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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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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Kendrick Lamar "Diss Track"??

So I was doing that whole wake-up-scroll-through-twitter-find-out-what-the-world-is-on-today routine and my TL was full of "KENDRICK" "DRAKE" "DISS" ... "Say whaaaaaaaaaat?" was my immediate thought. I proceeded to scroll deeper into my timeline to find a link to this "diss track" and upon listening to it, it turns out Twitter was playing Chinese whispers again. Nevertheless the track was on the opposite end of disappointing.

In celebration of the fact that Big Sean's upcoming album "Hall Of Fame" is now available for pre-order, he released "Control", a 7 minute track featuring Kendrick Lamar and Jay Electronica, which didn't make it onto the album due to sample clearing issues. It's a straight rap track bursting at the seams with street, grit, fire and UUUUURGHHHHHH. Consequently it has gassed every human being that's heard it. All 3 artists were evidently in beast mode when recording their verses as it is laced with that "who gon' stop me huh?" attitude -  recklessness, elevation, breaking boundaries, doing the unstoppable. Jay brought the flow, Sean Don brought fire yet this was all overlooked because Kendrick brought it all.

Like the brewing of a storm, all was calm as Kendrick built the bridge of the track with a poetical flow thus doubling the impact of his following verse by letting us recover from Big Sean's rhymes only to, out of no where, hit us even harder with his. His whole 3 minutes radiated "ruthless" but it was these lines that got everyone talking:

I'm usually homeboys with the same n*ggas I'm rhymin' wit

But this is Hip Hop and them n*ggas should know what time it is

And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big KRIT, Wale

Pusha T, Meek Millz, A$AP Rocky, Drake

Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller

I got love for you all but I'm tryna murder you n*ggas

Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you n*ggas

The don't wanna hear not one more noun or verb from you n*ggas

Now whether the track has disrupted your humble Tuesday morning or you've just read the above (if your case is the latter then you need to hear it ASAP #NoRocky), I'm hoping you're with me and my line of thinking in that this isn't a diss to Drake or any name he spat. He is just calling them out, sort of sending for them or more of a warning that he's coming for their careers. Whatever it is, much of it has been blown out of proportion due to the whole hype factor of the song and everything surrounding it. For instance the essence of Pusha T's tweet in response to the track: "I hear u loud and clear my n*gga... @kendricklamar" has definitely been exaggerated. Surely being part of GOOD music, and this track belonging (I use that loosely as I think the owenership has been signed over to Kendrick to be honest) Big Sean, Pusha T must have heard it already, and his tweet was there to merely build more hype and publicity and not to mark the start of a war.

Truthfully, he is complimenting them - highlighting that they're at the top of the game right now and the ones to watch. Yet it IS still a diss. A diss to those he didn't mention - highlighting that they're irrelevant in the game right now and no competition for Kendrick, one of Hip Hop's newest saviours. If I was an american rapper in the game right now I'd want to be at that level where I was Kendrick's competition. I'd be begging for Kendrick to be sending for me...especially if it meant I was part of a verse as hard as that.

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Born Sinner and Yeezus Review

Before the anticipation of the 8th of June leaked away along with both albums, when J Cole moved his release date forward to compete with the highly controversially titled product of Kanye's that is Yeezus, Born Sinner suddenly became top of my to-do list as I was fascinated to see if what J Cole had produced was actually worthy enough to compete against King Kanye (or more appropriately Lord Yeezus) or if it was just a cleverly thought out marketing ploy to boost Mr Cole's sales because of the public's newly provoked curiosity to compare. I thought it was probably going to be the latter...Miss America dissapointed me and although Power Trip was a great record, I felt J Cole had a long way to go before he was on Yeezy's level, especially since Kanye's latest deliveries came in the form of Watch the Throne and Cruel Summer - some of Hip Hops heaviest.

Turns out all my assumptions were wrong.

I was expecting more from Yeezus, and my expectations grew when the hype all down my Twitter timeline from the aftermath of the Yeezus leak was much more immense than any of what I had come across following the Born Sinner leak.

Soul Culture's interview with J Cole as part of their #OkayNotToBeOkay campaign revealed that the making of Born Sinner helped him overcome a phase of depression. This naturally led me to expect a whole lot of emotion and a trace or two of darkness packed into the album, but compared to Yeezus, Born Sinner is dusk.

No track fades into the background and lets you subconsciously nod your head to the beat while you get along with your day. Instead your back is against the wall and you are forced to listen to his screams which accompany, what I feel, is a battle of his sins. You are submerged into a chaotic sea of of unpleasurable listening with clashing instrumentals, samples that just don't fit and sour lyrics. It finishes with your ears thinking "Why Kanyeezy?". Is it that the displeasure and exhaustion that is caused is a punishment? I would say it's a punishment to us (which it kind of is) but I doubt Kanye even stopped to consider his fans with this record. Instead, he reaches the heights of vanity and reinvents himself as God, or Yeezus, allowing him to look down on himself, and punish himself for his sins, without actually damaging his ego because he still holds the title of Yeezus...God...the highest figure of power of all.

