How to remake Smack my bitch up

This is very cleverly done.

RZA postpones tour

Im gutted, was looking forward to seeing the master of the soul sample cut ups live and fresh in my hometown but it appears that The Rza has had to cancel the tour due to "Logistical problems".

:(

Buon compleanno

Another year older, and hopefully more wise/
another step nearer my eventual demise/
memories, like postcards, we yearn to look upon/
a chance to ponder on friends long gone/
history that has happened, we gaze to the distance/
and reach for our destiny at the futures' insistence/

so yeah it's my birthday.

RIP Mr Magic

Another day, another legend leaves us.

Surely a sign that Hip Hop culture is aging as one by one our greats move over to another place. Mr Magic was iconic for a lot of heads as there first exposure to Hip Hop on the Radio would have been through Rap Attack.

All I can say is there must be one helluva jam going down in Heaven with these great DJ's passing away. Gutted.

RIP Roc Raida

Damn, another one gone in the prime of his life.

This guy was inspirational as a DJ and performer. In a year where we already lost people such as MJ, Tony D and DJ AM it makes you stop and appreciate how much these people give you over their short time here. RIP.



A masterclass in performing as a DJ.

Watch this before it goes...

A full mission for the upcoming COD: Modern Warfare 2.

Looks amazing.

Words fail me......

2nd wood of the day

Just read this on some scurrilous gossip site but its got me all excited anyway.

Apparently Natalie Portman has a thing for Hip Hop music and the dirtier the better. She is my kind of woman.

Natalie Portman has recently spilled that she has hots for “dirty” and “obscene” rap music. In an interview with Jake Gyllenhaal, who is also Portman’s co-star in new war movie Brothers, the Israeli actress said that she had developed likings for such music.

The V For Vendetta actress was asked, “What song best describes your current state?” she simply stated with a smile, “I’ve mostly been listening to dirty rap lately, that’s sort of my scene - really, really obscene hip-hop”. The interview was published in Interview magazine.

I might have to send her a couple of Gangsta Nip/2 Live Crew mixtapes.

New Rakim single!!!!!

Excuse the amount of exclamation marks in the title to this post but RAKIM HAS A NEW SINGLE OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Holy are you" is a precursor to this autumn's long awaited release of the "Seventh Seal". Seems like this album does exist and I for one am looking forward to this like a greedy dentist looks forward to The Bee Gees bi-annual check up.

Weird metaphors aside, you got to try and track this down as its hot.

An evil cloud passes by

Entertainment giant Walt Disney is to buy Marvel Entertainment in a shares and cash deal valued at $4bn (£2.5bn).

The deal means Disney will take over ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters, such as Spider-Man and the X-Men.

Marvel shareholders will get $30 per share in cash plus 0.745 Disney shares for every Marvel share owned.

The boards of Disney and Marvel have both approved the deal, which now needs the backing of Marvel shareholders and competition authorities.

Marvel shares were ahead $9.68, or 25%, to $48.33 in Monday trading while Disney shares fell 80 cents, or 3%, to $26.04.

'Great assets'

"We believe that adding Marvel to Disney's unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation," Disney president and chief executive Robert Iger said.

"We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney."

Other Marvel's characters include Captain America, the Fantastic Four and Thor.

"Disney is the perfect home for Marvel's fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses," said Marvel chief executive Ike Perlmutter.

"This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney's tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world," he added.

'Good deal'

Arvind Bhatia, an analyst at Sterne, Agee and Leach, said that the deal appeared to be a "win-win situation for both companies".

"They [Marvel shareholders] are getting a good deal in my opinion. The CEO of the company, Isaac Perlmutter, is also the largest shareholder of the company.

"From that standpoint, we think the chances of this deal going through are pretty high."

Last month, Walt Disney reported a fall in profits of more than a quarter as the downturn hit revenue at its film and theme park divisions.

Net profit between April and June came in at $954m (£579m), down 26% on the $1.28bn the entertainment giant made in the same period last year.

Revenues of $8.6bn were down 7% from the $9.2bn recorded a year before.

And so another hero gets swallowed up in the name of big business and progress, damn shame that. I guess we can look forward to Buzz Lightyear taking on the Green Goblin.... :(

DJ AM RIP

As you probably know by now, DJ AM was found dead at his apartment on Friday with the cause of death being reported as drug related.

I don't really want to get into any innuendo and speculation at a time like this but whilst it was well known that he struggled with drug dependency some years ago, he was known to be clean for the last 11 years.

MTV have reported that he was in a good frame of mind in the days leading up to his demise, joking with crowds and even twittering (I know everyone does but we haven't succumbed yet) in his last few hours.

We won't know the whole truth as we are unlikely to about Heath Ledger and possibly MJ as well but it does seem odd.

His final tweet?

"New york, New york. Big city of dreams, but everything in new york aint always what it seems,"

R.I.P.

Iconic movie scenes...in Lego

One of the first Hip Hop documentaries...

I ever saw was this one from the BBC.

Looks really dated now but the buzz I got from watching this was immense.

Check out this video from the Urban Legends

Top guys these;

UK Hip Hop on the rise (Critical Beatdown Posse stand up).

Check out this video from the Urban Legends

Top guys these;

UK Hip Hop on the rise (Critical Beatdown Posse stand up).

Back, refreshed and on it....

Had a blast on my holibobs, im sure you're glad to hear that, lol.

Anyways, I managed to do some cratedigging and copped myself some hot ish. This included a rare copy on vinyl of Adrian Celentano's album containing the f***ing amazing "Prisencolinein....."....I literally had to grab it out of some dudes hands but I think he was just attracted to the bright cover as he wasn't too bothered.

Oh, I know this is old but I love this video of Edan DJing and MCing at the same time.



Good to be back y'all.

Holiday.......Celebrate.....

Wooot, I am off on my hols for a week.

Bags packed, entertainment sorted, passport in pocket and im outta here.

