#MusicVideoMonday: New Banger - Kano

Okay. It's nothing new. We all know how much I love Kano. I'm not gunna go on about it. Love love love that Kano seems to be stepping back in the scene with both feet now. Although his sporadic droppings are much appreciated, the news of his a new Kano album coming soon has made me very excited. 'Hail' was our first teaser of what to expect, and 'New Banger' is the second. Both are equally full of energy. Love love love love the visual to this. So raw but still so fun. I guess you can only get these wonderful balances with a don dada like Risky Roadz behind the camera. 

 

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J-Grime

So when people ask me what I am doing, my answers are increasingly along the lines of either; "revising empirical investigation in trait-emotional intelligence" or "skanking out to Japanese grime". (Very juxtaposed answers I know, but, evidently, I like to like to keep life interesting). In response to the former, the next line of the conversation is then usually "huh?", and in response to the latter, I usually get "LOL nah seriously though, what you doing". Now, I know listening to Japanese Grime isn't really usual activity but it's becoming a growing hobby and I think it's time people start taking seriously - hence this blog post.

Now it started with me coming across Japanese hip-hop artist Twiggy al Salaam. Don't ask me how. It was one of those random YouTube stumblings. Now, I had no idea what this guy was rapping about but his sound successfully nurtured authentic old school hip-hop flavours to make some wickeness. It oozed a cool vibe and I wanted to find some more. So yep, I got all click happy on the ol' suggested videos and started exploring the Japanese music scene. I discovered it's pretty popping. They seem to have a fully flourishing rap scene and, despite the language barrier, their flows, energy and the catchy sounding hooks make it genuinely enjoyable to listen to. Just as I was about to terminate, what I can definitely call one of my oddest, procrastination sessions, I found Dekishi.

Dekeshi is now the reason I want to learn Japanese. I happened to land on a video of one of his live sets and was instantly exhumed by the gloriousness. It took me a few seconds before I realised I had been transported into a Japanese parallel universe of 2002 London. A dingy underground venue, a dirty beat falling out of the sound system and a fine MC with a crazy flow and wonderfully raw energy on the mic. Beautiful.

I got digging and uncovered the underground J-Grime scene that is slowly developing in Japan. I actually love it. They're success in channelling authentic Grime is all evidenced in the decent levels of hype they conjure within my little body as I'm scrolling down Dekeshi and friends' Soundcloud's. I'm actually very intrigued to know how they've even managed to replicate such authenticity, because doing so would require them to adopt and nurture the culture to a decent level. There are a lot of grime fans around the world, but, please correct me if I am wrong, there aren't actually any other places that have a Grime scene which credibly incorporates what London/England built. These J-Grimesters however have done a good job on adopting the flow, punch and rawness that signifies the genre. There are numerous freestyles and sets floating about with spitters lacing classic instrumentals - from and JME/Skepta's Spaceship to Ghetts' Don't Phone Me. I've even heard garage tracks mixed into to some of their sets, showing a real depth of research into our beloved scene's roots. I just wish, wish, wish I could understand what they were saying. If trying to translate whatever Devilman and Skepta are saying wasn't motivation enough for me to learn Japanese, this new discovery definitely is. So yes, if any of you know of any Japanese tutors, holla. Also, I am now extending my search for an accomplice to Grime raves, to a search for an accomplice to Japanese Grime raves too. Applications are still being taken :)

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Kanye West x BBK Concert KOKO

So, yesterday was just set up to be a good day from the start. I beat all my gym targets. I got free cake at Uni (which just cancelled out all my work in the gym). I finished work early and got back to my flat in actual daylight. My Boohoo order had arrived. Yes. Life was bubbling along nice and gently so I thought I'd drop to a softer simmer for the evening and get some uni work done. That is until my phone starts blowing up with, in a nutshell "OI, RHEA, KANYE IS DOING A ONE OFF SHOW 20 MINUTES WALK FROM YOUR FLAT LETS ROLL". It was a this point that I felt my extortionate rent prices were finally worth it. Mate. This is why I moved to London.

After simultaneously buying the tickets and signing up for extra shifts at work, we reach KoKo at about 10pm to stand in the freezing cold for about 2 and a half hours. I probably would have had some type of mild mental breakdown but it was too cold for my brain cells to even orchestrate that. Eventually we get in and find situated on the balcony which, not only had a wonderful view, but was next to what ended up being turned into the VIP area. I literally was brushing shoulders with DJ Semtex, Delilah, Sian Anderson, Julie Adenuga, Aaron (BBR), Jammer, Bossman Birdie, lest we not mention my darling Frisco. Now I live in a different world to everyone else, so while my friend was like "who are these people Riri?????", I'm standing there super excited. Lame. I know. But I love our music scene so I love them all for what they've done for it.

Anyway, lets set the scene. We have a full venue. There was significantly less angst amongst a waiting crowd than you'd usually find, especially with no DJ set to keep it entertained. To be honest, I think everyone was just happy they were no longer in the cold. For once being tightly pushed up against random humans wasn't so undesirable - such sharing of body heat was actually valued. Hero David Vujanic was busy amusing the, apparently Arsenal fan heavy, crowd with Spurs slurring  football chants, when, all of a sudden, that oh so gooooooorgeous, 'That's Not Me' intro starts ringing through my ears. Joy. Joy. Joy. I look to the stage and yes, there stands  Skepta, JME, Novelist, Meridian Dan etc. as expected. Cool. Yay. Exciting. But then the stage carries on filling. More BBK? Krept and Konan maybe? No. It's Kanye grinning. Big Sean all chain swinging. And even better, they're bounding around at the back of the stage, looking like baby boys just enjoying their life as Skepta's hype men. Taking a second to break down this glorious moment, we have;

1. Residual adrenaline still running through peoples veins from the fact they made a snap 1 minute decision to just go and see Kanye tonight
2. A sense of pride/smugness amonst the crowd over the fact they actually got tickets 
3. Pure elation from simply not being on the verge of frostbite in the que anymore 
4. Grime future, past and present pioneers all standing infront of a London crowd 
5. That's Not Me aka hypest track of the 2014 booming through the speakers
6. Kanye and Big Sean wiling out like they're just normal BBK memebers

