Artist To Check Out

TOP HIP HOP TRACKS 2009 - 2010

BROTHER ALI - US - TO ME THIS ALBUM IS AN INSTANT CLASSIC. SOME REALLY GOOD BEATS AND WILL NO DOUBT EXCITE ALL YOU HIP HOP HEADS. TRACKS TO CHECKOUT - TRAVELLER, FRESH AIR, AND TIGHT ROPE

DOOM - BORN LIKE THIS- DOOM HAS NEVER LET US DOWN AND HIS NEW ALBUM HSOWS HE IS PROGRESSING THROUGH THE RANKS OF UNDERGROUND HIP HOP. GUEST APPEARANCES FROM BOTH GHOST FACE KILLAH, AND RAEKWON. CHECKOUT GAZZILLION EAR, MICROWAVE AND THE ANGELZ FT GHOSTFACE. gIVES US A TASTER OF THE JOINT ALBUM THEY ARE WORKING ON WHICH I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT.

JAZZ LIBERATORZ - CLIN D’OEILL

DELA - CHNGE OF ATMOSPHERES

LA COKA NOSTRA - A BRAND YOU CAN TRUST

FUNKY DL

FOREIGN BEGGARS - UNITED COLOURS OF BEGGATTRON

JAZZ LIBERATORZ ALBUM WANT RELEASED LAST YEAR BUT IT IS DEFINATLEY ALBUM YOU NEED TO CHECK OUT. I REALLY LIKE THE JAZZ STYLE BEATS AN D THE PARIS PRODUCERS SHOW GREAT SKILL AND HAVE A UNIQUE SOUND. THEY HAVE A RANGE OF MC COLLABORATING ON THERE ALBUM FROM THE USA, INCLUDING FATLIP FROM PHARCYDE, RAASHAN ASHMAD FROM CROWN CITY ROCKERS AND MANY MORE ON THE ALBUM.

MF DOOM LIVE AT ROUNDHOUSE

I GOT TO THE VENUE AT 6, THINKING THERE WILL BE A QUEUE TO SEE MF DOOM’S FIRST EVER APPEARENCE IN LONDON. I WAS WRONG. BUT ON THE PLUS SIDE I WAS TO GET RIGHT TO THE FRONT, BUT LITTLE DID I KNOW I WOULD STANDING THERE FOR 4-5 HOURS BEFORE HE CAME ON STAGE. EVENTUALLY AT 11ISH THE MAD VILLAI NS ACCORDING STARTED TO BLAST OUT BUT WAS NOT LONG UNTIL TH ECROWD STARTED TO BOOO!. THEY QUICKLY EXCITED THE STAGE AND WAS WELCOMED MY THE MAN HIM SELF...DOOOM.

DOOM WAVING HIS BRITISH PASSPORT ON STAGE SAYING HE WAS BACK HOME! IT WAS GOOD TO FINALLY SEE DOOM, BUT WAS DISAPPOINTING TO SEE SUCH A SHORT SET. i was sad to not hear doomsday, or any songs from one of the greatet underground hip hop album of all time. all in all it was a great gig and was worth the money to see him.My highlight was hearing meat grinder, figaro and hoe cakes.

Check out my videos from the gig:

www.youtube.com/stevenhoward09

Example is the latest British rapper tipped to follow Tinchy Stryder and Dizzee Rascal from the underground to the top of the charts. This is what the critics are saying about example which is a massive turnaround for Example. I can remember when i first heard about Example who at the time was signed to Mike Skinners Label ‘The Beat’. The first single i heard was ‘What we Heard’, of his first album. It blew me away and have since seen his music change to a much more diverse type of british music. Now Example is looking to drop his new album which will have the Britney and Kylie producers Metrophonic have been brought in to work on the Fulham rapper’s second album, Won’t Go Quietly, which is due out in January, while Calvin Harris has contributed a track apparently inspired by Wham.
Although this wasn’t his headline show is was still a show to remember. What i like about Example, was how he got the crowd going. He has since got DJ Wire with his performances and had but a new dance edge to his songs. He played a lot of new songs which got the crowd going, and was a teasing taste of what to expect on his new album. Example was on safer ground with older songs, notably the Carpenters-sampling So Many Roads, which was backed by rave synths and rapped in an accent that was part EastEnders barman, part patois.