Im taking loads of music with me to pass the time esp the new Funkdoobiest album; The Golden B-boys. Don't know if you've caught it yet but DAAAAAAAMMMNNNN its good. I always had a soft spot (ironic as Son Doobie made a porno) for their weirded out flow, XXX obsessions and classic boom bap beats but had long forgotten how great they were.

Check out Let Em Know, that shit is tight:



Now tell me that doesn't knock!!!

Im audi, 5000 GEE.

Sittin' on the dock of the (e)bay

Picked up some gems from this site recently, a few things that I thought people would want to hang onto.

It got me to thinking about the merits of the digital age of Djing. Sure its great for people like me who embrace both the vinyl and the MP3 (especially as cats seem to be selling their prized collections off), but a part of me feels sad that such an important chapter of music for as long as I can remember is drawing to a close.

Yeah, its just a format of delivery to some but to others vinyl is so much more than that. Its as part of the fabric of the music scene as the music itself. The smell of the slab, the feel and look of the cover, the sense of pride as you gaze at your collection is what makes it all worthwhile. A full collection is a thing of beauty.

Records, [jazz]Nice[/club]

Randomness abounds

Today I saw an old lady on one of those mobility scooters today sporting a pair of old school Cazal specs. Fly old lady indeed.

Found this great site today as well:

The Dullest Blog


Closing a window
July 6th, 2009

A window was slightly open. I decided that I did not need it to continue to be so. I closed it and securing it using the window handles.

Posted in Uninteresting | 16 Comments »
Turning on the computer
July 5th, 2009

I was seated in my computer chair. I reached out my hand and pressed the ‘on’ button. After a moment the computer turned itself on.

Posted in Uninteresting | 18 Comments »
Tidying some pencils
March 16th, 2006

Some pencils were scattered around on my desk. I picked them up one by one. I placed the pencils in the drawer which I use to store pencils.

Posted in Uninteresting | 350 Comments »
Opening a cupboard door
October 16th, 2005

There was a cupboard in the corner of the room. I reached out my hand and gripped the door handle. I pulled the door towards me, thereby opening the cupboard.

Posted in Uninteresting | 74 Comments »
Standing in the middle of the room
April 21st, 2005

I was standing at a central point in the room. The walls were all at approximately the same distance from me. I continued to stand there for a few moments.

Posted in Uninteresting | 58 Comments »
Scratching my knee
September 10th, 2004

My knee had a slight itch. I reached out my hand and scratched the knee in question. The itch was relieved and I was able to continue with my activities.

Posted in Uninteresting | 57 Comments »
Moving an item from one place to another
July 21st, 2004

There was an object occupying a space on my table. Using my hand I picked up the item from its place. Having considered my options for a moment I placed the object on a different area of the table.

Posted in Uninteresting | 28 Comments »
Looking at a wall
May 19th, 2004

I was standing quite near to a wall. I turned my attention towards it for a few moments. Having done this for several seconds I turned away from it and carried on doing something else.

Posted in Uninteresting | 32 Comments »
Drumming my fingers on the arm of the chair
April 12th, 2004

I was sitting down on one of the chairs in my house. My hand was resting on the arm of the chair. I started to drum my fingers on the arm, thereby making a barely audible sound.

Posted in Uninteresting | 27 Comments »
Turning off a light
March 16th, 2004

A light in one of the rooms of my house was on. I decided that I didn’t need the light on any longer. I pressed the light switch thereby turning off the light.

Posted in Uninteresting | 39 Comments »

Many lullz!!

Wogan on the 1's and 2's

Hahahahahaha

They don't make TV like this anymore

Digging around on youtube I found this gem I hadn't seen in years.

I still have this on VHS somewhere. Me and my mates watched this time and again fluctuating between appreciation for some of it and amusement at the shitness of some of it.

Ghost on rotation

Now when someone told me about this album, I had it a little twisted. I thought the person was telling me about a new GhostFACE album (More Fish was better than Fishscale but none of them could hold me down like Ironman or Supreme Clientele), so I was intrigued but not busting a gut about it.

I'm not hating of the Wally Champ by the way just the output of the Wu is so difficult to keep up with these days, its become almost "Oh...there's another Wu joint...OK, cool". If you know what I'm saying.

Anyway turns out that this was the British/NZ (I think) Producer Ghost delivering an absolutely barnstorming album of breaky, trippy, freaked out beats and guest verses from the likes of Jehst, Dubbledge and Verb T.

This is, sadly, the album I've been planning to make for years, I'd be gutted more but this is so dope I don't care.

The whole 18 tracks build upon an almost film-like atmosphere with eerie piano, choir, film samples and strings augmenting the dusty beats.

This could well be the soundtrack to a gritty independent black and white film possibly about the aftermath of a nuclear war or something, if this guy doesn't get signed up for scoring work in the future then there's something WRONG with this world.

Check this out:



Quite simply you need this in your life.

What'd I miss???

I been on hiatus for a while after suffering a back injury (thankfully on the mend now, thanks for asking).

It seems like a world of change has happened while I was laid up, the biggest news of course was MJ passing which was a mixture of shock and sadness of the inevitability of it all. I'm not going to say too much on the matter now as the moment has passed and its been said a million times already......but having said that I just wanted to add my 2 penneth worth. Incredible entertainer, dancer, singer who seemed to be cursed and blessed in equal measure. I wasn't a massive fan as growing up was more about LL Cool J and Run DMC for me but his music touched so many lives. Also some of his tracks are so well produced that I always slip a few into DJ sets here and there and don't show there age too much.

RIP MJ.

Anyway more from me later.

Found a break

But the problem is what to do with it.

It appears to pretty rare as i can find virtually no info on it at all so I'm excited as a 6 year old with ADHD after necking a bag full of smarties and washing it down with 2 litres of Jolt Cola.

I'm going to take my time with it though, as I want it to be done right.

Oh.....its dope!!!! Dope as hell.

