In case you were unaware and not cool enough to know, then you may not know that Remulak and Stakka Lyrics have just released they latest EP ‘The Remarkable EP’, and will be releasing the digital download in the up and coming weeks. The physical copy which comes with artwork (which is super tasty) and stickers; and there’s only 100 being made so this’ll be super rare if you’re lucky enough to get your grubby paws on one. As usual Stakka goes in with clever flows, ridiculous wordplay, and Remulak gives you enough cuts and scratches to keep any DJ-superfan happy.
The EP is well paced, and the sometimes laid-back production really works with both Stakka’s constantly changing style and flow, and the only guest MC on the EP, Xidus Pain bounces off Remulak’s beats perfectly on the opening track. ‘One Man’s Poison’ showcases Remulak’s surreal production style, and does a great job of pushing Stakka’s varied vocal tone, and is one of the best on the EP. Stakka really makes each track his own, and firmly brands it with his unique style. Apparently Cambridge City is where all the good UK hip-hop lives at the moment, or at least a city with some really hardworking artists. We definitely back Stakka and the rest of the Bridge City fam, and this EP only demonstrates more why.
You can buy the physical copy now, and listen to the EP sample on Bandcamp, and give Stakka’s other releases a good rinse. If you need more convincing just check the man’s freestyle video below raaaar
For fans of B-iLLA, Ruthless, Split Prophets and Mr 13.
The D.O.D Entertainment label have unleashed this brand new mixtape from London artist BiGGis. This is his debut mixtape and they have his second mixtape called ‘Street Politics’, which is due to be released soon. This style here is very raw and rugged with fans of the lyrically harder inncer-city style will adore. There’s some real killer tracks on this, making it a debut to be proud of. Check the the videos and grab the mixtape from the link below…
For those that are aware, today is the very last day of Immortal Technique’s short European tour. Matt (our in-house beatboxer) and I got ourselves tickets and went to see him play in Bristol on the 24th of October.
Now there is always a strange dichotomy here when you finally get the chance to see one of your favourite musicians, because a lot of the time they either go far beyond your expectations, or they’ll be so awful you’ll wished you’d stayed at home. This isn’t always the musician’s fault though, as I know a lot of people (myself included) have a bad habit of hyping up the live show so much, that no reality will ever be able to contend with the imagined one. With this in mind I calmed my superfan down as much as I could and went to see one of my favourite MCs of all time.
When we arrived Swave Sevah and Poison Pen was warming up the crowd. I have to be honest and say I wasn’t super impressed with the performances from these guys, but I think a lot of that was to do with the sloppy engineering. Hey here’s a tip to every sound engineer ever that works at live venues, YOU DON’T NEED ANYMORE BASS. I CAN’T HEAR ANYTHING. THIS ISN’T A DNB GIG. Thank-you. They put in a good amount of energy and passion into their songs, and whilst I’m not very familiar with their music they gave it a lot of heart. They just weren’t my cup of tea, but I respected their talent.
When Tech finally came out, the place went insane and he burst straight into ‘The Martyr’, which made me very happy as it’s one of my favourites off his new release. Matt is a giant, and I’m a tiny half-Asian. With this in mind, I reasoned that Captain Longshanks could see wherever he was, but I couldn’t so I did some of that ‘pushy, pushy, move, move’ hustle and got myself a nice view from the side of the stage where all the other short people were. I spent the whole show here, and it demonstrated why I love underground hip-hop, and independent culture as a whole. I had no idea who these kids were, but the generally friendly, and inclusive atmosphere is always such a relief from when I occasionally dip my feet into ‘mainstream’ culture. I’m sure that sounded snobby, but oh well. During the show two dudes decided to start a fight, so Tech immediately stopped playing, got everyone to shout “Stop ruining the show” and told the two guys if they wanted to carry on fighting then they’d have to leave.
Throughout the show, Tech constantly reminded the audience why he was making the music he was, and the background stories behind a lot of his songs. I was a particular fan of him addressing women’s roles within the history of social revolution when talking about the motivation behind ‘Dance With The Devil’. Whilst it wasn’t a true portrayal of his life, it was something that happens every day regardless of whether he raps about it or not, and if we want to change then we needed to change the way we treat women and our communities (Yeah, yeah Captain Obvious, right?). I’m half paraphrasing here but it went a little something like this: “Don’t forget that women were the ones that started the revolution. They’re the ones shooting the guns, and constantly reloading!”. As always Tech is always non-apologetic in his political ideals, and is never one to shy away from hip-hop’s revolutionary foundation and history. In short, if you don’t want to hear ‘big words’ or ‘politics’ then I suggest you get the fuck out of hip-hop and underground culture, and back into the mainstream. This is something we need, and something we are all responsible for. I’m not saying we have to be serious every single day, I’m just saying writing songs about bitches, how much bling you’ve got, and how much crack you’ve sold for 5 albums isn’t responsible. Write a party track, in fact write ten just make them good. Tech carries the legacy and progression of hip-hop on his shoulders. He also acts as loudly as he speaks, and spoke on his trip to Afghanistan where he funded the opening of an orphanage. I don’t think half these radio-rappers can claim something as substantial as that.