So yes. The energy in the crowd was immense. Put it this way, I look to my left to see Will.I.Am thoroughly enjoying himself, ferociously bopping his head to the beat in pure satisfaction. I look to my right and see a group of guys jumping all over each other. I look at myself and I'm doing that thing where I turn into (a bit of) an excited boy whenever I'm at a live Grime event.  At this point Skepta owned the crowd. And throughout the show, with "BBK" chants" echoing the venue, team UK continued to own the crowd. This wasn't just a Kanye West concert. This wasn't just a Kanye West + friends concert. This wasn't just a Kanye West + friends and added support of Skepta et al concert. No. No. No. It was a Kanye West and BBK concert. At one point, it was literally back to back US to UK. One minute Novelist is spitting over the Spaceship instrumental then all of a sudden Kanye or Big Sean has the mic doing I can't even tell you what, because at this point I was probably levitating. We have to thank Kanye for that. He didn't have to have the set up that way. But he did. (Which also proves me right about Kanye actually acting on our behalf at the Brits). And 7 sleep deprived hours after it all finished, I'm still excited by life.

Upon watching back my videos from last night, I fully appreciated the beauty of Kanye's reconciliation with his old mojo. Last year I watched him perform one of many of his many frustration fuelled, performances, that actually were more like outbursts rather than musical displays. And yeah, I get the whole art and emotion thing behind it, but it gets to a point when you're in the crowd and you just feel uncomfortable and stop enjoying yourself. Yesterday was like watching a whole new Kanye, except he was just being the good old Kanye that we know and love. He was happy on stage. He was enjoying himself. When he was performing and when he was watching our UK don-diddly's perform, he grinned genuine grins. The whole night was built upon that foundation of happiness he laid right there. Which is why is was so freaking HYPE.

So yeah, we had; Kanye going old mojo styley on us, Big Sean tearing it up, BBK, Meridian Dan and Novelist putting it down, oh yeah and no to mention Rae-friggin-Kwon coming out on stage to bring us old school hip hop flavours! My only thoughts the whole gig and ever since the gig have been that I just really really really really really really really really really love music. Kanye was probably the first rapper I properly attached myself to as a little girl. I've loved the Grime scene since Yeezus knows. Last night was a magnificent fusion of the two. Mate. I am so glad I was there.

My footage of last night wasn't that amazing, partly because I was too hype to even film properly, plus they're all 10 second snapchat segments because I wanted to enjoy the rest of the songs, and also half of them have me enthusiastically rapping along in them - I even let out an excited squeal when the Spaceship instrumental started because I'm such a loser. Nonetheless, I will leave you with this one gem I recorded of Kanye getting his skankers on. This is how I will enter every club from now on. (Sorry it uploaded with such terrible quality)

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Skepta - SHUTDOWN

I've been waiting for Konnichiwa ever since Skepta dropped Blacklisted. Then he switched creative direction with the dropping of That's Not Me, and got me even more excited. Then literally every move he has made since has built up the anticipation more and more. The dropping of his new single, SHUTDOWN, is no exception to the rule.

Exclusively brought to us through Fader, the new single was apparently freshly mastered just last night, indicating that the album is still sat vigorously brewing on the stove while being added to - leaving even more reason for us to not to know what to expect from this project. The beat, produced by the man himself and Ragz Originale, managed to make me feel like a certified gully creeper all by itself. Upon it, as expected, Skepta laid down some ferocious bars addressing how he has both, shut down plenty of people, places and barriers to get to where he is right now, while still having a few more to go before he becomes king of the world (which will happen one day, I'm sure). Both of these themes can also be found in the two samples he used on the track. The first, a clip of Drake from his short film Jungle - most likely a referral to the progress Skepta has made in getting the Grime scene overtly appreciated and respected by our international peers. The second sample represented the barriers that still need to be broken. An audio clip in the middle of the song depicted the ignorant comments that surfaced as a result of Kanye's BRITS performance, giving the dance floor baaaaaaaaaanger political undertones. Perfect.

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Kanye, the BRITs and the Grime Scene

What Kanye did at the BRITs tonight made me happy. Very happy. As in, push-your-statistics-lecture-notes-to-the-side-and-pull-out-the-Poomplex-mixtapes-to-commemorate-such-a-wonderful-moment-happy. 

The UK "urban" music scene hasn't valued itself for a while now. We do not celebrate our own talent. This is because the wider mainstream UK music industry fails to really acknowledge us. The very fact it took an AMERICAN artist to showcase the UK Grime scene on a UK awards show says it all - we are no rated. But the very fact that, Kanye was mobbing the stage along with a good portion of the Grime scene on ITV at 8:30pm is very nang indeed.

Now I'm not going to be totally naive. Kanye's public appreciation of Grime tonight and in particular it's current front man Skepta, isn't completely dissociated with the fact Grime has been getting a bit trendy again lately. The same can be said for Drakes recent public appreciation too. Their affiliation with a culture that's recently been regenerating a buzz is going to have it's promo perks. Then again, do they really need to feed off our scene? I feel this recent recognition of our scene isn't fully a "Diddy/Hello Good Morning" esque stunt. In my opinion, there is an actual display of respect for our scene being shown for once. Stormzy, Novelist, Skepta, JME, Logan, and Maximum were all put on the bill for a New York Fashion week party and delivered a heaaaaaaaaaaaaavy pirate radio styley Grime set. To me that's a pretty clear indication that our friends from over the Atlantic are both acknowledging and embracing what we're doing. There is an interest and channelling of Grime's spirit going on. I mean, Drake watching old LOTM clashes shows a decent amount of submersion into the culture. 

