Best Of Hard Knock TV: Immortal Technique talks Police, Obama, Monsanto, Hip Hop, Twitter + more [VIDEO]

Posted by hiphoplifeandtimes on April 12, 2013
Posted in: Interviews, Music Videos. Leave a comment

Backstage at Paid Dues hardknock.tv caught up with Immortal Technique. In this interview Immortal talks to Nick Huff Barili about early Hip Hop memories, being locked up in prison, Monsanto lobbying Obama, interactions with fans on twitter and the work he is doing with The Green Light Project. Oh yeah and his new album Middle Passage is coming!

“That’s a disgrace. It should be a human rights abuse,” said Technique when asked about the Act. “It should be banned. They really want to control the food industry in general. And I think what’s disgusting about them is that — Listen, we know Monsanto and their parent companies have given the Obama administration money.” Immortal Tech on the Monsanto Protection Act.

Immortal Technique further spoke on the Obama administration and revealed that the people should not be so easily swayed due to what President Obama symbolizes.

“I understand and I know the type of commitment that certain individuals have to the Obama administration. They think that under a Republican administration they would have never gotten any acknowledgement on gay rights,” Technique explained. “I know that there are people that are 40, 50, 60, and they black and they grew up in a completely different America. They couldn’t even picture a black president… We live in a slightly different America in a lot of places, but I know that people support him because he symbolizes that for them. But I remind people that the only reason he signed that Monsanto shit is not out of the kindness of his heart, but because they lobbied him and gave him money…And that takes away from the credibility of this country and that’s damaging to America.”

Want more Immortal??? Make sure you check out our previous conversations with him at www.hardknock.tv

London Posse Mini Documentary [VIDEO] @Rodney_P @tru_thoughts

Posted by hiphoplifeandtimes on April 12, 2013
Posted in: Album Releases, Classics, Culture, Music Videos, News. Leave a comment

On 17th June 2013, Tru Thoughts will release ‘Gangster Chronicles: The Definitive Collection’, shining the spotlight on the London Posse’s game changing 1990 album ‘Gangster Chronicle’, plus previously unreleased exclusive tracks, and remixes from Steve Mason, The Nextmen, Hint, Wrongtom and more.

Tru Thoughts mined the archives for choice footage, and the talented Mr Joel Stagg put together this mini documentary, charting the wit and grit, the rise and influence of Rodney P, Bionic and their London Posse as they rewrote the hip hop rule book. An insightful introduction for those unfamiliar with the seminal hip hop crew, and a major trip down memory lane for the countless people who witnessed and were inspired by this phenomenon first hand.

Money Mad / Future No.1 single out 13th May
Gangster Chronicles: The Definitive Collection album out 17th June

http://www.tru-thoughts.co.uk

Cyrus Malachi – ‘Black Athena’ out APRIL 20th [Album Review + Pre Order] @Cyrusmalachi @FirstSonRecords

Posted by hiphoplifeandtimes on April 12, 2013
Posted in: Album Releases, Audio, Downloads, Reviews. 1 Comment

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We were lucky enough to get our hands on an early copy of Cyrus Malachi’s much anticipated second album ‘Black Athena’ released via the homies at First Son Records available to pre order with a release date of April 20th. So we threw our newest recruit to the team Adam De Leslie in at the deep end to review this UK heavyweight emcee’s upcoming release. Here’s his review…..

Hip hop is a funny game. Either you love it or loathe it, and if you love it you probably have your view on what ‘real  hip hop is’. One listener’s Heaven is another’s Hell. Then there are albums like this. You would struggle to find someone who would dislike such a natural sounding collection. Start to finish replay value.

17 tracks and not a single one you could call filler. I don’t mean to just lavish praise on this but as I say I can’t really see anyone disliking this.His flow is classic but with his own personality, which is what makes it so enjoyable to listen to. Not that this is a man who is here purely to entertain you, Cyrus has real messages. Yes, we’ve all heard ‘political’ or ‘conscious’ rap before but he doesn’t just preach in that angry manner that can really wear thin over a whole album. He just wants you to understand the things he sees as wrong. I love that kind of honesty, wins me every time. Drawing you in with lyricism this album asks a lot of you, it asks you to listen, to really listen.  But rewards you justly. A thinker, a reloader, one of those you show people who don’t listen to ‘this kind of thing’ to sway them. Standout track for me is track 10- Lions Den. Old skool storytelling style. Real personal subject matter . Again, honesty.

THE PRODUCTION IS HEAVY! Okay didn’t mean to get so rowdy but yeh, this is my shit. Boombap is an overly used term but rarely applies more than Black Athena. Each song kicks my subwoofer along the ground. With Production from the likes of 7thDan, Ringz Ov Saturn, Hellz Echo, Noize Thievery and more it felt like a complete work rather than a bunch of beats and bars. I dare you not to knod your head throughout.

Black Anthena is no imitation; Cyrus is not simply a man who wanted to be a rapper but quite clearly one who is at home on a mic. I screw faced A LOT.

Cyrus Malachi’s ‘Black Athena’ is available to order in CD version of the 17 track album with  hand painted illustrations by Gary Alford on the cover. A limited amount of pre-orders will ship with a limited edition copy of Cyrus Malachi’s “Isis Papers 3”  mixtape which is unavailable to buy anywhere. Release date is 20th April. Pre Orders will be shipped for the 15th of April Pre-order Now ₤12.99

Also available to Pre Order in digital format, with a FREE download of a track of your choice Pre-order Now ₤7.99

Download for FREE or stream the track ‘Contraband’ taken from the album here….

http://firstson.bandcamp.com/album/cyrus-malachi-black-athena

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http://www.firstsonrecords.com

https://twitter.com/FirstSonRecords

https://twitter.com/Cyrusmalachi

Soluneek – ‘AntiHero’ (Prod. Serious & LooseCannon) (Free Song & Album) @Soluneek

Posted by hiphoplifeandtimes on April 11, 2013
Posted in: Album Releases, Audio, Downloads. 1 Comment

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Yes! This has so much passion and heart brimming from it! Mmm mm. You can feel AntiHero’s urgency and restlessness in this track; he’s literally shouting at you through the speakers, but it’s all good. This song is all about forgetting the ‘ice’ and ‘hoes’, and rapping from your heart, and doing it because you love it. Pure hip-hop, I love the energy in this song!
Soluneek recently dropped his full-length ‘ManOverboard’ which you can get for free. I’ll be downloading it, and so should you.

‘ManOverboard’ album link.

Jarred A.G. – ‘Luxury Tax EP’ (Free) @Jarredgoldmedal

Posted by hiphoplifeandtimes on April 11, 2013
Posted in: Album Releases, Audio, Downloads. Leave a comment

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An interesting project from Jarred A.G, that mixes some more poppy and radio-friendly hooks, with some pretty dark and foreboding beats together. The producers Smoko Ono, C-Sick and Benny Nice have done a really good job of keeping it different and varied throughout the EP.
Jarred A.G comes off as a dark and brooding dude, and whilst some of the content you might be familiar with, he makes the stories his own and uses some nice metaphors on this. ‘Wolves’ is a good example of his rapping style, and one of my favourites from the EP.

You can get the EP for free over at Audiomack.