Aside from dropping knowledge and making sure idiots didn’t start fighting; the live show itself was fantastic. DJ Static put on amazing set, and has some ridiculous skills. Tech was on point with every song he played, and it was in some ways far better than his recorded material. I was thoroughly impressed, and very happy my own projected fantasies had been long surpassed by the reality of the performance (Hooray!). The show was about an hour long, and he played a healthy mix of his new and old material, although sadly not enough tracks from The 3rd World which was sad, as I would have loved to hear ‘Parole’ or ‘Crimes Of The Heart’. I don’t care what anyone sells, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable album.
I would have happily stayed for another hour, but hey that’s the secret of a good entertainer, don’t outstay your welcome and always keep them wanting more.
If you’re going to see Immortal Technique tonight, then you are one of the lucky ones. I found a little live video of the show, so have a look and see what you missed.
Set-List (ish, hey I was busy having fun!):
The Martyr
Angels and Demons
Toast To The Dead (with a nice shout-out to Roc Raida)
DJ Static mix
Harlem Streets
Bin Laden
The 4th Branch
Caught In The Hustle
Point Of No Return
Peruvian Cocaine
Industrial Revolution
Obnoxious
Dance With The Devil (Zomgzzz)
You know what? It’s suddenly occurred to me that a large majority of Euro rappers are missing a few screws. I mean, yes, yes we’re all crazy blahblah and everyone’s a bit mental sure, sure. I can think of three tracks or groups straight off my head that use a lot of lyrical imagery that isn’t just surreal, but pretty fucking macabre and dark as well. Now don’t get me wrong, I personally can’t get enough of that if it’s done well and doesn’t turn into a giant cliche.
The Scribes recently contacted us, and sent us their album and, music video for their track ‘Monsters’ and it perfectly encompasses exactly why I love that dark lyrical content on a lot of hip-hop tracks. Not all of their songs carry that same narrative within them, but it definitely carries that same energy their entire album. ‘Not A Dancer’ is by far one of my favourites on the album, a slightly self-deprecating and well versed and produced track. The way it hits into the chorus is well done, and I can safely say I can completely empathise with the lyrics in that. Oh my days, I’M NOT A DANCER. ‘John Wayne’ is a great example of how to tell a really good story, and done so well that even though the subject matter is a bit bizarre it’s believable. Poor old Johnny.
The album as a whole is pretty eclectic and includes a lot different and interesting sides of hip-hop. You’ve got the classic and always welcome, scratching, mixed in with a bit of off-key synths just to keep it unique. The production throughout the album The flow and style of both individuals MC stands out within their own right, but the West Country tinge in their accents gives them a good sense of familiarity, without sounding repetitive.
Overall I’m really impressed with these guys, and I’m very proud to say they’re from the South West. If you’re feeling this release than I strongly suggest you check out their other releases, and listen to the song, ‘I Slay Dragons’, about the life of an online gamer, it literrally made me laugh out when I first heard it.
Check these guys out, or die! Well maybe not die, but have less good music in your life.
For fans of Too Many Ts, KRS-1 (ZOMGZZZ NO WAAII, and it’s not just because they use a few clips of him in the album), Split Prophets, Rhyme Asylum. I said it was eclectic didn’t I?
More quality UK Hip-Hop courtesy of Park Street PR… this is something really special and something we’ve actually played a few times. Production is quality as are the bars and the song concepts, the full package here. Make sure you grab this NOW!
Track-listing
01. Battlescarred Rap Genius
02. The Heliopolis Scheme
03. Make It Hot
04. MSG Is Like Crack
05. Paradise 2012
06. Illuminati Artists
07. Memories And Tears
08. The Death Of Innocent
09. Blind
10. Corporate Gangster
Some days we’re sent a plethora of bad, and I mean bad submissions. Sometimes it’s so bad, we, the HHLAT team almost think that it’s a joke, and it was sent to us for laughs. Hoho no. But sometimes our inbox/Twitter/Facebook is so full of pure hip-hop goodness that we really can’t keep track. Today is one of those days, and this video by Kb da Boss ft John Q & Sucoo is pure hip-hop goodness. It’s a remix of the Janet Jackson cover ”Til It’s Gone’, which in turn was a cover of a Joni Mitchell song (I really hope I didn’t have to tell you, and you already knew that. The dudes in this video know!). I love the video and the song in equal measure, it’s a straight for-the-homies-by-the-homies joint. It’s as if they all got together and decided they’d just hang out, make some music and have a good time. Now that’s hip-hop in a nutshell. All three MCs stand out in their own right, and manage to navigate the obstacle of not overshadowing each other, but compliment one another really well. If you’ve ever been in a relationship with a loon or someone who didn’t know how to treat you like a human, then you’ll love this track. Considering the content it doesn’t come off cliche or overly negative, if anything it’s a pretty optimistic song. The production was really on point, and as ever I can’t be mad at turntables being used properly.
We’ll be following the dudes in AMH and Sucoo in the future for sure.