For a long time, the scene, in a quest to validate itself, has been hunting for a UK co-sign. This has led to replacement of our authentic sound, with an Americanised one in hope it will get them to listen to us. This sillyness has stemmed from the lack of belief in our own scene and the mentality that a US-cosign is the only source we need to prove it's half decent. But recently, there has been a re-channelling of the roots of the scene. And that is why people have stopped ignoring it. And that's why tonight made me happy. It was a perfect example of how freeing the realness and nurturing our true sound is the most effective way for it to be actually heard. 

What we must realises is that the US recognition isn't making our scene any more worthy. Our home-grown talent did that themselves. What the US recognition is doing though, is finally giving our artists the attention they deserve. The reality is, US artists have taken plenty of inspiration from the Grime scene for years. Except now, they are not hiding it. We have the authenticity back in our culture that they want back in theirs. Plus, surprise surprise, they actually like the music we make. So it's only fair they rate us loudly and proudly now. Hopefully it will prompt our own scene to own itself. US validation isn't what Kanye gave us at the Brits. Say what you want, but I truly believe he was making a statement on our behalf. He saw our under-representation in the industry so, instead, he decided to shove us in everyone faces. I'm glad he did it. It's just sad we had to rely on him to do it for us. 

Nevertheless, I feel 2015 is definitely the year. Since Skepta has taken this new creative direction, I've been dying to hear his soon-to-be-dropping album Konnichiwa . But now, I'm even more excited to see what impact it has. I have a feeling it's going to get the support of some interesting people, which will help speed up the ever-anticipated process of Grime taking over the world. So yeah, hurry up and drop it for us Skepzzzzz!

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Lady Leshurr - Queen's Speech

Lady Leshurr has always been one of my favourite MC's. And yes, please note I did not say "favourite female MC". She's got a tighter flow, better bars, stronger charisma and sharper delivery than most of the boys on the scene. When it comes to freestyles (and, to be fair, pretty much every other bit of work she puts out) Lesh will always absolutely body it. And when I say body it, I mean she'll body it to the point where, I still don't think I'm actually over the way she tore up her "Good God" freestyle from a good few years back. Thus, her new monthly offering, The Queen's Speech, in which she gifts us a dose of bars upon bars, is very exciting indeed. Episode 1 dropped on Sunday night and yep...it's FI-YAAAAAA. 

It's rare for me to not be able to pick out an MC's strongest area. But, there Lady Leshurr has me on a Sunday night, arguing with myself over what it is she does that makes me wanna press replay 356456 times. Is it her, what seems to be, infinite supply of punchlines? Might it be the crazy flows? Or is it down to the plain personality and fun she delivers every single word with? Whatever it is, I have more pressing matters to be concerned with, such as; if she was male, would she be so damn tragically underrated? *sigh* 

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D'Angelo on Saturday Night Live

The dropping of Black Messiah, reminded us of what we have missed from music. And no, I'm not just talking about D'angelo's soul caressing vocals laid over hypnotic beats (that can be product of nothing other than delicate craft). I'm talking about the questions conjured, the issues outlined and the message so wrapped within the music, it still penetrates the trance his voice puts you into. The political statements could not be missed in The Charade; "All we wanted was a chance to talk, 'stead we only got outlined in Chalk" - a reference to Mike Brown, Eric Garner and the horrible injustices in America that are evermore apparent right now. In, what I believe is, his first live performance since dropping the album, D'Angelo performed the track last night on SNL, along with Really Love.

It's stripped back, it's simple but there is real detail in the performance, which is probably why it's so enticing. It's funny because, the making of the album was a collaborative effort from D'angelo and his band, The Vanguard, so the live versions of both tracks sound pretty much identical to the album versions. It's just something about seeing it all being executed to perfection live that's so intriguing. I literally found myself fixated on my screen (but that's probably also because I was trying imagine D'angelo serenading me with Really Love because boy those vocals are tighttttttttt). I feel like the choice of songs; one about love and one about fighting against social injustice, sent out 2 things we really need in the world right now. Less subtle, was the message he relayed with the chalk outline on stage, the band's "I Can't Breathe" shirts and the hoodie he wore (which I'm guessing is related to the tragic story of Trayvon Martin). The perfect use of music, the perfect use of performance and the perfect use of platform. 

I love live bands, smooth ass vocals and music doing more than just entertaining - but sending out a message. So yes, I loved this performance. And yes, I need someone to come with me and watch him and Raheem - Razzaaaaaa - Bakhare when he comes to London town pls.

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Shakka & Frisco - Walking With The Elephants Remix

You're most probably familiar, in fact overly familiar, with Ten Walls' track, Walking With The Elephants, as it circulated the radio waves and club scene last year. Just as you thought you'd thought that crazy central horn section of the song just wasn't as exciting as it used to be, Mr 2 K's, with help from Mr Frisco/Frisc-FLOW has revitalised its beautiful grunginess in his latest remix. If I were to sum up my feelings upon first hearing the track, I'd have to describe it as one of those songs that remind you why you love music so god damn much.
Shakka's voice pretty much just induces dopamine release in my body. This is probably down to the fact that I can be 100% certain, if it's got Shakka's name on it, it will be a CHOON. His voice, creativity and overall approach to music is so so so so so so so so so refreshing. Personally, the gas levels of this tune were significantly enhanced by getting Frisco on it, being that he is one of my favourite MC's. To be fair, Like Frisco said in the video below, Shakka came up on the track like an MC himself. So, personally, having an MC jumping on the track was really not necessary. But, Big Fris' cool, calm and suave, yet gritty, flavours worked to my approval for sure. I definitely think they can be much better appreciated in their live performance below (which by the way makes me want to cry many salty tears over the fact that I was not there to witness this in the flesh).

If you also want to experience it in all it's bassy glory, which I suggest you do, then click here innit... 

And, if your soul feels it needs to soak up some more of Shakka's wonderfully infectious energy then this is a must (if you haven't seen it already). Beautiful, creative and innovative. If the glorious vibes he radiates weren't enough, he further enhanced his live performance and artisty by using his own live recorded vocals to accompany the live band in providing the backing music. It's hard to explain, but it's proper cool so just watch it.

