Bits & Bobbins...

A mixed bag this time...

5one6 - Rap Attack (Feat Big Kin & Boog Knight)

The best thing about this 12" is the production, which is pretty generic NY '94 sounding but that's not always a negative. Kinda reminds me of DITC but it's produced by someone called Erick Romero, who I'm guessing is either an extremely secret member of DITC or just some no name producer who's one shot was this 12"... Don't expect quality MC'ing because it's pretty uninspiring throughout and this is the only track out of the 3 on the 12" where I don't get the urge to murder 5one6 for being shite.

Well I've sold that to you haven't I? Should you wish to get murderous feelings vinylism has the 12" to buy for princely price of 20 Euros, you'd be better sticking them up your arse but then again you might want the instrumentals.

Barry Blue - Cancel 'Em Out

Gunshot fans should know both the name and this 12" if not... Why not? At the time of release Bazza was an occasional guest on Gunshot tracks and obviously had dreams of a solo career, unfortunately it didn't pay off for him. This is a pretty solid 12" from him, featuring another track "Soundcheck", both produced by White Child Rix and engineered by the one and only No Sleep Nigel.

Blacka Don - Clipper

Released on Funki Dreads this a homage to a lighter... You've got to love it. Flipping the "Insane In The Brain" beat to great effect. There's 3 different mixes of the track on the 12", hard to tell what the difference is to them to be honest.

Kaliphz - Tru Skool M-Bassadaz

Pete Tong made a big deal about 'discovering' the Kaliphz, we all wondered why he didn't just leave them where he found them. This was their debut release, they later went on to record a track with 'Prince' Naseem Hamed. Sadly they are actually from the UK, not that you'll be able to tell through all their gimmicky vocals. I'm guessing they took YBT's "Tap The Bottle" a little too literally. This is about as good as they got but for some reason they seemed to have something of a loyal following so maybe you'll like this.

Main One - Bring The Drama (Feat. Chino XL) (Nick Wiz Mix)

The keen eared amongst you will recognise the Chino verse almost immediately, this 12" was from 1998 and (at least in release dates) predates "The Anthem". Sadly the track as a whole isn't as good as The Anthem...

After giving you some bobbins in this post I'm going to finish strong...

New Flesh 4 Old - This Is The Space Age

This was the debut release by New Flesh, on their own 'New Flesh Music Operations' label. On one of my regular trips to Depth Charge in York there were stickers for this on almost every pedestrian crossing and lamp post all the way up to the shop, there was no way I wasn't going to buy it purely so I could find out why the hell they'd gone to so much effort. I'm glad I did because it's DOPE! Part 2's verse is probably in my top ten "shit but dope coz it's shit" verses of all time.

More to come and I'll stay away from the shite as much as possible...

Tags: Hip Hop, UK Hip Hop, 5one6, Barry Blue, Gunshot, Blacka Don, Kaliphz, Main One, Chino XL, New Flesh For Old

What You Waiting For?

...what you waiting for?

UK STAND UP!

It's time to go diggin' in my crates to pull out some tunes you may or may not have heard from this little Island...

First up we've got TY & Shortee Blitz - Shortee's Theme.

Both names should sound familiar to anyone with a passing interest in Hip-Hop from the UK shores but it seems to have been forgotten TY had a recording career before signing to Big Dada. He teamed up with Shortee Blitz (briefly on wax) and this is from their "I Am A Don" 12"... Which can go for crazy prices if Suspect Packages is anything to go by, so if you've got it - look after it!

Next up Kobalt 60 - Concrete Show (Original Mix)

This was released on the legendary Music Of Life label and was their only release (as far as I'm aware.) I think it's stupidly dope and was glad to pick it up for 99p in the bargain bin at one of my local record shops at the time of it's release ('91). This I know is pretty damn rare, try even finding it elsewhere (and it's A side, 'Kaos From Order') on mp3 nevermind on vinyl. Vinylism had it in stock last time I checked, if you want to grab a copy for a pretty price. "Having no style is a style of it's own..."

Son of Noise fans should recognise the vocalist from an album posse cut...

Roots Manuva - Fever (Original Mix)

This was remixed for his debut LP, 'Brand New Second Hand', on Big Dada but personally I think the 'remix' sucks donkey balls in comparison to this original. Make your own minds up...

The flip of this 12" are 2 tracks by MC Skeme, which aren't as impressive as Mr Manuva but let us know if you'd like to hear them.

The Sindecut - Live The Life

The Sindecut were/are massively underrated, with this track helping a little to highlight why I think this. They had the Britcore tempo but a less aggressive overall sound, which should have made them more accessible to people than Gunshot, for example... Oddly it worked the other way round with Hardcore Britcore winning in terms of people's hearts and memories of this period of Hip-Hop being produced on this side of Atlantic.

No UK crate digging would be complete without a Hijack track would it? Well it wouldn't for me anyway as I'm always led back to them regardless of what I'm listening to...

Hijack - Style Warriors Revenge

"Why do you say your style's hardcore? When your records bore..."

Yeah Kamanchi Sly might have had a very obvious US twang to his vocals but damn... They represented the UK so hard. Not only did you have Kamanchi Sly but you had two of the best DJ's in Hip Hop history, DJ Supreme and Undercover. They were doing shit that it took Q-Bert and Mixmaster Mike almost a decade to bring into common acceptance amongst Hip Hop heads (the Piklz could often be found scratching over Hijack beats, including at their last ever performance and it still doesn't sound as good as Supreme and Undercover!)

You are all living in Hijack's shadow and don't even know it...

More gems to come in the future...

Tags: Hip Hop, UK Hip Hop, Hijack, TY, Shortee Blitz, Kolbalt 60, Roots Manuva,
The Sindecut, Britcore.

D-Shade - More to say

Holy fuckin cow... yesss!

Formerly of "Shades of Culture", D-Shade is a Canadian hip-hop veteran from Montreal. His group had put out two albums in the 90s, and now that they've disbanded, he's about to drop his first full-length solo album this summer.

If this joint is any indication, it's gonna blow everything else out of the water. I fucking love that beat, and the flow's on fire accelerant... Dude sounds the way Pharoahe Monch wants to sound when he grows up. I'm serious.

I first heard of the guy when he did the guest spot on the Euphrates' album, and now I can't wait to get my hands on more. I need to go to Montreal asap.

D-Shade clip "More to Say" ICM records
upped by robdu91

Hisspace: http://www.myspace.com/deeshade
Make sure you peep the tracks on there. Damn...

Tags: Hip Hop,