For friends of Murs, Ant production (Atmosphere/Felt), Q-Tip, Common (the good stuff!).
We received a super nice email from an L.A-based MC named Doug. The message was so sincere and honest in fact, that I was worried upon actually listening to his music he would be a horribly shallow rapper talking about bitches and bling, and we’d have to chuck that super nice email in the trash (it’s an almost daily occurrence kids). Well luckily enough for us, and you, his skills were as good as his manners. The production in ‘A Trip’ has so much jazz in it that it had me instantly nodding my head like one of those dog things you have in the back of your car. His content is intelligent, but not pretentious and I like how his flow very much works with the instrumentation of the tracks he spits over. I’m generally excited to hear Doug rap, and we’ll be definitely keeping an eye on this dude in the future. For fans of Aesop Rock, Ecid, 2-Dash Tone.
P.S for those of you that think good manners won’t get you far, being a dick won’t get you anywhere at all. Especially in underground genres. Take note.
Have a listen for yourself, you can cop his latest release for free by clicking the links.
One of the albums I was most excited about this year, ‘The Only Number That Matters Is Won’ had to be without doubt within my top 5 of ‘I-can’t-wait-how-long-’til-this-comes-out’ records. All the singles that Pacewon and Mr Green had released in preparation of the album drop have been better than a majority of tracks I hear on a daily basis. The album is out now and it does not disappoint at all, if anything it’s better than I expected. Sucker MCs take note on how to write a sick jam. That goes for the shallow producers; this is how you make consistant and bar raising songs. I have enough talked about the lyrical content yet? Well, my bad-it’s smart and self-aware as always.
Snoop and BURNTmd both feature on this track, and both shine. I’d only heard a bit of BURNTmd before, but he really goes in with flow and style, and his mcing works really well with the other two on this. It also seems like Pacewon and Mr Green called up Snoop and said “Yeah, could you pretend it’s 10-15 years and then record your part?’ ’cause I’ll be honest Snoop only has a short part, but it’s still golden nonetheless. Anyway, enough of my jibber jabber watch the video for yourself because it’s hilarious.
For those of us that don’t live in the hotter parts of the globe, I guess we can’t really understand what a truly hot summer feels like. Whilst those hotter countries have summers that last a good 3 months, ours usually last 3 weeks; but since it’s actually hot and sunnier today in deepest darkest Britain then I thought now was a perfect time to post 2 Dash Tone’s new track ‘Summertime’.
It’s what you’d expect from 2 Dash Tone, a schmoooth joint with infectious beats and well delivered flow. It comes from his now release mixtape ‘La Belle Epoque ‘, and also coincides with his fourthcoming album ‘Thick As Thieves’. In short the man never stops working.
I’m going to listen to this before I hit the parks and overpriced bars this weekend. Stay gold kids.
Alright darlin’, how’s it going? Having a nice summer? I myself went to Norway and decided that everyone lives better over in Scandinavia. It’s a lot prettier, and the graffiti’s sick (I think I might post a little article about the graff scene in Bergen, Norway today or this week to prove my claims).
Anyway, on the way back whilst on my personal jet (yeah don’t you know we’re all living in giant gold houses over here at HHLAT) I gave God Cypher Divine’s new self-titled record a listen. Now I’m never gonna be a fan of skits or intros/outros; what are they for other than taking up space on my computer’s memory? The intro on this record however is actually pretty good, purely because it gives a really good feel of what the album’s going to be about. Straight cuts, soul-funk beats and clever flow.
Never will I ever be adverse to more DJ cuts and scratching, in fact the more the better. GCD manage to balance out the MCing with the DJing perfectly, and neither is overplayed throughout the album or outstays its welcome. Knowing when to chill and just let the beat carry the track, or when it’s time to kill it with serious verses is something a lot of MCs and groups don’t always understand, and these boys have it down pretty cold.
The album’s a straight party record, and not in the sense of auto-tuned in da clubz rubbish, I mean it’s a fun record to listen to. Just because it’s a funky release with party beats doesn’t mean it loses it’s content- it just means they take a more positive angle on the darker things. ‘Life’s Hourglass’ and ‘Neuse For A Necktie’ are good examples of what I’m talking about. Constantly trying to push through all the bullshit to get a better life for yourself, and not letting some shitty 9-5 get in the way of catching your dreams. I love a bit of of that positive mental attitude, not to mention the samples on ‘Neuse…’ are delicious.
The boys in God Cypher Divine have a lot of potential, and this is a pretty heavy release to start out with, so I suggest you give the record a good couple listens. There are some real gems, not just the two tracks I already mentioned, but ‘Dragon Ball Z’ and ‘In Ya Area Code’ really showcase the two MCs rap skills and lyrical flow. I mean come on, they rap about Dragon Ball Z, don’t tell me you’re not even the least bit intrigued.
If you’re into some of that boombap, dirty graff kid backpack hip-hop then I strongly suggest you get yourself a copy of this album. 17 tracks for a few bucks ain’t anything.
Recommended If You Like: Exile, Gangstarr, Jake One, A Tribe Called Quest. Facebook Twitter
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