Straight outta Gloucestershire! There lives a beat maker by the name of PiffPrankz who’s been making beats for the last 7 months, and from what I can tell from listening to this beat tape, to good effect. I’ll be honest, the dude’s from the South West, and just a hop and skip from my city of Bristol so I was a little bias before I even gave the album a go around, but thankfully my bias didn’t matter either way. It’s a diverse mix of straight chilling tracks, to some more party induced ones (think a Beastie Boys party, not a Soulja Boi one) with a definite signature sound of his own. I’m not a smoker myself, that’s Stix’ department, but I’m pretty sure this would be a go-to record if I did smoke. This vibe is extremely prominent on the tracks “Smoke a Zoob, Spray Bars” and “Associate of Synapse”.
To me it’s a very light sounding record and bypasses a darker sound for a more illuminated and relaxed one. Although that’s probably because the dude’s from the West Country, and we’ve got too much to do on the farms, or rolling around in my pirate ships to worry about gloom.
Pick this up, listen to it and wait for the summer to get here.
Livin Proof hooks up with Maffew Ragazino & Chi-Ali for his latest single “Better Known As NYC” (Produced by Relavant Beats), which will be featured on his upcoming LP Die For A Deal 5.0; which is an extension of his recently released mixtape, but will include six brand new tracks as well (“Better Known As NYC” being one of them). Die For A Deal 5.0 is slated for release in early April.
The single is available for free download via soundcloud and higher quality versions (Main, Clean, Inst. & Acapella) are available on bandcamp via pay what you want for a limited time only.
Alright I didn’t want to start this review saying Just P is back, because the first song on this release is ‘We’re Back’, but errrr he is. Unlike a lot of other artists, (and I’m not hating on these type of tracks at all, I’m a fan of them) but a lot them comeback to music is a big old angry track with lots of disses, and a healthy potion of gassing. Just P has taken a slightly different route to his return to hip-hop; in place of that he’s thrown out tracks and this mixtape telling the audience where he’s been, and making the unaware amongst you where his roots lie. A little retrospect without living in his past success; and he’s pulled it off really well without appearing egotistical or bigheaded. That brings us nicely along to the general vibe of the EP (is it an EP? I reckon so, it’s 7 songs so I’m going with it), whilst Just P isn’t pulling any punches, or missing a beat on any song this is a very humble and honest tape. He’s not telling you HE’S THE BEST MC IN THE WORLD FUCK YOU ALL. He’s not worried about what other rappers are doing, he’s just concentrating on himself and the issues and subjects he’s addressing.
Just P talks on a varied amount of subjects, strays away from preaching to the converted but never dumbs it down. I feel like My Bars On His Beats is amongst a collection of other UK rappers that have recently released albums/mixtapes that truly reflect grimy underground British hip-hop. Ruthless’ new one ‘The Last Instrument’ is a good example, and coincidentally is featured on a collaboration ‘Cold Blood’ which shows the two MCs individual but complimentary styles off really well. It doesn’t necessarily mean gloomy-weather lyrics on every track, instead it showcases two major traits that I love about UK hip-hop, stoic realism but always backed up with constant optimism. In underground hip-hop regardless of country, it’s not about the flashy chorus it’s about the bars and Aleksander Koziel shows off his production skills with enough interesting diversity in his beats and samples that you really don’t need a hook, the instrumentation does a good job of it on its own. He’s a really versatile producer and I think he could happily work with a pretty mixed bunch of MCs and still make it work.
In short ‘My Bars On His Beats’ is a welcomed return to Just P, and I’m excited to see what’s next to come out of the Black Budget camp this year. We’re never let down by those guys.
As of yet, London based rapper / songwriter Jones 2.0 may not be a name you are familiar with, but as part of the independent urban UK scene, the 22 year-old rapper will certainlyhope be hot on people’s lips by the end of 2013. The young musician has spent the last six months playing gigs such as the ‘Live and Unsigned’ finals infront of a 10,000 capacity crowd, as well as The Comedy Pub Leicester Square, Vibe Bar Brick Lane, Beck Theatre Hayes & Berties Bar Wimbledon, as he continuously works hard to perfect his live show performances.
“I’m not trying to make it big off of a certain gimmick. I’m just trying to be me and make the music I’d like to make,” says Jones, as he tries to stay away from the cliche rapper tag. Taking his inspiration from the likes of Kid Cudi, it is the rappers unique and engaging lyrics and honest view on life that sets him out from the other unsigned rappers out there.
‘Bright Lights’ is the first official release by Jones 2.0, and sees him present a hard-hitting piece of rap music. To accompany the release, the talented MC now presents the incredible visual for his debut single, taking viewers through the Bright Lights of London city.
Jones 2.0 is currently working on various new projects which are set for release later this year, so keep your eyes peeled.
‘Bmore 2 France’ is a 17 track journey that take listeners to the boom-bap days of hip-hop showing a true love of the art through having fun while at the same time touching on topics and dropping some seeds of knowledge that anybody could relate to. Since all the artist are from Baltimore they wanted to break up the monotony of the stereo-typical audio back drop from the wire and just concentrate on being mc’s without any pressure of having anything to live up to. The album is truly an international delight as it features artist from France, Sweden, The UK and of course the US. The whole Mixtape is produced by Keno Beats from France except two songs which are produced by OZee.
Features include DJ Battle, The Boy Blesst, Only the Kid, Cayoz da beast, and Phileas flow. Cuts are handled by Dj Modesty, Dj Qvali, Dj Myzter Hurd, and favourite of ours here at HHL&T Jabbathakut.
Dope D.O.D. – Rocket, Produced by Nightwatchers, a pseudonym for Noisia. Taken from Dope D.O.D.’s new album, to be released on 19th April. (USA- Duck Down Music / EU- Rough Trade)
Mad Sabez brings you ‘SAY NADA’, the lead single for the forthcoming mix cd: KNOWLEDGE IS POWER II. Featuring EMKAYDEE, IMPERIAL, TALAPATON, MAD SABEZ, STARTAH, SILAS ZEPHANIA AND SMOOFLOW!
