National Poetry Day (Task Force, Ruby Kid, Darko, Immortal Technique)

Posted by hiphoplifeandtimes on October 4, 2012
Posted in: Album Releases, Art, Audio, Downloads, Events, Music Videos, News. Leave a comment

National Poetry Day post 2! Thanks again to all the suggestions, we may put up a third before the night’s out-so keep your eyes peeled. Then again you should be watching us 24/7 anyway.

Next up is not only a UK legend, but general underground hip-hop legend that is the mighty Chester P from Task Force. Stix reminded me what an obvious choice Chester P would be on Poetry Day. Just listening to a few minutes of him spit you can hear immediately that his style could easily serve as a poem. His use of wordplay is ridiculous, and creates verses that just wouldn’t make sense coming out of anyone else’s mouth. Just watch the first 30 seconds of the first video to see what I mean.


Second up is The Ruby Kid. We’ve been big supporters of this dude for a long time, and even did a cheeky interview with him a few months back. The Ruby Kid mixes a lot of metaphors and quite surreal imagery into his music, that whilst still pretty avant garde in places, still manage to pull back the narrative without coming off as pretentious or hipster rap. One of my personal favourites of this year; he also does a lot of spoken word so you can see his influences are obvious.


Third up is DarkoTheSuper. We’ve also covered Darko recently, and did a short write-up of his previous release ‘The Ledge Below The Edge’. The funny thing about this is I (it was me that was reviewing him) said that his style would work perfectly with spoken word, so I guess I was right all along. Darko is an intense MC, and carries an intensity that’s extremely reminiscent of written poetry. In fact I spoke to the dude this afternoon via our Facebook page and he said that he’d been likened to T.S Elliot (accolades indeed!). You can listen for yourself to his new release and see what I’m talking about.

Last up is, well do I really need to introduce Immortal Technique? Ahh come on really? Immortal Technique is in my humble opinion one of the greatest MCs of all time. In my mind he rates up in my top 2, next to Tupac and let me tell you that’s some hard competition in my world. Tech is not only a revolutionary and all round awesome rapper, but a fantastic storyteller. His style is obviously heavily influenced by early toasting techniques, and more traditional forms of storytelling, and communication. If you’re not aware of Immortal Technique then it’s okay, there’s still time we can help, just watch these and everything will be alright.


Did anyone notice I said ‘avant garde’?

Words: Aimee

National Poetry Day (Cormega, Eyedea)

Posted by hiphoplifeandtimes on October 4, 2012
Posted in: Art, Audio, Downloads, Events, News. Leave a comment


So if you’re not an idiot, (then again if you’re reading our site then I’m hoping you’re probably well versed enough to know what the five elements are) then you’ll be well aware that MC came from and was heavily influenced by Caribbean toasting, Jazz scatting and last but not least poetry. Well today ia National Poetry Day, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to give shine to a few well known, and not so known MCs that heavily inspired by poetry and spoken-word. Now we could argue that every rapper alive is influenced by poetry, and that wouldn’t be an untruth in fact it’s a completely accurate statement. There are of course MCs out there however that could happily play the same show as a ‘traditional’ poet , and not be out of place. Then again that in itself is a pretty wide statement too, but I hope you can understand where I’m coming from.

If you think we’re missing out on some artists that are so fantastic that you’re shocked we didn’t know, get in contact via our Twitter or Facebook and let’s have a conversation.

First up is Cormega, that I was introduced this afternoon via Christopher Mitchell from our Facebook page. It’s a short accapella spit, but what it lacks in length it makes up for in substance. Really reminiscent of early slam poetry and street cyphers, and is a big testament to Cormega’s skills as an MC.

Next up is an artist that I hope a lot of you will be aware of already, but if not hopefully you’ll become a fan of. Eyedea was a major artist from Rhymesayers the family, and often worked with DJ Abilities. Not forgetting his huge presence within the battle rap and freestyle scene. His multisyllabic style whilst of course not uncommon, was definitely his own, and his use of language could easily have been transfered into written poetry. Evan Souza very kindly showed me a link to a remixed version of Eyedea & Abilties last album together before Eyedea’s sad passing. The album is mixed Illusionist, and you can have a listen down here, as well as a video of Eyedea’s earlier freestyle battles.

Thank-you to both Christopher and Evan for their suggestions! And keep checking back today for a few more National Poetry Day posts.

http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/

Words: Aimee

Just Putt – ‘Kazama’ (Prod. C4) (Music Video & Album)

Posted by hiphoplifeandtimes on October 4, 2012
Posted in: Audio, Downloads, Music Videos. 2 Comments

Wasn’t expecting to hear a track of this level this afternoon. I mean, I was but I wasn’t. Ya get me? Anyway, until this video of Just Putt (of the Dead Poets Society) posted this on our Facebook page I had no idea about this dude, well thank-you internet. The skill of this MC is at the higher level of a lot of artists, and is full of potential, and I’ve been bumping this video since we were first put on it. I suggest you get your little eyes and ears over it too.

Dead Poets Society EP available for purchase @
http://dps201.bandcamp.com/album/dead-poets-society

http://soundcloud.com/justputt/kazama

JPEG – “Bringing it Back” (Music Video)

Posted by hiphoplifeandtimes on October 4, 2012
Posted in: Music Videos. Leave a comment

About a week ago I (Aimee, alright guys) promised that when Stix and I got back from real life then we’d post up all the material we couldn’t during our little holiday. I promised JPEG that I’d throw up his video; and thankfully I hadn’t just promised to promote some awwwwfffful track about nothing. Quite the opposite  the beats are catchy as fuck, JPEG’s flow is ridiculous and the content is definitely surreal but keeps a good narrative, and he never pontificates. Fucking Hell I love that word. Video-wise, never will I get tired of watching a dude in a jester hat row around a pond, and rap in the shower.

For fans of QELD, Dirty Dike, Ed Scissortongue.

Konquest and J Fury – Fantasy/Code Words (Music Video)

Posted by hiphoplifeandtimes on October 4, 2012
Posted in: Music Videos. Leave a comment

Just to remind you that we don’t just promote UK cats, but we’re actually an international site that promotes all that is good in hip-hop land. In fact I’m not sure why I have to remind you, but here’s a smooth, and painfully sincere video from Konquest and J Fury. Really digging the lo-fi feel of the video, and the honest lyrical content. For fans of Jae Apollo, Kb Da Boss, Living Legends.

‘UK Hip-Hop & Grime.com’ Release Their New Mixtape

Posted by hiphoplifeandtimes on October 4, 2012
Posted in: Album Releases, Audio, Downloads. Leave a comment

Our friends over at UKHHG have recently released their latest mixtape, aptly titled ‘The Promo Mixtape’. We’re strong supporters of these dudes, and fully back what they’ve been doing for the UK scene so you know their mixtape is going to be good. It features heavy hitters like Word Of Mouth, Kings Of The City, Gibbo, Chucky, The Papers and loads more. It’s a free download so you really have no excuse. Click me to download.

http://ukhiphopgrime.com/
UKHHG Twitter