Fate is a cruel mistress

Did you see this news story that floated onto the net and other channels yesterday?

You can chalk this up to co-incidence or destiny, but either way you'd have to admit that its pretty strange.

An Italian woman who arrived late for the Air France plane flight that crashed in the Atlantic last week has been killed in a car accident, it has been reported.

Johanna Ganthaler, a pensioner from Bolzano-Bozen province, had been on holiday in Brazil with her husband Kurt and missed Air France Flight 447 after turning up late at Rio de Janeiro airport on May 31.

All 228 people aboard lost their lives after the plane crashed into the Atlantic four hours into its flight to Paris.

The ANSA news agency reported that the couple had managed to pick up a flight from Rio the following day.

It said that Ms Ganthaler died when their car veered across a road in Kufstein, Austria, and swerved into an oncoming truck. Her husband was seriously injured.

You can look at this, as I said, in two different ways depending on your personal view of the way the world works. I'm pretty stunned by this to be honest as I can't get my head around how you can go from being one of the luckiest people in the world to one of the unluckiest in the space of a few days. It's a little bit mind blowing when you consider the odds of this happening. I guess that is the part of probability that I've always had a problem with, just because something is statistically unlikely doesn't mean it won't happen.

I know the inevitable Final Destination comparisons will be made which may slightly denigrate the tragedy but that is surely human nature and the way we deal with frankly a (at times) terrifying world.

My Favourite late 80's/Early 90's UK Hip Hop tunes

I've been on the nostalgia trip recently (getting old, lol) and I've been digging throught the crates for some good old fashioned britcore. I'd forgotten about a lot of these tracks so its refreshing to hear them again. This list isn't exhaustive by any means, as i'm sure I've forgotten loads of classic tunes but hey, thats senility for you. Btw Youtube links where possible.

In no particular order:

Killa Instinct - The Bambi Murders



Hijack - Style Wars



Silver Bullet - Bring forth the guillotine



Hardnoise - Serve tea, then murder



Caveman - Victory



First Frontal Assault - Atomic Airraid (can't find Hits from small arms fire)



Gunshot - Killing season



Blade - Mind of an ordinary citizen

(Can't find Mind of....so here is Lyrical Maniac instead)


Demon Boyz - Vibes



London Posse - Money mad



Overlord X - Weapon is my lyric

(Radical kickbag as can't find Weapon....)


MC Duke - Im Riffin'



II tone committee - Hangman



How hard and fast is that record????????????

The REAL Fresh Prince of Bel Air

Worrrddd!!!

Uncommon fragrance

Should I be surprised to see that Common is now to be seen taking the corporate ducat hawking Diesel cologne? Not really, a few years ago maybe before he started to believe he was an actor/star rather than a very good song writer. Now?? Nah, I'm not surprised at all.

Ice Cube goes from Amerikkkas most wanted to Are we there yet?, Ice T goes from Six in the morning to Ice T's Rap School via HBO shitathon Stealth Fighter and Snoop...well have you seen his reality show?

The point is Hip Hop has spent so long blurring the lines between "keeping it real" and "makin' dollars" that becoming and actor, playing a role and (literally) flipping the script is but a short step away from sipping at the cup of capitalist marketing budget.

I can understand in uncertain times rappers have to supplement their income and protect themselves from falling record sales/illegal downloads, but can't they do more shows, make more crappy tshirts to sell or better still make better albums that people want to part with money to won???? Or is that craziest of all?

"Here's the deal, folks. You do a commercial - you're off the artistic roll call, forever. End of story. Okay? You're another whore at the capitalist gang bang and if you do a commercial, there's a price on your head. Everything you say is suspect and every word that comes out of your mouth is now like a turd falling into my drink." - Bill Hicks

DAAAAAMMMMMNNN pt 2

Have you seen this from E3????

This, if it lives up to the hype and actually works, is going to revolutionise the gaming industry.



From the BBC:

Microsoft has unveiled its new control system for the Xbox 360 console, at E3 in Los Angeles.

Project Natal is a fully hands-free control system that will use face recognition and motion sensors to allow users to play games.

Film director Steven Spielberg, attending the launch, said it was "a window into what the future holds".

Although still in the early stages, Microsoft has sent prototypes to all the main game developers.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Spielberg said he had always stated that "the main barrier stopping people getting into video games was the complexity of a games controller," and that Natal was "a whole new world".

"There is technology now that recognises not just your thumb, it recognises your entire person. The technology knows who you are," he said.

Mr Spielberg drew an analogy with the film industry, saying it was evolutionary step for games.

"It's like the square screen we saw all of our movies on in the early 1950s. Then The Robe came out in Cinemascope. And then came CinRam and Imax followed. That's what [Natal] is.

I think the technology looks very interesting but its success depends on the content and how easy it is to use
Piers Harding-Rolls, analyst

During the demonstration, British developer Peter Molyneux showed how Natal could not only recognise faces, it could recognise facial expressions to determine what mood a player was in and react accordingly.

Mr Spielberg said this offered new opportunities for game development

"The video games industry has not allowed us the opportunity to cry, because we were too busy putting our adrenalin rush into the controller, or wherever we swing our arm with a Wii controller to get a result," he said.

"Because of that, there is no room for a video game to break your heart. We now have a little more room to be a little more emotional with Natal technology than we did before."

Speaking to the BBC, Piers Harding-Rolls, senior analyst with Screen Digest, said the success of Natal depended on a number of different factors.

"I think the technology looks very interesting but its success depends on the content and how easy it is to use," he said.

"The other aspect is cost and how they will get it out to the user base," he said.

"That said, I think Microsoft would like to get it out sooner, rather than later.

"Sales of the Xbox 360 hit their peak in 2008 and are now expected to decline, in terms of console sales, so you would expect them to get it out as soon as possible to rekindle interest in the platform."

DAAAAAMMMMMNNN

Hours of time wasted.

You gotta try this out:

Online drum machine

Dawn of the dawdler

Idiots are officially on the rise...