Check out his blog www.trythisforexample.com

WIRELESS FESTIVAL 2009

This year i was able to make the last day of the Wireless festival and managed to see Example, Q Tip and kanye west. There all put on a really good show, but Q Tip did the same set as he did when he performed at the Roundhouse earlier this year which was disappointing but you can never get enough of the A tribe called Quest classics which went down really well and got the crowd going for the headliner Kanye West.

I am a really big fan of Kanye West and admire his work and how he pushes the boundaries of hip hop. I was disappointed with his display and felt that he didn’t interact with the crowd much and was playing songs which felt like they were going on for hours. kanye needs to realize he is a hip hop artist and should stick with what he is good at, instead of being all arty. Was good to hear Jesus Walks, Diamond Forever and of course Gold Digger!

Over the course of the day there was a number of UK artists performing and was annoyed to find out the promoters had changed chipmunk’s slot time which meant i missed him as he was on earlier than expected.... But to all those Hip Hop fans who say that there is not enough UK talent should check out Example when he comes to your town. From the minute he comes on stage he instantly interacts with the crowd and it had to be the best set of the weekend. The remixes were absolutely incredible, and his new song which is produced by calvin harris gives us a taste of what we might expect from his new album.

Hopefully example will play main stage next year as this performance is a definite move forward for the fulham rapper.

v

Deftones Live at Kentish forum

Deftones came to London to do a warm up show before playing, at both Reading and Leeds Festival. This was the first live performance in the UK without Chi Cheng since his car crash in November 2008 and has been in a coma since. This was the first show in the Uk, with Sergio Vagas ( formerly of Quicksand) as the bassist.

This was my 7th time seeing Deftones and from the last performance, i was very disappointed with the sound and the general performance from Deftones. This tie round was a performance which the fans will never forget. The frontman Chino Moreno looked like he has lost a few pounds, and from the first song ‘Feiticeria’, they played 23 songs , and sounded the best i have ever seen them.

There was a lot of emotion within the crowd, as Chi the bassist is still in a coma, but i give full credit for Sergio who is currently filling in the slot. Overall this was the best i have ever seen Deftones perform and all fans, rock + metal fans should expect Deftones rise to a new level with two new albums in the pipe line.

Set List:

Feiticeira
My Own Summer (Shove It)
Lhabia
Lotion
Hexagram
Needles and Pins
Beware
Elite
Nosebleed
Root
Korea
RX Queen
When Girls Telephone Boys
Hole in the Earth
Engine No. 9
Digital Bath
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)
Headup
Change (In the House of Flies)
Back To School (Mini Maggit)

Encore:

Passenger
Minerva
7 Words

MICALL PARKNSUN ALBUM LAUNCH

On 24th jULY Micall Parknsun and YNR Productions (Jehst record label) presented the ‘First Second Time Around’ album launch. Special guests was Brad Strut who was performing his new ‘Fallout Shelter’ EP.

If people don’t already know, Jehst is the co founder of YNR productions with Leeds hip hop artist Tommy Evans. His solo career extended further when he apppeared on Task Force’s EP ‘Voice of the Great Outdoors’ (2000) with the track ‘Cosmic Gypsies’. He has been notified one of the best hip hop artists in the UK scene. If you do like UK hip hop, or you don’t and want to get a taste of what it’s like then i recommend all the artists that are under YNR Productions. Artists include: Asaviour, Jyager, Kashmere, Klashenkoff, Sir Smuff Lil, and many more, all of which have released really good lyrical albums which shows a reason why more people should take an interest in UK Hip Hop.

Micall Parknsun is the latest artist to release a brand new studio album on YNR production. He is my favourite artist on the label and tracks such as ‘Dunya; and ;All for Hip Hip’ will explain why. The way his says his words and what he is talking about is to the point and which the help of Jehst, Ghost Town and LG, the beats are truly some of the best beats to come out the UK in a while.

www.ynrproductions.co.uk

www.myspace.com/jehstoffical