And whilst we're in SBTV land you might as well check out Frisco's latest freestyle. Back with slick bars on a sick grime beat courtesy of Rude Kid, he shows us what we already know, Frisco is gulllllllllllllllly 2 da core. He also talks about a new, monthly, grime event he is launching (which the footage of himself and Shakka's performance above is from). I would love to go at one point in my life seeing as I actually live in London now, so, yes, the vacancy for an accomplice to grime raves for a small brown girl is still very much wide open :)

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Happy Birthday Kano - Throw Back Thursday

I love Kano for many, many, many reasons....okay mainly 3:

1. He is still one of the finest MC's we have. He pioneered the Grime scene and still runs things in it. A nice album from you, Kane, would help in proving people wrong when they disagree with that statement, although I think one of his latest droppings, The King's Speech, featuring Ghetts (still also in probably my top 5) which you can have a listen to here, provides plenty of proof.
2. His face is really, really very a lot nice.
3. His instagram makes my life. The hashtags are A*. Plus it's another opportunity to admire his face so yeah.

Anyway seeing as it's Throwback Thursday and it's Kano's birthday and it's nice and summery outside, how about an old school track from Kay-ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

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P Money and Big H - LOTM Trash Talk

I have to rate Big H's confidence. So much so, that sitting and watching every interview he has done since dropping Fire and Smoke is becoming a hobby of mine. There are certain things artists may feel but don't say, and if they actually do say them, then they drop the fake "I'm only joking hahahha" afterwards. Big H on the other hand, says these things with pure seriousness, then sits with a straight face waiting for the next question, with an arrogance that is confusingly not as obnoxious as it should be. This confidence is witness-able in this latest clip of P-Money and H trash talking ahead of their hugely anticipated LOTM clash, that I am half convinced Big H stands a good chance of actually surprising us in and giving P Money that heaaaaaaat.

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Usher - Good Kisser

I knew you wouldn't leave us drowning in all that fist pumping, dance poop.

The song oozes those hot, provocative flavours. Everything on this track is so so simple and so so clean. Simple beat. Simple lyrics. Clean vocals. Yes. Yes. Yes. It wasn't hard to make a good comeback and top his most recent offerings prior to this new release but thank god he came back  a reformed man. It was just last week I was sat wishing Usher would return to something resembling his "Confessions" phase, not only for the good of his musical credibility but just because my ears missed it. The video for the track is just as clean and simple as the song, starring the Usher we know and love: dancing, smiling cheekily and topless every so often. Good on ya' Ush, it's best to get this all in before you become too old for it to be appropriate - just don't overplay it and be too much of a Trey Songz. Seriously though, the fact this new release is David Guetta free (talented but tainted the R&B scene which is not an easily forgiveable offence) is such good news for my ears.

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BASHY WENT FRENCH THOUGH (Bashy: Fire In The Booth)

Truth be told, and I am ashamed to say it, I've never really gone out my way to listen to Bashy. The only time I've not seen him in a non-commercial light is on LOTM and on features which, I was always impressed by, but for some reason I still never acted on it. Consequently, before I had a gander at his Fire In The Booth, the image of Bashy in my head was just "commercial Bashy". While I liked the concept of his recent single, 'These Are The Songs', there wasn't much more for me to get realllllly excited about...

...then he spoke French.

He starts with all that political ishhhhhh which was a straight big green tick from me. You could say addressing real issues is something Bashy has done from the start, for example, with 'Black Boys'. But that was years ago, and who want's to be a millionaire etc were hardly the same calibre. Then, came the Arctic Monkey's instrumental and Bashy started talking about big boy stuff. Like, actual, proper grown stuff. None of that pretending he is something he isn't and stunting for image. What's better is that, yes, this realness radiated maturity, but it still left enough room for Bashy to have fun and do fun things i.e. throw shots at Dappy :D

The fire started after all of this though. Flows upon flows to spout a whole loada truth, from how to break the system to how you should reflect on your reflection in the mirror if it's showing you a man in a skirt. This Fire In The Booth was basically just full of ridiculously quotable stuff and yet the most un-quotable part was the ne plus ultra and yes, I know I went Latin, but that's only because BASHY WENT FRENCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Yes.

A verse of fire in French. Lord help me if I knew what he was actually saying jheeezeeeeeeeeeee. Prior to the FITB, the image of Bashy in my head was "Commercial Bashy" in his video pushing a trolley of sacks with the pound sign on them in Arial Black  font. By the end, it had transformed into Ashley-Bashley Thomas sitting in a Jean Paul Gaultier suit eating a croissant (because French innit).
If I never rated him before, I deffo rated him now.

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#ThrowbackThursday - Donaeo Speechless Live Lounge

I have a habit of dropping these #ThrowbackThursdays (well the 2 that I have actually done) at the very end of Thursday but oh well.

Today I bring to you a Live Lounge I rediscovered during my long long long journey to and around London yesterday within which I had ample opportunity to rinse my iPod's battery to the core. On rammed tubes that I only got on as a result of full exploitation of my small frame, which enabled me to fill the tiniest pockets of space on the carriages, there was no room to breath, let alone manoeuvre my arm so it could reach into my pocket and change the track on my iPod. But on letting it do it's own thing, it dug up a few forgotten gems buried under playlists upon playlists. One of these was Breakage ft. Donaeo - Speechless which technically I can't really call a gem because I don't really like the song that much but I loved Donaeo's solo cover of it.

Donaeo/DON-AAAAAAAAAAAAY-OH, is the creator of some of the biggest tunes that you hear on a night out and so like most, that's all I really knew him for - a wicked producer who occasionally dropped a couple of random vocals in the form or "party-ty-ty-ty-ty-ty-ty haaaaaaaaard zum zum zum" or "I'm fly, I'm fly-y-y-y ta na na na na ni ni ni ta na na na na na ni ni ni ni". I never actually knew he could sing or did anything more than produce mean beats that made my waist wiggle. It turns out Mr Zephron has a voice that I wish he used so much more. It's not exactly a husky, raspy voice (which I'm a sucker for) but there is something about that tone and very slight, subtle coarseness that I want more of.