We knew that anyway but yesterday confirmed it. I was taking a stroll down a sun drenched Oxford Street, on my way to meet some friends, when it really hit home how incredibly dumb people have got.

We have to be assaulted by signs of all different magnitudes telling us what to do, what to think, what to BUY and where to go as well as what not to do, think, feel, etc, etc, etc (King and aye!).

We have to pay other people to shop for us (well, not me or anyone I know) before having our driver and personal assistant take it home for us.

We have to have everything dumbed down so that the world slides into a funk of lowest common denominators.

But do you know what irked me the most? Well besides how long and full of imbeciles the journey home afterwards was.

Those people that have no concept that anyone else exists on this planet outside there immediate vicinity. The type of person who stops suddenly in front of you. The sort of person who although having their back to everyone else suddenly moves from a stationery position to the perpendicular taking out everyone within a 6 ft square of pavement. The sort of person who walks hand in hand with their (usually grim looking partner) blissfully unaware of having caused a wake of destruction in front and behind (although that wouldn't really be a wake, would it?).

Arrgh!

The worst of it though, is despite me hating them enough to fantasise about committing terrible and slow punishment for their crimes, I'm too nice for my own good and usually turn around and say sorry to them even though its their fucking bags that have knee capped me.

Mouth breathers, I tell you!

Beat digging

Yeah, yeah I know crate digging is an artform in its own right and the secrets should be kept beyond the grave in a producer/beatsmith omerta like fashion.........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Sorry I bored myself then.

Seriously though, I love the undiscovered gems you find as much as the next man. I know that it should be closely guarded as to who samples who/what (mainly if we are honest out of fear of being sued) but there have been times that I've been driving myself and others insane trying to find out what was pilfered on a particular jam especially its its a fairly obvious-should-know-it-but-can't-place-it type moment.

That's where cool little sites like whosampled.com come in handy. Admittedly not always earth shattering but good for some good clean type fun. Its also good to compare the original and the new tracks side by side to see what the producer did with it (or not in the case of Mr Diddy, lol).

Check out The Holy Book of Hip Hop and The Sampling Dictionary for some more beat digging/sacrilege goodness too.

Whilst I'm on the subject, I watch a fair amount of TV and advert music drives me insane too, usually some leftfield shit that I've never heard of that piques my interest. Well, tvadmusic.co.uk gotcha back. I used to go to commercialbreaksandbeats.co.uk but that appears to be down at the moment.

Shhh, just don't tell anyone else, kay?!?!

Youtube mash up

Cassette boy vs the Apprentice.

This is genius.

How dope is this......?

More incredible music from 1960/70's Italy!

Back to '83

If like me you got into Hip Hop in the 80's, you'll probably appreciate how important the Streetsounds compilations were to the UK. It brought us not only the best in US Hip Hop talent but also amazing Electro as well.

I'll freely admit I was terrible at breaking' but I'd still polish up our crew vinyl floor mat and strike a B-Boy pose as other people bust out their hopping windmills, backspins and flares. Having a go was part of the attraction of Hip Hop for to be honest.

Eventually I took a backseat with the breaking as I took up other elements of the culture, which I'm sure broke the Rock Steady Rock and New York City Breakers hearts, lol. However I never lost my love for Electro and the Streetsounds ethos.

So I was well excited to hear from the man himself, Morgan Khan, that there was going to be a relaunch of the label starting with Nu-Electro Volume 1.

When this double CD dropped through my door it was like greeting an old friend but my reservations rose to its relevance to today's twatter/MP3/mass media exploitative world. I mean, 1983 was the first comp and seeing as most of today's identikit indie band, souljah boy ringtone rapper or goth-lite like emo loving kids have as much regard for 1983 as I did for 1963 I struggled to believe that this could be nothing more than a trip down memory lane.

As a quick aside for anyone reading this that was born after 1990, Electro is not House music, Electro is not cheesy pop. It's 808's, 303's, Jupiter 8's, DMX's, the odd 909 and a DX7 thrown in for good measure.

So anyway the CD is well mixed (by none other than the legendary Freddie Fresh) and contains some great new tracks that give more than a nod to the old school but maintain a creative and innovative take on the scene.

The first CD wanders into more Dancey/Minimalist stuff towards the end but starts off with two cracking tracks by the B-Boys and Egyptian Lover.

Now the 2nd CD is the best in my opinion as it has the real rolling hats, deep kicks and slapping snares you come to expect with some driving basslines to make you bust out the robotics. My only criticism is that it occasionally seems to veer into what is at best; hat-tipping and at worst; Pastiche. But i'm probably quibbling a bit.

So in short this CD is a welcome, long awaited return of the King.

Now where's my Puma Clydes?

Wooord - Discount time!!

Far be it from me to come over all capitalistic and what not but buying stuff is good for the economy, right?

Right, therefore it is your right....no, your duty to spend those hard earned ducats on sneakers and ish.

That'll help kick the recession into touch and leave you looking fresher than a dentists breath in the process.

Legendary trainer site; Crooked Tongues is having an enormous 75% discount sale. Go cop that ill shit now.

Stephen Fry on MP's Expenses

Very wise words on the hypocrisy in the media. MP's have abused the situation but then so have the very journalists who jump up and down inflaming us with rage and venom towards these imbeciles.

Check out this link: Stephen Fry on MP's Expenses.

Hits. The. Nail. On. The. Head.

Duke Nukem developer goes bust

3d Realms is no more....


From BBC News:
Veteran games developer 3D Realms has closed down because of a lack of funds.

Founded in 1987, the firm popularised the concept of shareware gaming and published the seminal Duke Nukem and Wolfenstein 3D first-person shooters.

The company was working on a follow-up title, Duke Nukem Forever, which after being in development for 12 years has become the object of industry derision.

Publisher Take-Two says it will no longer fund development of the game but retains rights to the title.

