urban music is sliding into more and more of late. Here's that real material. Nod your head and download.
1. Blak Twang (feat. Rodney P & Lisa I'Anson) - Dirty Stopout Uncovered 2. Cel One - Watchyamindsay 3. Creators (feat. Blackstar) - The Hard Margin 4. Deckwrecka - Catch Wrecka 5. DJ Yess & Wotee - Man Made (feat. Genghis) 6. Dozeguys - Simple Things (The Young Guns Part I) 7. Fleapit (feat. Lil' Angry Man) - Scraps 8. Jimmy Screech - Jimmy Screech 9. Junior Disprol (feat. Alkaline, Jehst & Skeleton) 10. Kamanchi Sly - Hung Drawn Quartered 11. Krispy 3 - Come N Get It 12. London Posse - Jump Around (Censored Mix) 13. London Posse - Oversized Idiot 14. Encona Coarse - Rhyme Grenade 15. Gunshot, Tribal Clash & HuntKillBury Finn - Minus 10 16. Jimmy Screech - Attention 17. Blufoot (feat. Yungun) - Alphabet Man 18. Depth Charge - Sex, Sluts & Heaven (Bordello Mix)
So here we are, the first instalment of four compilations I've created over the weekend from various vinyl 12"s in my collection. Initially I ripped a lot of them onto mp3 just for personal use but I had honestly forgotten about how great some of these tracks are.
Its called a mixed bag for a reason for starters, with a huge spectrum of artists spanning from the early 90s all the way up to possibly about 2005, and on this first volume we have some big names and some small names all together on the same 18-track album.
You've got the northern panache of Asaviour and Jehst, the legendary Blak Twang, the veteran sounds of MCD over a Deckwrecka track and Huntkillbury Finn lying amongst the newer names of Foreign Beggars...not to mention some classics in there from London Posse, Karl Hinds & DJ MK.
Its a joy to listen to some of these tracks after such a long time, and even this site has took a small hiatus from posting UK songs recently admittedly. Most of that is due to there being a dearth in UK underground rap that I personally find as inspiring as that which was released 5-10 years ago, but hopefully the frontrunners like Sway and Dizzee can inspire and usher in a new breed that are fit to take the torch and fire it up.
1. Blak Twang - Don't Test 2. Cel One (feat. Sniper) - Code Red 3. Dead Residents - Verbal Assassin 4. DJ MK (feat. Jehst, Kyza & Supa T) - It's All Live 5. Doc Brown (feat. Yungun & Harry Love) - Out There 6. Foreign Beggars (feat. Dubbledge) - Hot Plate 7. Huntkillbury Finn, Gunshot & Taskforce - Liar Liar 8. Jimmy Screech - Lets Get Moving 9. Jonzi D - Live At The Apricot Jam 10. Junior Disprol (feat. Alkaline, Jehst & Skeleton) - Junq Waffle 11. Karl Hinds (feat. Tempa) - You Piss Me Off 12. London's New Delegates Of Major Stars - Foldinem 13. London Posse - Money Mad 14. Deckwrecka (feat. MC D) - Priceless 15. Encona Coarse - Taste Of The Future 16. Asaviour (feat. Kyza & Yungun) - Money In The Bank (Remix) 17. Champions Of Nature (feat. Supa T, Apollo, Jehst, Profound, & Lewis Parker) - Finalisation 18. Dynamic Syncopation (feat. Def Tex) - Way Past Noon
Tony Rotten is back with new material, and here is the first track to be heard from his upcoming album "Elevelation" (and no, I havent spelt that wrong). Its up for free download on his bandcamp site as both a radio edit and original version and its entitled "Before N After".
Here's a youtube vid preview of it with the link to the bandcamp for the FREE download below:
Just while I'm away from my music collection for a week, here's a word from the sponsors:
Hip-Hop Connection magazine are celebrating their 20th anniversary this Autumn. For the first time ever, the world's longest running hip-hop magazine Hip-Hop Connection will go on tour. With a line-up designed to attract all spectrum's of hip-hop fans, this tour is set to be one of the most historically important events in British Hip-Hop.