So Mr Donaeo, please sing more for those soul destroying cold, rainy Mondays when I need therapy (but please also carry on making riddimsssssss too for Friday nights).

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Dot Rotten - You Wasted My Time (cover)

I am often awake at these stupid times, asking myself "WHY WHY WHY AM I AWAKE?!". I never usually have a good reason... until today, courtesy of Dot Rotten, for if I had retreated to my slumber at a normal time like a normal human, I would have missed out on Dot Rotten dropping a bomb.

A little over 24 hours ago Krept and Konan gave us the UK remix of Don't Waste My Time. It being a madness, naturally encouraged me to post about it here, and if you read it, you will see written in ink/pixels, me telling you to be excited because it is these types of tunes that get the whole scene going on one. And that's when good ol' Dot comes into play.

Since Dot's fairly decent album, he hasn't really been doing much, or not enough to be causing a stir at least (except on twitter). Well, I assure you after you let you ears get assaulted by this then you'll be saying: "Sorry I forgot just how good you were Mr Rotten because GAT DAHHHHHHM!". I don't know what ruffled his feathers, it could be absolutely anything because, as I said before, judging by his twitter, lately he seems to be frustrated with anything and everything on the UK scene that isn't Minarmy. Whatever it was, he let something go fo' sure and consequently he absolutely, unequivocally, totally and completely went in RUTHLESSLY during this therapy session he partook in, in his studio. It's evident that once he embarked on this outburst he couldn't stop; "F*** THAT I DONT WANNA HEAR NO CHORUS...!!!!", only this is a much more skilfully executed outburst than your usual. The bars are well constructed. His delivery, even with the 'Tempz Next Hype' level anger, is controlled and as a listener you're not just left drowning in a mess of poorly executed bars flung carelessly at us. This control is packed into two flows, the first; a fast, more spiteful, yet calmer flow and a second slower but heavier flow, adopted after the beat drops. Considering that this remix was one of the first to fall at our feet, and it being a freestyle at that, you'll feel yourself wanting to apologise to Mr Rotten yet again for forgetting how good he is.

Go and 'ave a listen m8.

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Don't Waste My Time UK Remix - Krept, Konan, Chip, French Montana,Wretch 32, Chinx Drugz and Fekky

2nd of January, everyone awoke from their slumbers, rubbed out the eye bogeys and sat in their beds at 11:30am scrolling through twitter forgetting about the words of "wisdom" they were blabbering the other day across all thier social networks about productivity, pumping up the work rate and positivity. Amongst the "WE BE ALL NIGHT LOOOOOOOOOOOVE"//It's not everyday...//Real men shouldn't this and should that tweets as they scrolled they would have come across snippets of drama (which was very much over hyped by twitter land) surrounding the two Don't Waste My Time remixes dropped today. Now although I'm here to talk about the track, not the industry politics and the misunderstanding surrounding it, I must quickly address one thing...

Due to all the hoo-har on twitter, the one real issue in all of this was overlooked: the lack of respect French (along with pretty much the rest of the US scene) showed for the UK. He used a UK song for his mixtape. Okay, that's cool, thanks. But could he not have even credited Krept and Konan on the track listing? Is this twitter - there are no character limits. And did he really have to take the UK artists off the song to put it on his mixtape? Last time I checked, Lana Del Ray wasn't part of Coke Boys but she's still featured so it cant be that  he took off Chip, Fekky and Wretch's verses because it's a purely just a Coke Boys project. They executed strong verses - it would not sacrifice the Coke Boys' rep or quality of mixtape to keep them on there. He's not obliged to do anything but if the UK scene was rated let alone respected then just a simple gesture to support our scene would not harm himself, his career and would take him minimal effort. I guess it's that American artist "superior" attitude thinking that remixing one UK track is one too many favours for us.

That's just my thoughts but anyway...

The original version of 'Don't Waste My Time' is a straight greezy, raw, gas-material track. It doesn't carry the substance Krept and Konan's more concious stuff does, and although I love me some music with a message, from time to time you have to switch it up and give credit to the bangers that, when blasted, have you nodding your head like you're the don dadaaaaaaaaa. This is exactly why I was clinging onto the edge of my seat for the remix to drop. It's these types of tunes that get the artists on their toes making sure they go H'IIIIIIIINNNNN competing for the hardest verse whether they get put on the remix or do their own cover. And that's the real beauty...it gets the whole scene going!

You don't even need to get past the first verse for proof of this - Chip wins! He said it was a "killer verse" and he tells no lies. It's not technically  the best in terms of lyricism blah blah but for the type of track it is, the verse is perfect. For me, French got a bit lazy on this. Although they're decent bars - they're recycled and given that he always raps about the same old stuff anyway it's nothing more than a poor effort from him especially for something he is putting out on his mix tape where it's usually nice to deviate and experiment in the safety of the non-mainstream waters. Moving on...Wretch has never been the "greezy" type of rapper and if you were to match a track to him, this wouldn't be it - it's way darker, far too trappy and hence a lot more Americanised than his usual stuff. However, he manages to sound more than comfortable on this track controlling his verse and letting it build momentum as it progresses, leaving on a good, solid ending;"kabooooooooooom". Surprisingly, it's not his lyricism that stands out for me in this, but it was his delivery that took the spotlight - it was strong and was what gave his verse fire. Another piece of evidence proving he is one of our most skilled and versatile rappers right now. Chinx Drugz verse was decent. I'm not gunna lie, I haven't really made effort to listen to his other stuff so I can't really comment against his other work but judging from this he is iteeeee. If I wasn't the eager beaver I am, after hearing this I probably wouldn't have much motivation to listen to anything else of his. Fekky was good. Not at his best for me but he was decent and definitely continued the theme of Team UK > Team US which echoes through the track. It goes without saying that Krept and Konan's original verses were hard and even with the new additions they still remained strong (if I had to choose between the two though it would be Krept).  