"We can confirm that our relationship with 3D Realms for Duke Nukem Forever was a publishing arrangement, which did not include ongoing funds for development of the title," said Take-Two's Alan Lewis in a statement.

There has been no official comment from 3D Realms, other than a forum posting from the company's webmaster, Joe Siegler, who said: "It's not a marketing thing. It's true. I have nothing further to say at this time."

Other companies with links to 3D Realms or the Duke Nukem series were quick to distance themselves.

In a posting on Twitter, Apogee Software said it was "officially not affected by the situation at 3DRealms".

"Development of the Duke Nukem Trilogy is continuing as planned and further announcements about upcoming games will be made in the near future," the statement added.

Guardian newspaper games writer Steve Boxer said it was astonishing 3D Realms had not finished the game after more than a decade of development.

"It would have been nice to see another Duke Nukem game, but given they had more than 12 years it's just incompetence of the highest order.

"3D Realms made some great games in the past, but they got overtaken by the 21st Century.

"Sadly, Duke Nukem Forever was the most aptly named title in the history of games. Now, it's just Duke Nukem Never."

I used to love that game when it came out. "I came here to kick ass and chew gum....and im all outta gum".

When they announced they were finally making the follow up on next gen, you just knew it was going to be one of those games that never saw the light of day. Shame though.

Also on the subject of gaming, wtf!?!?! Ghostbusters is going to be a timed release exclusive for Sony? Why now? I can understand doing this with titles at the launch of a console as you try every thing you can to get a head start on your competitor but the consoles been out for a long, long time now. Guess I'll have to carry on playing my exclusive Fallout 3 and GTA IV DLC.

Balls.

Check out this video from Lowkey

Hard hitting, spitting the truth and still dope as fuck.

One of the UK's very best and also an important part of The Peoples Army.

Slept on albums part 2

Kurious - Constipated Monkey

In some bizarre early 90's Hip Hop Bermuda triangle, there emerged three emcees of note at the same time who had some affiliation with 3rd Bass. Each of them went on to have differing levels of success,

Nas (With the help of MC Serch) released one of the greatest albums of all time; Illmatic and then seemingly conquered the world whilst trying in vain to recreate that perfect joint,

Zev Love X (who would be reborn as the legendary MF Doom) was going through a highly controversial and later tragic time with KMD; Black Bastards causing a storm and his brother, Subroc, getting killed in a car accident,

And finally, Kurious Jorge, the Cuban/Puerto Rican brother from Harlem had some minor success with the singles "Walk like a duck" and "Uptown Shit". The album dropped to what should have been an adoring crowd who dug the jazz infusions of the Beatnuts mixed with dope guest spots and abstract wordplay from the man himself. However it never really took off despite having some dope cuts on there.

My favourite at the time was without doubt "I'm Kurious" which laced the dopest Blackbyrds sample with the "Don't change your love" drums as used by (everyone at that time) Naughty nature and Domino.



"Tear shit up" features two of Hip Hop's finest of all time; Biz Markie and Rakim over a sick, sick beat.

"Leave ya with this" is a fitting tribute to the fallen Subroc and "Top notch" features the eternally unfortunate Lucien of ATCQ fame.

The beat for "Walk like a duck" still sounds phat as fuck even after all these years, Damn they knew their way round those kicks and snares.



"Uptown shit" carries on the dopeness, even changing its title for the radio and video channels doesn't diminish its charm. That is some serious Jazz Hip Hop as it should be made along with a chorus built for crowd participation (why don't we still do this, it was great fun?).



A great album that was sadly missed by a lot of people possibly being wrongly tagged as leftfield or alternative due to some slightly off the wall lyric ideas.

The good news for his fans is that he is making a comeback. Constipated Monkey has been re-released in anticipation for the release on Amalgamated Digital. For details on his comeback album check out Bouncemag

Assault is back

If you love Sneakers/Trainers/Kicks (delete as appropriate) as much as me, you'll be literally bursting at your Air Force 1's to hear that Tim Easley (founder of the legendary Crooked Tongues website) is back with a bang. http://www.iamassault.com is the phat new website showcasing his incredible talent.

Check out some of his work, it's as sick as a sty full of Mexican pigs. While you are there check out the store and support an underground artist with a seriously def sneak addiction/fetish.

Here's his story in his own words:

I am a self taught designer & illustrator from London in the UK, who likes to do quality work for nice people. I'd always had an interest in design & illustration from an early age, but had ended up dabbling in other things before finally returning to what I had always enjoyed the most.

In 1999 I founded the now hugely successful sneaker website Crooked Tongues while working at Unorthodox Styles in London. I then went on to do various freelance projects before working in Tokyo for a while, getting involved in design & layout for magazines and print. It was at this time that I took on the name Assault, selling sneaker based prints via my website and stockists worldwide. As Assault, I have been featured in publications all around the world and have done collaborative work with companies such as Maharishi & Puma. In 2004 I joined Unorthodox Styles again for a brief period, working on projects for Adidas, Nike, Puma, New Balance and various other companies, before leaving to pursue my freelance work and personal projects.

I am currently available for design & illustration work, so get in touch if you like what you see!

Go there people and behold the trainer goodness

Typical Daily Bile reader

I was on the radio (BBC Radio 4) last saturday talking about Hip Hop and the response was pretty positive considering the audience demographic but this one guy wrote a letter (who still does that?) into the show which they passed on to me:

Dear "Sir",

Take your 'hip hop' and stick it where the sun don't shine. These middle class pundits are taking the P.C. piss out of you. Hip hop, rap, reggae are all WORTHLESS! They've lowered the goalposts and widened the nets so black people can score a goal.

That's right. You can't even SING rap! That's partly because afros think that only batty boys can sing!

Hip hop, rap is primitive and ugly. You've polluted the airwaves. To suggest that I, who knows what proper music is (Bach's St Matthew Passion) & all about crotchets and quavers, could benefit from hearing a "sample" is laughable.

YOU are laughable.