Leeds Hip Hop Scene have teamed up with the longest hip hop magazine in the world to bring a special one off gig at the Wardrobe in Leeds on 4th October 2008.The night will feature an all-star team of UK Hip-Hop artists,Million Dan, Jehst, Stig Of The Dump, Dr Syntax, Klashnekoff and hosted by Baby J.
The night is guaranteed to have crowd participation, featuring an open mic emcee battle hosted by Million Dan and product giveaways (free artist merchandise, free copies of Hip-Hop Connection, free CDs, free Puma goodies, free LHHS gear and much much more).
50 Special Advanced Tickets for £10 from http://www.leedshiphop.co.uk/ will be available from 9am Monday 8th September 2008.
Further Tickets will go on sale later in the month via Jumbo Records in Leeds, & if that wasn't enough for you we have Blak Twang performing at the Wardrobe in Leeds November 2008 look out for more info!!
To tide you over till the next post, here's some brand new videos you might enjoy:
Blak Twang was riding a serious high in the early ‘00s after the huge commercial success of songs ‘Kik Off’ and more importantly ‘So Rotten’. The subsequent album ‘Kik Off’ did VERY well and signalled that Tony Rotten was destined to be THE star of UK hip-hop. While Roots Manuva’s commercial flirting was coming to an end, Blak Twang looked like he was going to take over the mantle as media darling for our country’s rap genre.
Fast forward a year or so to 2005, and Blak Twang released his follow-up to ‘Kik Off’, with critical acclaim. Singles such as ‘GCSE’ did fairly well, getting rotation on radio stations and its video was playing everyday on channels such as MTV Base. However, the album’s full success never really materialised, and despite the fact that almost every review I read about it gave it a huge thumbs up, it seemed like the album went over a lot of people’s heads.
‘The Rotten Club’ differed slightly to Twang’s older material, as it went back to the Dettwork SouthEast days in part with some gritty production and minimal guest spots from fellow UK rappers. Where ‘Kik Off’ had huge radio friendly singles like ‘Trixstar’ with Estelle (yes, the same Estelle that is now singing about American Boys with a certain arrogant homosexually-dressed man called Kanye), ‘The Rotten Club’ had more gritty dub-influenced tracks like ‘Beef Stop’. Of course, Blak Twang still had the odd girly song, ‘Lady’ being the slow-grinder on the record.
On the whole, I think this album didn’t get the recognition it deserved. Blak Twang always comes correc lyrically, but he stepped his game up from punch line rapper to serious lyricist here in my opinion, with tracks like the aforementioned ‘GCSE’ and ‘Travellin’ being particular highlights.
This, coupled with the fact that the last two tracks are produced by Harry Love (a legend in my book) means that I not only recommend this album for repeated listening, but I present it to you now. And Tony, release some goddamn new material, mate!
1. Rotten Club 2. Position 3. Beef Stop 4. GCSE (featuring K9) 5. Lady 6. Travellin’ (featuring Barrington Levy) 7. Stop & Search (featuring Alborosie) 8. Roadworks 9. Soldier 10. Prayer For The Dying 11. My World 12. Look Good (featuring Microw) 13. Where Lions Roam (featuring K9) 14. Carry On 15. Done It Again (featuring Hilz St. Soul)
I was looking through my old CD collection for old tracks maybe to upload onto the site and came across this UK Hip-Hop compilation I made back in early 2003. It has just completely random tracks on it because at the time I only had dial-up internet and used Kazaa to dl tracks. It always took about 45 minutes to download one track!!! The wierd thing is, at the time that seemed really reasonable! So, forgive me if some of the tracks are better than others, but it does have a few gems on it. I skimmed over it on iTunes earlier today and some of the tracks aren't special, but I probably just put them on the compilation anyway because it took 45 mins to get it. I wasn't exactly just going to delete it after that much of a wait!