Now I don't like to be all negative. With my iPod on shuffle, I stumble on upon some of the tracks and on their own and they're actually decent. Put together, however, is too overwhelming for me. Maybe I've misunderstood and didn't catch on to Kanye's artistic genius. I'll attempt to try again and translate his vision...when I have the energy.

It came as a relief to listen to something on the other side of the spectrum - Born Sinner.

After Good Kid MAAd City, I was worried that Kendrick was possibly going to push J Cole over to the sideline (lolz...Sideline...J Cole...) especially as nothing J Cole released so far seemed really strong and it seemed for a while like he was getting forgotten. Born Sinner proved my worries were pointless, because J Cole has come back on top form and ticked every box on his way up. Unlike the unsurity surrounding what Kanye was trying to achieve with Yeezus, Born Sinner is a definite self reflection and checkedy-checking himself before he wrecks himself. While addressing his own personal needs through his music, he hasn't failed to address the needs of his fans by bringing out - yeah I'm gunna say it - the best Hip Hop album of 2013?

J Cole still possesses his fantastic ability as a skilled storyteller which adds a sense of intimacy and a resultant connection can be built with this album - even if you can't relate to his life, you can feel the real. The beats are alright, his lyricism is intelligent and interesting - from touching on topics such as homophobia to letting his idol down - ,his flow is tight tight tight, and he has kept it trillllllll. From the direction of the Power Trip video to the production of most of the instrumentals, this whole album is an exploration of Cole's creativity and capabilities as an artist. Okay maybe he hasn't quite mastered the art of production - but he has scored highly everywhere else (face included). What he has presented is a product of his progression and I'm pleasantly surprised.

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The Music Scene So Far

Remember back in 2010 when JLS and Tinie Tempah release Eyes Wide Shut? They were probably the 2 biggest Urban music acts we had out there with mainstream success... and JLS weren’t didn’t even make urban music.

 But now when I switch on Capital FM (which I admit isn't often) I’m hearing Wiley, Wretch and Sway. Now to be fair, we’ve always had people in the Urban music charts - think So Solid Crew. But who else from them days had chart success and made a big enough impression for us to remember their names?

…Stop trying to think of names. Very few is the answer. Now just read on...

Recently the urban music scene has achieved a new type success, in which we don't just have one hit wonders, but artists that are creating history and are here to stay. I’d say we have to go back to the start of 2010 to find where this started...‘Pass Out’. 

Now this has been a progression, and it wasn't just this one song that changed the whole scene. Without the success of artists from way back such as Craig David, Dizzee or Tinchy from not long before, I don’t think it would have been as easy for Tinie Tempah to make such an sudden impact. But ‘Pass Out’ certainly gave the game a boost and opened the ears of the music industry.  

The success of Tinie and Labrinth with that track did many things. It connected mainstream music to the latest of underground urban music scene. Tinie was a grime artist before his chart success, and with Pass Out, he opened the music industry to the genre and made it accessible and available on a mainstream level. People who hadn’t even heard of grime or brushed it off with that same old guns, gangs and drugs stereotype, now saw a different side to the whole genre and culture... and actually enjoyed it! Not only that, but it inspired other artists on the underground that it was possible to break through the charts. Wiley has even said when talking about his recent success, that seeing people like Tinie Tempah having their success inspired him and made him believe it was possible. It does seem exaggerated, but it’s true. A year ago, did you ever think you’d see Wiley on a Now 83 CD?

After Tinie broke through, we got a whole bunch of artists hitting the charts with songs influenced from the bars they spit on Tottenham streets and beats they produced in their bedroom. Plan B, Wretch 32, Skepta all have had chart success and are now names that even your mum will recognise. 

Now I realise I’ve mainly just been talking about Grime, but I feel this is the one genre under the urban branch that has grown, evolved and made the most progress recently. It has been the dominant UK urban genre which has developed from some of our most prominent genres: bassline, dancehall, garage, drum and bass with, ofcourse, the influence of Hip Hop. 

But what is better, we’ve had other genres breaking through to, with the likes of Angel, Delilah and Katy B (to name JUST a few) and introducing not only a UK take on some of the USA's most popular genres, but they are even creating sounds so fresh and different it is hard to label them.

Giggs - one of the underground's finest is should be releasing
an album soon... it'll be interesting to see if anything he puts
out will make chart impact.

Like I said before, we’ve always had people from the Urban music scene in and out of the charts but I feel like urban music as a whole is being taken more seriously as a genre and a culture. SBTV, a company that began with Jamal Edwards filming MC’s spraying in the middle of the estate, is now a renowned and respected brand. People are beginning to understand more about the whole culture, and with that they understand the music and are more willing to listen to it. With this shift in the behaviour, the artists born out of urban music and culture are not only making an impact, but one that is lasting and they are staying there.

No I know there will be some of you saying something along the lines of “*insert artist here* is a sell out now”, but no one said it was perfect. It is progression and we are getting there. We’re a long way from being like the USA, where some of the realest Hip Hop and sweetest slow jams hold the number 1 spot but we’re getting there. If turning a bit mainstream is what it takes to hold a spot in the charts right now, then so be it… we can “re-evolve” later. All I'm saying is, I'm excited to see what happens in 2013.

p.s apologies for saying Urban so much...I know..it was probably as annoying as Tulisa's "Urban roots" *bbm cover's face*

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