Music is a language. Your music is the scribblings of a moron.

Yours sincerely
Tim Cleal.

ps - you moral and artistic terrorist.

Surprise, surprise he is an avid letter writer and serial complainer/racist bigot to the Daily Mail.

I have his address as well which I might publish or sign him up for loads of junk mail.

WTF?

Must be mature.......must not...gasp....LULLLZ

Amazing track - top guy

Gotta love this guy for his sheer love and enthusiasm for the music. Peep his youtube channel and subscribe.

Trials, Tribulations and Machinations

I've been wrapped up for a few days in the rat race, temporarily forgeting the important things in life hence the lack of updates in the last few days. I had a moment of clarity, thankfully and now im back. Alright, who groaned? lol.

Anyway, loads of stuff going down. Some good, some bad.

Good:

Mr Lif's new album - "I heard it today" (you have to check this out!!!).
New HHC Digital.
Rewatched the first series of The Wire, is there ever going to be a better TV show than this? Doubt it.
Bank Holidays on the horizon.
Rumours are rife with talk of justice at last.

Bad:

2009 Budget, shit all round (did you expect any better).
Lost my part 3 of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight strikes again, Bugger.
Too much month, not enough money.
Door step shootings happening nearby, more than ever we need to increase the peace.
Virus ridden computers.
Ill advised returns of former classics. Neva go back as Special Ed once said.

Back in a bit.

P.S. isn't Special Ed the name for the American equivalent of Learning Support?

The truth will out?

I was always taught as a child that no matter how long it takes, the truth will always come out eventually. I'm guessing this is not just about instilling values in children but also to aid parents in their battle to keep kids on the straight and narrow.

So it's natural that one clings to these moments of instruction as one grows up (I always feel a bit posh, like, when I say "one").

Trouble is.....is it true?

I'm not so sure anymore.

It was the anniversary, yesterday, of an event that has affected me greatly, one which the world witnessed happen in front of their eyes. TV cameras captured every dreadful minute of it as the horror unfolded. We know exactly what happened from this and eye witness accounts, testimonies and more.

And yet......

....despicable people in the media in a quest for a sensationalist angle on the story, printed absolute lies and frankly bullshit peddled by scum who in a desperate bid to cover up their failings and negligence fabricated deceits that even the devil would shudder to create.

We know these things didn't happen because we were there, even if we weren't in the vicinity, we saw the pictures, we saw the truth.

And yet......

.....flash forward a generation and we are being confronted by neanderthals and cretins who believe the peddled lies because that's all people who weren't there will see. At least I hope its for this reason and not because they are so bitter and twisted up inside by blind hate and bile that they would choose to believe something that has been proved to be false over the truth.....They wouldn't be that dumb, would they?

We all have a responsibility to preserve the truth about this world and its people or else we lets those who hate, despise and kill win. No one wants that.

Oh and don't buy the fucking S*n newspaper.

HHC Digital 001

HHC Digital 001 is the relaunch of the long running Hip Hop monthly.

Head on over to their website and grab yourself a copy when it launches on Apr 15, gotta keep supporting our own or the culture will die.

Oh and on another note, J96! Fuck the Sun newspaper!! Fuck them, from now till forever; liars, charlatans and besmirchers of the dead. Fuck them.

Graphic novels

I wanted to change tack a little bit for a while; I've been delving back into my comic boo.......sorry *cough* graphic novel collection and thought I'd share with you some of my favourites.

These are in no particular order (as per usual).

The Dark Knight Returns - Frank Miller:

A return to form for the caped crusader after a bit of a dodgy spell of weak titles. Miller, a master of his craft, weaves a complex tale of future decay, false idols and one hell of an end battle (which if you haven't read it, I won't spoil it....but FUCKING HELL!!!).

The Watchmen - Alan Moore:

What a book! Believable characters, complicated plot with a twist that slaps you in the face and one of the greatest superheroes...no make that one of the greatest literary characters ever; Rorschach, he of the ever changing face and perpetual sugar cube habit. Not so keen on the Hollywood make over though, when will they make a decent film of one of Moore's novels?

Batman: Year one - Frank Miller:

A brilliant retelling of the birth of one of the greatest who ever did it. Superbly dark and sets up the later legacy extremely well.

Hellblazer - Various writers:

There are loads of these titles available, but my favourites are probably Original Sin, Fear and loathing and Joyride. John Constantine is one of the coolest bastards known to Man, Demons and Angels. He is constantly smoking, conning people with his magic, and is much more animated than Keanu made him seem on the silver screen.

Bluntman and Chronic and Chasing Dogma - Kevin Smith:

Word to the motherfucker, noinch. Just to show that I don't just dig on misery and darkness, this book cracks me up like Biggedy Bam. If you are a fan of Mr Smith's films then you'll love this collection, if you're not then these aren't for you as they feature gratuitous weed smoking, puerile toilet humour and Doogie Howser as a porn director. Snoogans.

V for Vendetta - Alan Moore:

A dystopian Britain, an oppressive fascist government and a paranoid populace kept in check with state approved entertainment...hmmmm, sounds like a job for V! An articulate, cultured and deeply mysterious figure who single handedly takes on the powers that be whilst carrying out an audacious revenge plot against the very people who made him the way he is. Love this!

There are so many many more that I love, but that'll be for another time.

Peace.

Slept on albums part 1

Digging through my vinyl earlier made me remember classic LP's that I haven't thought about in years and possibly mean not too much to anyone other than me. So I thought I'd bring some of them to light again, maybe y'all copped them, maybe you didn't but they are worth talking about anyway.

First one is Divine Styler - Word power.

Man, I loved this album when it came out (I had it on tape first and played it till it snapped). I hadn't really heard of them when I copped it on release date but saw they were down with the Rhyme Syndicate so thought i'd take a chance. Actually I think I bought it as it had a track called "It's a black thing" which I got confused with the similarly named track "It's a black thing" by Kool Rock J and DJ Slice (you can see why).