Northern Author Hip-Hop Ad's UK Hip-Hop Mix-Up (2003)
1. Rodney P - Murderer Style - I haven't changed the tracklist order that it originally was, and its no surprise I put this first. A true classic from a true hip-hop legend. 2. Iceberg Slimm - Bad Boy - A bit of an in-joke this one. It used to ALWAYS be on the telly back when Channel U first started out, and me and my mates have always just laughed and joked about how Channel U is the dumbest shit ever to be put on television. This song had an even ridiculous chorus and was fairly listenable. 3. MUD Family - Rich & Switch - A track from Skinnyman's group about how rappers lose their grounding once they get successful. Not a bad song at all. 4. Funky DL - The Music - The first of three Funky DL tracks on the mix. I have always been a fan of his brand of hip-hop, but a little sceptical of his rap accent. Why does he feel the need to put on an american one when he isn't from the USA? Still, he is a good rapper and a great producer. 5. Braintax - Deal With It - Some old Braintax here. I have no idea when this song was made or what LP/12" it was from, but it sounds very 90s to me. I suspect this may be quite old. Whatever it is, this is classic Braintax at his best. 6. Ricochet Klashnekoff - Daggo Mentality -I believe that this may have been one of Klashnekoff's first ever releases. He still hadn't dropped 'Ricochet' from his name, and (without actually checking) I think this might have been on a WordLab compilation. A very good intro song fro the man, stating his claim before the music even starts ('Come like Britney Spears ya get speared in the heart') 7. Funky DL - Soul Silhouette - More DL, this time sounding verry jazzy. This is almost Native Tongue jazzy in the way it is crafted. Great song. 8. Rodney P & Skinnyman - Worldwide - Two superstars on a Joe Budha beat that is seeped in reggae dub bassline and sound. Suits Rodney more than Skinny, but nice nonetheless. 9. Ricochet Klashnekoff - Jangkroville (Jehst Remix) - Another Klashnekoff early release, this time with Jehst providing a remix and a verse. 10. Taskforce & Braintax - Three Amigos - Thoughts of 'El Mariachi' come to mind as the song starts, but once the beat comes in and Braintax opens up, it gets much more darker, with the typical UK basslines coming into play. Taskforce & Braintax work very well together here. 11. Skinnyman - Chat 'Bout - Skinnyman on the solo tip with a dark backdrop for him to paint a picture of his neighborhood and lifestyle. 12. Funky DL - Everybody Rock On -The last of the DL songs, and this one is jazzy hip-hop done up proper. It uses the same horn sample that was used on a Tweet song produced by Missy Elliott not long ago. This came first though, as I think this song is about 7 or 8 years old. 13. Micro, Rodney P, Taskforce & Braintax - Controlo - I have no idea where this is from, but it seems to be a song by French rapper Micro featuring british artists. Not a bad effort by all. 14. Phi-Life Cypher & Taskforce - Want It So Bad - One of my personal favourite rappers of all time has to be Life from Phi-Life Cypher. NO-ONE, I repeat NO-ONE has a better flow than him. Not the best thing either group has been involved in but some good verses on display here over an anarchist's backdrop. 15. Tommy Evans - Natured Out - From the intro I can tell its an exclusive from Undercover magazine (a good read by the way). A nice if rather dull track. Tommy can do much better. 16. Blak Twang (feat. Lynden David Hall) - Perfect Love - One of Twang's more sensitive songs, featuring the sadly departed Lynden David Hall. Hall was a classy vocalist with some great tracks and it was a shame he died so early in his life. A good song here with Twang on top form interpolating Hall's classic 'Sexy Cinderella'. 17. Lewis Parker - Sunflight -What can you say about Lewis Parker. He is quite simply an incredible producer. Up with the greats on any shore in my opinion. This song is off 'Its All Happening Now' and has a typical Parker beat and some smooth lyrics. A good outro song.
Just as a Brucey Bonus: Watch this vid from British maestro DJ Format with Canadian emcee extraordinaire Abdominal on the vocals. If you don't already know this song you really should be ashamed of yourself (punish yourself accordingly), and it is canny well known, but...enjoy it for what it is. A straight up and down babyliss-hair-straighteners rap track with a great beat, a great video and some stellar rapping from Abs (no, not the one from 5ive).