The team US link up (although slightly messed up with the way French dropped his remix first) is a great move for Krept and Konan but the US efforts on this are lazy. A straight UK link up with a few more of our homegrown artists could have this looking like the new 'Game Over' and definitely worth my time. I'm just excited for the next few days where everyone is going to be dropping their own verses over this. Round 2 commence *DING DING*

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Mr Bigz - My Funked Up Soul *Mixtape*

It's been about a year since we last heard from Bigz, one of the UK's finest HipHop veterans who we've seen steadily working up the ranks since Channel U days, but a couple of weeks back (yes I know - I'm a bit late) under his new more grown alias of Mr Bigz, he brought us a slice of the equally matured sounds of 80s soul flavoured with 90's HipHop flows and wit.

Skilfully produced completely by Turkish Dycypha, the mixtape is far from secreting the stench of "trying too hard" to imitate the sounds of the big hair and parachute pants days. Instead, it radiates the redolence of the reminiscent vibes that would have been floating about the studio, conjuring memories of the times when it was all simple and easy. Vibes which have seeped into the songs and given us 16 tracks of perfect Sunday morning easy listening material. It seems Mr Bigz's recent, and might I add: APPLAUDABLE, grind in the gym has not only helped him drop a few stone but also bad vibes as they're non existent amongst the witty wordplay, fun flows and hints of humour that you'll find in every track. It's seriously refreshing to have a whole EP of laid back, yet quality, tracks that do nothing but make me want to walk down the road in a Soul Train esque manner as I make my way to college.

Although I am not oblivious to music before my time (it would be rude not to be), as someone who is too young to have lived to remember anything even near times that these type of sounds originate from, I really enjoyed the authentic samples. Amongst the familiar ones used such as Mary Jane Girls' "All Night Long" which I recognised from LL Cool J's old school shenanigans, the not so familiar samples gave me an excuse to geek out, get my research orrrrrrn and expand my musical horizons so fist bumps all round for that Mr Bigzyyyyy and Turkish Dycypha.

My only qualms with this mixtape is the line in 'Trouble Man': "We only see shadows in the dark"  because you need light to produce shadows and the line lead me to getting into such a deep mental debate over this fact on the bus that I got so caught up in it and almost missed my stop. But apart from that rather picky criticism, Mr Bigz has beautifully united the funkaaaaaay sounds of soul and hard flows and lyricism of real Hip Hop into an EP strong enough to make it into my favourites of 2013. I'll probably be still pumping this as we make our way to 2014 because, and I can't stress this enough, it's so so effortless and eaaaaaaaaaaaaasy to listen to! It's also nice to hear something different coming from the UK scene - the absence of collaborations perhaps prove this; in that there wasn't anyone quite riding the same wave as Bigz and therefore worthy of being featured. I'm glad he has kept 'making good music' at the heart of the project and didn't sacrifice a feature of an artist that didn't quite get 'it' in order to reach out to their fanbases for a bit more buzz. Instead, he has poured a '100% pure with bits' glass of himself into the project ensuring the vibe he was feeling was channelled into a great mixtape.

If you haven't already then get downloading/streaming at www.mrbigz.co.uk 

PS. Merry Christmas innit :D

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Music Video Monday: ICEY - Skepta

Skeppy has let his creative juices spill over every inch of this project. Not only did he produce the song with Jason and Hooks, he also directed, with the help of Kritikal, the intriguing visual (albeit not as..."intriguing" as the 'All Over The House' video) which kills two birds with one stone with it being a platform to promote his new song and new clothing range. As a result of this efficiency, what we find before us on our screens is what is probably the hoodest catwalk ever.

In the spirit of being ICEY, the video was FRESHLY dropped into our laps less than 24 after Skepta and Kritikal had spent 26-odd hours creating it. It basically consists of Joseph Junior and co. walking up and down, rocking his golden-JME-pendant inspired (think back to: "She said she's in love with my Jesus piece. I told her to look a bit closer, it's not Jesus baby it's JAY EM EE") jumpers/t-shirts. It's not the most outrageous thing you'll ever see yet you'll find your eyes unexpectedly glued to the screen. It may have something to do with the visual being tailored so it wasn't solely an advert for the clothing range but still held relevance to the song and this was achieved just by adding in the little details like Yardy walking up the catwalk with the belt every time the track plays "still trying to get the championship belt of Yardy" - see, simple.

In regards to the song: it's okay. It grows on me the more I listen to it. It's not his hardest but it's enough for it to resemble what you'd imagine the backing track for 'Super Mario Bros: Tuggggg Edition' would be. It's not clear if the song is going to be a single or an album track but if it's just a song to go along with the promo for his clothes then it more than does it's job.

Check out the video below.

If you want to get your hands on the clothing then hit up: attackthezombies.com/

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Beyonce - BEYONCE Album

Recently my posts have been dropped here and there because, well, I've been busy. Atleast that is what I thought I was until Beyonce dropped an album of 14 songs and 17 visuals all whilst she was rehearsing for/performing a world tour, being one of the biggest international stars of our generation, a wife oh and a mother too. I then thought maybe I could spare a chunk of my now-not-so-busy schedule to write a word or two on "BEYONCE" - the album.

If you've watched Beyonce's biographical movie "Life Is But A Dream" you will be aware of the pure blood, sweat, tears and time from her years that she puts into a single performance. Multiply this by the amount of songs on her set list and then multiply this again by the one-hundred-odd shows she is doing around the world and you'll find yourself on a cloud of confusion floating around the question of how the hell did she even find time to (co)write an album, get into the studio to lay down the vocals and play about with them to fix them into an actual song, and then film 17 visuals to accompany all of this. God knows how she did it, but she has done didded it anyway. Perhaps she invested into new cutting edge scientific research around how to stop time, or maybe she has cloned herself, or maybe we are taking too much credit away from her work ethic, which seems to be even crazier than we first thought. It is this very work ethic that has got her to such a point that her marketing team can kick back for a bit and watch as she crashes iTunes with an album she dropped just like that with no promo. It is this very work ethic that drives her to pull such stunts to make sure that no one will be catching up to her any time soon as she, not only reaches but, surpasses the top of the game.