The first couple of tracks were OK but nothing out of the ordinary and by the time track 4 rolled around (a weird almost house-like "Last Black house on the left") I was seriously thinking my purchase had been wasted.

However from then on the album really takes off in a big way, it has everything you could want; Breakbeats, screeching violins and horns, crazy concept intros, helicopter fades and Mos Eisley Cantina band samples.

As the album closes, so the mood changes to a more pensive, almost plaintive, lyrical focus. The beautiful "Rain" is the penultimate track and lilts with an interpolation of Tenor Saw's fine work.

The album is laced with samples throughout with the closer featuring a hefty chunk of Marvin Gaye, which is well chosen and is a great way to finish.

Word Power didn't do very well commercially, but was really well received by the critics. I gotta say, I loved it.

Some of albums of the time sound very dated now, but there is a sort of freshness to this one without losing any of the charm I felt when it was released.

Oh....and this track bangs!!!!!!!!!!!!

BBC Radio 4

So I spent today in the company of a lovely reporter from BBC Radio 4, their Saturday Live show wanted a section on Hip Hop and it's effect on society, and I have to say what a blast it was.

I love nothing more than standing on my soapbox and talking about things I have passion for. I could have talked for hours, days, even weeks about Hip Hop and what it means to me but sadly we had to stop after 3 hours of me talking the poor lady into submission. All of this is going to edited down to about 6 or 7 minutes for the programme but that really doesn't bother me too much as it was such fun doing it anyway. I'll keep you updated as to when it'll be on.

Word.

Tony D: RIP

Taken from Allhiphop.com:

Veteran producer Tony D. was killed in a tragic car accident last night (April 4) in his hometown of Hamilton, New Jersey.

Police said Tony D., born Anthony Depula, lost control over his 2002 Jeep when it struck the fence of a local cemetery, causing the vehicle to flip onto its passenger side.

A number of neighbors attempted to remove the producer from the Jeep as they waited for emergency personnel to respond. Tony D., who was not wearing a seat belt, was taken to Capital Health Systems for treatment, where he was pronounced dead from a severe injury to his neck.

Tony D. started his career as a DJ and he managed MC Serch of 3rd Bass fame.

He went out to produce for a number of acts, including Poor Righteous Teachers, The Outsidaz, Young Zee, King Sun, Pace Won, DJ Muggs and others.

Tony D.'s best known production was Poor Righteous Teachers' Hip-Hop classic single "Rock Dis Funky Joint," which was released in 1990.

Tony D was a big favourite of mine in the early 90's, check the elevation was a hella good tune.

I heard there was a little dispute between him and KG from Naughty By Nature as he apparently made the OPP beat long before the song came out. Whether or not this was true, he certainly had some chops as a beat maker. RIP.

G.O.A.T. pt II: The Producers

Ignore the unnecessarily showy Hollywood-sequel-like title to this post, for this my friends is all about the beats. The music that draws you into tracks, the sample diggers, the finder of dope kicks, snares, hats and all that good ish.

Difficult to believe these days as producers are ubiquitous and in most cases bigger than the rappers they lace their tracks with but they weren't always treated like the stars they are now.

These are my top ten of all time producers and for those that don't know I've included a few of their finest moments of work.

1. Premo (who else?): NY state of mind - Nas, Boom - Royce da 5'9, Come clean - Jeru
2. Diamond D: Punks jump up to get beat down - Brand Nubian, Soul Clap - Showbiz and AG, Funky Technician - Lord Finesse and Mike Smooth
3. Pete Rock: T.R.O.Y. - Pete Rock and CL Smooth, The world is yours - Nas, Shut em down (RMX) - Public Enemy
4. Large Professor: Live at the BBQ - Main Source, Halftime and It ain't hard to tell - Nas
5. RZA: Nearly every single Wu-tang joint ever!!
6. Marley Marl: Psycho - LOTUG, Eric B is president - Eric B and Rakim, Ain't no half steppin' - BDK
7. DJ Muggs: How I could just kill a man and I ain't going out like that - Cypress Hill, Tear this motherfucker up - Ice Cube
8. Prince Paul: The Gas Face - 3rd Bass, ALL of 3 feet high and rising - De La Soul
9. Mark the 45 King: The 900 number - Mark the 45 King, Stan - Eminem, Evil that men do - Queen Latifah
10. The Bomb Squad: Every Public Enemy album up to Greatest Misses! (Wall of noise!!!)

Being a top ten means I have to leave out a ton of producers that I love, in no particular order: Madlib, 9th Wonder, Doom, Dr Dre, J Dilla, Cut Chemist and Numark, El P, Rick Rubin, The Dust Brothers, Timbaland (pre Justin Trousersnake), DJ Shadow, RJD2, Baby J, Juttla, The P Brothers, Blockhead, etc, etc, etc....

Dope video from WAY back in the day!

G.O.A.T????

Emcees act like they don't know. Every does them, lists that is, so I thought I'd jump in whilst the waters warm and do my own definitive top ten of greatest rappers of all time (Doesn't that make the acronym; G.R.O.A.T?).

For me its gotta be from this list, infact I didn't really write this in any particular order but it sort of came out as I would probably rank them:

1. Rakim
2. Big Daddy Kane
3. Big L
4. KRS 1
5. Biggie
6. Kool G Rap
7. Nas
8. Gza
9. Masta Ace
10. Ice Cube

Probably not all that inspiring or different from most peoples list, I grant you, but a couple of things jump out at me.

1. No Tupac.
2. No UK Emcees. Shame on me.
3. No Dirty Dirty.
4. Only 1 West Coast.
5. Not many of what I would call Old School heads (don't get it twisted, Old School doesn't mean Biggie btw)

Rakim wins hands down for the combination of his lyrical ability, precise delivery and amazing tone of voice. BDK would have run him closer had the love rhymes stayed away from his albums more often. KRS would have been a worthy winner but in the end it was "The R" that took the title in my book.

