A few months back we featured the excellent album by Solomon Caine, “Guerilla Godz : Unmasked The Phantom”, we interviewed Caine and he supplied us with a tasty podcast mix as well. Now the album is available on super limited, only 275 will be made, vinyl from those providers of good music, Chopped Herring Records. Grab you copy HERE for the super nice price of £11.99, you won’t regret it!
Wales’ finest, the De
ad Residents are back with a brand new full length album, “Dead Thy Neighbour”.
It’s been awhile since their last album, “Triple Crown”, time has passed, fashions have changed, but Dead Residents still remain as nasty as they ever were.
Ever since I first heard Junior Disporal on the Aspects track, “Here Come The Monsters”, I’ve been intrigued by the rapper. No one else sounds like him, no one else talks about the weird, wonderful and down right dirty things he does, he’s unique. So when ever Dead Res drop a new track, you know you are in for something a bit different, a bit off-key and I’m glad to say this is definitely true of this latest offering.
The album has a lo-fi, old school feel to it, using a lot of distorted, slightly wonky drum machine beats mixed with lots of squelchy bass lines and plenty of bizarre spoken word samples. I’m not really sure where it fits in the current UK hip hop scene, but that just makes it more appealing. However, there is a mega posse cut to end proceedings, “Outrageous Boasting” that features Mylo Stone, Mury P, Chattabox, Retch, BANE, Joe Blow and a nice sample from the 80’s children’s program The Lowdown’s rapping special.
This album is a definite highlight within this years UK hip hop releases, it doesn’t sound like anything else and it’s all the better for it. Ok so I may not play some of the songs to my mum, due to the lyrical content, but that’s what I expect from the mind of Mr Disprol. “I got blades like Pistorius…” lets just hope he hasn’t got a gun like him!
The UK hip 
hop duo The Hinderance, Issuez7 and Passive 65ive have just release their latest album, “SmithSonian Butterfly”.
This is 17 tracks of hard-hitting, uncompromising, raw hip hop. Taking their cue from the likes of Company Flow, Anti-Pop Consortium and other such left-field hip hop acts, and creating something truly unique.
They have enlisted the help of underground artists such as Life Long, Megabusive, Duke01 and production from Gold Panda, Waatu, Voider to name but a few.
If you are looking for something different but still firmly within the realms of hip hop, you need to give this album your attention.
US rapper Ill Legit releases his new EP, “Another Day, Another Dollar”.
This is music made out of struggle, but unlike the majority of modern hip hop that trades on ghetto tales, you actually believe Ill Legit. You can feel this is real and not just for the image.
The EP is pretty downbeat rhythmically, low-slung head nodding beats, my favourite being “Emergency” produced by the UK’s Pimpernel Jones.
Ill Legit fills the area between the underground and the overground, gangster enough for those who like that kind of thing, but not too gangster to make it sound fake and pointless.
Grab the EP for name your price now!
Here is some nice and new coming out of LA, rapper/producer IQ has just released his new video, “Rita LeVoe”. Taken from the full length album, “Thervpy”, it’s a blissed out, mellow track you can just feel the LA sunshine coming through on. The album sits nicely between the underground and the better sounds from the overground, not to experimental to alienate people but still treading its own path.
Check out the new video from Astronote featuring Blu. “Rhymes On Paper (Vivid)” is a funky, bugged out head nodder with Blu schooling the weak minded MC’s of the world. Astronote’s new album, “Astroblacked” is out now on iTunes featuring Blu, Ayah, Stacy Epps, Illa J, Nick Walker and more.
Brother Beatbox is back with the follow up to “Vol.II”, yep you’ve guessed it, “Vol.III”.
“Vol.III” is a collection of heavy, jazz influenced, head nodding, banging beats created on the trusty MPC. The album is a transatlantic journey, featuring the vocal talent from the UK such as Benny Diction, Deeflux and Don’t Flop favourite Joker Star, along with US rhymers Destruct, Young Heff and Lakai, who comes off like a young Gift Of Gab, to name but a few.
There is a really nice mix here, you have hard, crunching beats and hyped up vocals, and also theres mellow jazzy flows and summer sounds. It all keeps the listener’s attention and makes you go back for more. Definitely works well with the sun shining.
Out on June 30th via De Facto Entertainment pre-order now!
Peep the video for “Pen & Paper” featuring Joker Starr, right now…
Here is something that caught my ear whilst sifting through the large amounts of music I get sent. Injury Reserve are a 3 piece hip hop group from the US, making straight up, funky but hard-hitting hip hop.
They have just released their new EP, “Cooler Colors” , their sound reminds me of the “golden era” groups like Souls Of Mischief, Pharcyde and so on, so you know you will dig this!
It’s nice hearing younger kids taking the more traditional hip hop sound and bringing into the future.
Seven tracks long and free to download…what more do you want?
One of the best MC’s in the UK today, Kashmere has just re-released his 2006 album, “In The Hour of Chaos”. With production courtesy of Chemo, Red, DJ IQ, Beat butcher, Jehst, LG, BOOT and Tranqill , this is a must for any hip hop fan.
On its initial release “In The Hour of Chaos” didn’t reach the audience it deserved, so here’s your chance to find out what you missed. Unique, twisted straight up hip hop from the Strange Universe iguana man! All yours for just £5, grab it now.
Having recently put out a video for “Oops Sorry”, Bristolian MC Spye has now release the track on limited edition 7″ single.
This is a classic slice of eccentric, uniquely bizarre, underground UK hip hop and a very welcome return from the veteran rapper. Buy it now!
TheLeftHandSide 