Before I even got to the visuals, I listened first. This was because I was intrigued to see if the focus on the visuals and the fact she has been so busy doing pretty much everything else, was going to take away from the quality of music. (I assure you my reluctance to not watch the visuals first did not stem from the fact I had to get to college and I didn't have time to let the videos sync on my iPod before I left the house). The album begins with "Pretty Hurts" - a song about society's pressures on the average human being to be perfect. Now if I'm going to be honest, a message about it's what is inside that counts and that "the soul needs the surgery" is all well and good and I'm ALL about self worth and stuff, but when it comes from one of the most visually appealing women in the world, who doesn't really exaggerate her natural beauty, the message is a tad bitter-sweet. Then again, I remembered that she is human and even she will feel self concious from time to time and she is under 10000 times more scrutiny than your average Susan Smith and maybe I should cut her some slack. Soz B. Anyway, as you get deeper into the album all that socially concious, deep stuff (as much as I do love a good uplifting message) fades into the background as in the second song she tells us she is "sold not for sale, probably won't make no money of this but oh well" implying that this album is more than just her doing her job as a musician and stacking a few bills from it, but it is in fact a statement of art. It seems interesting then that what's to follow on in the song and for the next few tracks is basically Beyonce's freaky side as she takes us through the more hot and sweaty parts of her life. For instance "Can you lick my skittles, that's the sweetest in the middle, pink that's the flavour, solve the riddle" is definitely not about coming home from work on a Tuesday night and stabbing up the plastic film on a microwave meal for one. Recently I have been reliving the sounds of my favourite Beyonce album, B'Day, and these songs have very much reflected the energy she channelled back then - from the bouncy, fun instrumentals to the kinky-er, "Kitty Kat" esque lyrics.

By the time we get to track 7, the tone changes as she begins to question her relationship with Jay-Z, sings about jealous suspicions and in "Mine", a track shared with Drake, she talks of the strains of a long distance relationship. By "XO" we can be reassured that Jigga and Beyonce are fine though *phew* and are still deeply in love."***Flawless", the following track, shows that in light of this, she's back on top of the world again and instructs us to "BOW DOWN B*TCHES B*TCHES". Rather than this being just an extremely un-modest declaration of her superiority, it also doubles up as a feminist statement of female suppression by males (although I think Queen B can be a bit of a hypocrite when it comes to her "independent woman" empowerment malarkey). Her next track features Mr Frank Ocean and continues to tell us the love story of her and Jay-Z. At this point I realised that since reaching the midway point of the album, her sound has become much more grown and serious and it increasingly resembles her last 2 albums. If I hadn't realised by then, I would have definitely been hit by this change in her penultimate track where she tells the heart breaking story of the loss of her unborn child. The final track titled "Blue", which is about, yep you guessed it, Blue Ivy, brings the whole album to an end but signifies the beginning of a new chapter in her life: Motherhood.

Upon reaching the end, I thought back to her statement in her second track with it's implications of this self titled compilation being art and it all made sense. The album is a biographical experience that lets us into her 2 most important jobs: being a wife and being a mother. It begins with "Pretty Hurts" which explains her coming to terms and adjustment to media's challenges as she rocketed to fame. This is the only track that directly discusses her career because the bulk of her life really revolves around her other half, and this is why this love story is what dominates the content of the album. The channelling of those "B'Day" album vibes is a symbol of reminiscence over her and Jay-Z's relationship when it was in the young, fun, honeymoon period. Bang on in the middle of the album the sound matures as we move into the next chapter of her life and we get a peek into the stresses and strains of keeping a relationship strong but we also see the rewards of making it work. Only the 2 final tracks are dedicated to motherhood, because this is the part of her journey she has only just begun.

I am glad I did listen before I watched because I feel I would have missed out on so much had I just watched the visuals...mainly because they pretty much all consist of Beyonce half naked and I'd probably get distracted by all the twisted moral - yeah I said it! Considering that a lot inspiration can be drawn from this project in terms of work ethic etc. it worries me that Beyonce, mother, wife and idol to many girls, chose to leave a little less to the imagination in these videos. It makes me wonder why we condemn Rihanna for doing the things Beyonce does despite Rihanna being in a more justifiable place (even though it still isn't justified) to do it (i.e. being less of a household name, international sweetheart, not a mother or a wife). To be honest all of Beyonce's videos seem to go along the theme of her behind a camera doing a dance routine or something, but I felt with this album she had a chance to get artistic and paint a more vivid story with the visuals. The videos dissapointed me because yet again I'm getting mixed moral messages from B and I feel sorry for the many people that have missed out on the real story running through the music because they went straight to the videos and were hypnotised by her jiggiling gluteus maximus.

Aside from the videos which I felt let her down and in my eyes stripped a little credibility from the album, the rest is GOOD quality. The production of the songs, the vocals and the actual story - it's nice to finally have a true album that is honest from Beyoncé. The only thing that could have made this more epic for me is, as you may have guessed, BETTER visuals and perhaps an ending video with a 5 second shot of Jay-Z sitting in a chair, smugly puffing on a cuban cigar and then all you hear is the *Jigga Laugh*.

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Throwback Thursday: Akala - 'Dat Boy' and Thieves Banquet Tour

So yesterday I went to see King Akalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala (aka Akala) and his support act and newly dreaded up Sir Josh Oshoshoshoshoshoshoshoshoshoshoshosho (aka Josh Osho) at Nottingham's Rock Citytytytytytytytytytytytyty (yeah, I'll stop now) as part of Akala's Thieves Banquet Tour.

