UK Round-Up (02/03/2010)

Here's a chance for me to drop some great new downloads for you from new UK artists on the scene. Recently there have been a large amount of mixtapes and albums surfacing on the net for free from UK emcees trying to get into the game so here's a few of them I've been sent and been impressed by. Some are being covered in more depth on other sites but I felt it necessary to offer my own blog for more exposure for these deserved artists.

Without a massive background on some of this first emcee I'm going to let him do his own background bio's and rest my wanking hand for a bit. Enjoy the free albums and support your local artists!

No Change - Land Of The Lost (2010)

Welcome to the truth and the very real world of 'No Change' without argument one of the most exciting prospects for UK music!

The story begins back in 1997 when the BBC broadcast a half hour documentary on him living the life that most kids either dream of or have nightmares about. He was smoking weed, skateboarding and humourously exposing the theme park he worked on as a "dangerous place...this provided a very funny story and sent this artist on the path he follows today!

Three years and two broken legs later, sacked, kicked out of home onto the streets (homeless) living anywhere from bushes to YMCAs to halfway houses, he wrote his rhymes on cardboard and stolen paper sweet bags for three years (probably why he does not write anything down to this day). No-Change was a very fitting choice of artist name - doing nothing and dabbling in all sorts of low-level criminality, he decided to move to Leeds to pursue a rap career....

Leeds studios and producers started to jump on his talent - jobless, he stayed on floors and was given free studio time wherever he went - coz he was the best! Fathering a baby boy and surviving a rocky relationship (which culminated in No-Changes stabbing in 2008) provided the fuel, inspiration and sincerity for the fire and depth of his music.

Fast forward to 2010, No Change - the street poet is here.... older, wiser, and backed by the infamous crackhouse recordings, he now has a formidable back catalogue of 200+ studio quality songs made with some of the top producers and MCs in the North of England. Known locally as the gentleman rapper and collaborating with the likes of Defenders of Style, Danny Pig, Alphabetix, Instance and Mike D, gigging with major names such as Masta Ace, Skinnyman, and Blackalicious he is now an well respected and established name amongst Leeds' finest.

Welcome to the land of the lost, the debut LP from No-Change.

Click the link below to download the full album.

Download

Charlie Sloth - The Black Book

This next one is from an emcee who has recently gathered a huge buzz in the UK scene from his hit single "Not Like You" featuring UK stalwart and legendary Taskforce member Farma G, and also Black The Ripper.

He releases his first full album through his own website http://www.charliesloth.com/ and the LP features pretty much a who's who of the UK scene, with appearances from Million Dan, Skinnyman, Rodney P, Stylah, Genesis Elijah, Wretch 32, Ramson Badbones, Mystro, Scor-Zay-Zee and many more.

That shouldnt distract you from the artist himself though because quite frankly, this album bangs harder than Mandingo in a porn flick. Check out his website for a background on the man to get familiar, but before you do that download the album and enjoy what I think might be one of the landmark releases of 2010.

DOWNLOAD LINK: http://www.charliesloth.com/v2/theblackbook

And here's the video for the single "Not Like You"

Groundbreaking

Where has Fallacy been?!

Its a question a lot of UK hip-hop fans have asked for a while as his name has been missed in the UK rap game for quite a while. Sure, he's popped up on one or two compilations and one or two guest spots every now and then in the last few years but by and large he never fully capitalised on the success and critical acclaim he recieved not only from the rap press but the major press aswell for "Blackmarket Boy".

We have that classic album here for you today just to remind you of the man's legacy before he supposedly retires later on this year. The news of his retirement from the game came along with the news of his new EP "Gracefull In Death: The Final Chapter", which came out on http://www.bandcamp.com/ on January 10th. First step, go and pick that up.

Right, back we are to the history of his magnum opus. Off the strength of one absolutely MASSIVE single with producer Fusion called 'The Groundbreaker', Fallacy was quickly thrust into the limelight during one of UK's better eras in the early 2000s. He became a go to guy, popping up on a lot of other emcees' work and dropping some hellish verses. Fallacy's turn of phrase, flow and voice left him in utter command of his audience and listener and made some of the best moments in those years his.

Following his single with Fusion, he broke out with another single, this time billed as a solo affair (even though both singles feature on the LP). "Big N Bashy" with Tubby T was in constant rotation not only on urban radio but on MTV, Radio 1 and most commercial radio. The song itself is a dub-influence club banger with punchline after punchline knocking you back into your seat.

After the singles both came out to big hype, the album followed shortly after in May 2003 and recieved warm reviews allround. I recently sifted through my record collection and found it a week or so back and put it on for a bit of nostalgia and it hasnt aged one bit. 7 years down the line its as fresh as an egg warm from a chicken's arse.

The lyrics are tight, the beats are spot on, and the collabos with Fusion, Tubby T, Roni Size, Shy FX & T Power, Rishi Rich and Rodney P are all well worth hearing. Get your fix and get that new Ep. It might be the last material you hear from the Blackmarket Boy.

Fallacy - Blackmarket Boy (2003)

1. Blackmarket Boy
2. DJ Skully DMC World Champion (Skit)
3. The Groundbreaker (radio edit)
4. Big N Bashy (featuring Tubby T)
5. Rogue Trader
6. Rap Folly (featuring Rodney P)
7. Car Chat (Skit)
8. Square Beamer
9. Stopclock
10. Proverbs 3110 (Skit)
11. Ooh
12. Scrunch
13. Stripey Shoes (Skit)
14. John Wayne Swagger
15. Old and Grey
16. Monstrous (featuring Elizabeth Troy)
17. Stay Blessed
18. The Groundbreaker (Shy FX and T Power remix)



And here's the direct link to the bandcamp site where his new EP can be got at for just £3. Can't scoff at that.

http://fallacy.bandcamp.com/

The Riddim Killa!!

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…

Rodney P - The Riddim Killa (Northern Author Collection)

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

Old School (but not really)

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.

DOWNLOAD!!!!

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).