Other mentions that didn't make the top ten but are up there in ; Doom, Lord Finesse, LL Cool J, Chuck D, Percy P, Gift of Gab, Common, Method Man, Redman, Apathy, Vinnie Paz, Lowkey, Logic, Roots Manuva, Million Dan, Guru, Komanche Sly, Eminem, Del the Funky Homosapien, Ghostface and so many many more. Mucho Respecto.

I'll do producers next which should be quite interesting (unless that sort of thing bores you to death).

They reminisce over you

This is always a tough time of year for me personally. Its coming up to the anniversary of one of my best friends passing away.

21 is no age at all, and I've missed out sharing so many things with him since then. My one big regret is not clearing up a stupid argument I had with him not long before he went. It was meaningless and typically male juvenile hotheaded hubris, but you always think you will have plenty of time to straighten things out.

Years have passed and the pain has lessened but never totally gone away. Miss you much, my friend.

I'll be listening to Pete Rock and CL Smooth in your honour.

Riding an Arkane Culture beat

Sick skills over one of my beats.

Peoples Army SALUTE!!

Facebook monitored by big brother?

First off, if you think I'm taking about a shitly desperate (or desperately shit depending on the way you look at it) TV show then I would suggest you read a book for once in your life. Dan Brown? Fuck off, I mean a real book. One with a non jacked plot, believable characters and which doesn't treat you like an idiot with the IQ of a postage stamp.

Anyway, turns out Facebook hit the headlines this week for the revelation that the government could monitor it under anti terror laws for suspicious activity. Presumably; randomly poking old girl/boyfriends, adding pointless apps and posting shit videos/jokes is a favourite pastime for Osama.

A couple of things spring to mind.

1). Do the government really want to monitor possible terrorists or do they want to monitor the wider population? Is it the thin end of the wedge and yet another step down the road where civil liberties are kept well in check?

2). Does anyone actually believe that they aren't already doing this? I mean you already get targeted advertising, and I'm fairly sure that personal information is stored on bloated corporate databases just primed and ready to unleash consumer bargains galore that we cannot, nay must not resist. Its a short step from that to realising who people are in bed with....You might be shocked to learn which well known governmental agency has a venture capital arm that was the initial investor in FB.

3). If you are a terrorist and you are using facebook to co-ordinate your attack then you are doomed to fail from the off. But at least you will be able update us on your current status at all times

Terry Wrist is.........trying to remember, is it red wire or blue?

4). A couple is 2, right? Slaps forehead.

Oh and another thing, whats with all the prison TV shows on at the minute? You can't move for endless shots of razorwire, shotguns and warnings of..."This is not a game, prison is...", Etc.

Preparing us for something, perhaps?

Peoples Army

This Is More Than Just A Movement.....
Its a call for War....
but at the same time its a call for Peace.

For years we have allowed society to mould and shape our views. Been manipulted by TV images, fashion and propaganda in general...

Let 2009 be the birth of a new day...

Lets travel from city to city.....From country to country expressing righteous words for people who wanna listen....
Lets make it more than words....LETS TAKE ACTION!!!
Our Aim is to show and educate with music....with the hope to free the trapped and unconcious mind.

....OUR MESSAGE
....OUR ARMY
....OUR PEOPLE
!!!!ELEVATION!!!

Sign up, do your bit and lets push things forward...............

http://www.myspace.com/thepeoplesarmy2008

Rebirth: A Kingdom Rising

2009: As we roll towards the end of the first decade of the 21st Century, we find ourselves in what could perhaps be described as Bramahian times.

Talk of Credit Crunch, Terrorism and Genocide fills our various media outlets, whilst huge corporates take tax payers bail outs before paying huge bonuses to staff that have failed the larger population. Still as long as they ride high in their plush Park Avenue headquarters with full use of the multi million pound/dollar/amero(?) Jetstream, who are we to argue. Its not like its us that foots the bill is it.....oh wait.

2009 also sees the end of an era in more than one respect, I came across the following statement on DJ MK's Blog:

In 1988 Hip-Hop Connection (HHC) magazine published its first issue. 21 years later, the world’s longest running rap monthly recently published its last. It’s a cracker too, answering the question heads over the globe just can’t resist arguing over: Who is the great rapper of all time? And we didn’t just send our top critics down the pub to argue the toss. Rather, we polled over 100 emcees from all walks of life and all levels of superstardom to find the answer. While there is an inevitable air of sadness that a combination of increased paper and production costs allied to viciously plummeting ad revenues have made continuing unworkable, HHC and its staff are happy the magazine is hanging up its metaphorical boots while in rude creative health. Independently published by Infamous Ink since 2001, it’s charted hip-hop’s myriad highs and lows in candid and amusing fashion; never cowed by the preening demands of rap’s A-list stars or scared to take them down a peg or too, while also championing the UK’s homegrown hopefuls and the freshest underground US talent. Along the way HHC has posted upfront cover debuts for the likes of The Fugees, Wu-Tang Clan, Outkast, Eminem, Danger Mouse, 50 Cent and The Game – long before they were anything close to being on the mainstream’s radar. And while HHC will no longer be the true rap fanatic’s monthly paper fix, it will still live on in other forms: from April 7 it will become the world’s first dedicated digital hip-hop magazine, available for download from www.hhcdigital.net All of HHC’s staff and contributors will continue to be active journalistically, so please retain on any relevant mailing lists. Thank you for your support, in whatever capacity, over the years. All the best, Andy Cowan (Hip Hop Connection)


Now I grew up with this magazine fueling my passion for Hip Hop from the days when there was little in the way of coverage in the media (HHC was all we had more or less) to the information overload of the internet age.

Im sad to see this go, but look forward to the future of the digital version.

The message is clear for all though; unless we stand up and keep supporting, our culture will become lost knowledge. Arkane.

The king is dead, long live the king....

www.myspace.com/arkaneculture