In the humble setting of one of the smaller halls of Rock City, Josh took the stage on a oSHO ting...okay, maybe not quite in such a fashion but I didn't want to waste a good punchline so yeah...
He actually made his way on to the stage by squeezing between me and my friend (who I had dragged along) at the front of the crowd (obviously I, Miss eager beaver, was right at the front), turning to say sorry (like a proper cute little gentleman) as he pulled his guitar past us. With what was probably a smaller crowd then the other venues of the tour, he handled it like a true professional and managed to win over the somewhat, rowdier less engaged members of the crowd, using just the sultry sounds from his lips, symphonies constructed by just the six strings on his guitar and a dose or two of satire. I actually do think this is as a credit to Osho's skills as an artisst and performer considering he: 

1. was the support act
2. was an act that who's vibe was much more calmer than the one much of the crowd came to see (which isn't a bad thing for me but perhaps is for others) 
3. sang songs that were pretty much unknown to those that aren't big Osho fans (sadly there was no 'Redemption Days') which you'd think would make it harder as a crowd member to connect but the pure conviction and soul he saaaaaaaaaaangs with in his performance took care of that.

Now, I must say I am convinced that Akala morphed into a fly earlier that day and followed me around to eavesdrop on the tunes that had been pumping through my headphones and then put them all on the setlist (which he changes for every night of the tour) because it consisted of 90% of my top Akala songs. Although even if the set list wasn't full of many of my favourites I would have left the gig on the exact same vibe: empowered. 

If you already rate Akala, seeing him live is a whole new level. Sitting in front of YouTube watching his Fire In The Booths and being blown away by the outstanding flow, character and most significantly content, is a feeling magnified 100 times when the man himself is right in front of you and a crowd revved up with passion for his words surrounds you. It definitely brings an additional impact to what you get when you listen through your headphones as you journey over to your friends house. Speaking of such journeys, during some of my own, I sometimes used question why Akala uses the instrumentals he does. Why did I question them? Because I always felt they were slightly more rock-like than you'd expect from a Hip-Hop artist (although Hip Hop is really about the words) and could be a bit more epic and add energy to what he was saying. I put the reasoning down to the fact that the choice of instrumentals was probably a method to enable his message to spread to a wider audience, ensure you focus on the words more rather than an overpowering instrumental and helped portray his frustration and insubordination through a more angry rocky beat. Upon seeing him live, I identified another reason: the percussion provided plenty more power. The nature of Akala's music is really meant to be performed live - as a teacher, his lessons have even more capacity when given to you in person. Live music always multiplies the vibe, but in Akala's music the vibe explodes and it's residue sinks into you and I think the thrashy, energetic instrumentals (performed with the help of Cassell The Beatmaker) played a considerably decent part in this. 

I couldn't pin down my favourite performance but the most fun were definitely 'Pompous Pete' and 'The Thieves Banquet' where the enertainment factor was contributed to on multiple levels including Akala's acting skills. Now I thought I'd present you with a video of the night but sadly upon re-watching it my dodgy filming skills and the fact cameras couldn't capture the energy bouncing around the room that night. But oh well, in honour of Throwback Thrusday I bring you 'Dat Boy Akala' from the 'A Little Deeper' mixtape he release with sister Ms Dynamitee-hee which was one of his earlier pieces that evidenced his high level MC-ing capabilities as well as his concious lyricism.

Even if this video doesn't quite put across the levels of energy that I have tried to explain in this post, please please please get down to an Akala show in the near future because it is definitely worth it.

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Music Video Monday: Pharrell - Happy

When it comes to Pharrell the words "artist", "genius" and "how does he look so god darn fine at forty" come to mind.

2013 has seen the strong (possibly even stronger than his anti-ageing cream) return of Pharrell, as he managed to hold down world wide number ones with his collaborations with Daft Punk of 'Get Lucky' and Robin Thicke and TI on 'Blurred Lines'. But 2013 isn't over. In fact there are about 864 hours left of 2013. And you can spend 24 of them watching Pharrell's latest project - Happy - the first ever 24 hour music video.

The words that may come to mind now are "Ain't nobody got time fo' dat". I mean come on Pharrell, a man like you, who must have a paaaaaaaacked schedule, should know more than the average person that time is precious. Some of us have work/college/school/eating/Eastenders/sleep/lives to be getting on with. But the concept isn't as outlandish as it first seems. The level of thought that has been put into this, evidenced by the little details that make it such a fun and interactive experience, has nurtured it something pretty cool.

Get yourself onto www.24hoursofhappy.com and someone will be dancing away on your screen along to the catchy (but not annoying... yet) 'Happy', a track that you may recognise from Despicable Me 2 (that's if you're wise - unlike me who decided that 'The Conjuring' would be a more fun and worthwhile choice of movie to watch). The video is essentially 24 hours of people dancing. Every 4 minutes or so the song will end, someone new will take the stage, the song will start again and they will take their turn to infect you with a bit of cheer as they shuffle, shake, slip, and slide. Some of these will be familiar faces like Tyler the Creator, just your average person from down the road or at hourly intervals that person busting a few moves across your monitor will be Pharrell himself and you can use the 'P' buttons on the 'clock thing' to skip to the parts with just him. This 'clock thing' is a clever little thing that helps you skip through to any point of the video and uses the changing sunset and sunrise times to ensure that when the video starts up on your screen it corresponds with real time and what's outside. So basically, if you find yourself depressed that you've only just got home from work at 17:58 and the light of day has already left us, go and watch Happy to cheer yourself up and the person bopping away on the screen will also have a dark sky behind him that mirrors the one outside your window. Is it just me that finds little things like this really really cool?

With naked Kim Kardashians on motor bikes and naked Miley Cyrus' on giant wrecking balls being hailed as revolutionary artistic music video master pieces, it's nice to see something simple, innocent and fun land in our laps. Kim Kardashian naked on film isn't exactly a new concept (yeah, I said it, what say suttinwhat) so even if you think the idea of a 24 hour music video that no one will ever watch all the way through is pointless, you can't say it hasn't been done before.

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