NEIL KULKARNI, 81 Crosbie Road, Coventry, CV5 8FX
QUICKIES Azealia Banks
Luxury XL
2.5
Hate her now she’s pals with Samantha Cameron. Age is no excuse. When I was 21 I knew my Bush from my Clinton. Smarten up Banks, before you get boring.
Curren$y
Go Crazy Warners 3.0
I don’t mind it if the rapping seems to bear absolutely no relation to the music. That can be jarringly great occassionally. But when a track seems to have been assembled by a particularly slow-witted 15-year-old with his decks stuck on 45, I get pissed off. I used to believe in this guy. Not anymore. Fuck this shit.
HIP-HOP REVIEWS
Purpose & Confidence
Vision Of Excellence Ill Adrenaline 7.5
Great Premo-style production on this, great cameo from the superb Cormega, and ‘Unstoppable’ on the flip is just as good too. Seek this out.
Stu Bangaz & Vanderslice feat Apathy & Blacastan
Casino Royale Man Bites Dog 7.5
Was wondering when a producer would realise the phull- phat wellspring of funkativity inherent in the back catalogue of Supertramp. Yes, Supertramp. Love the Rhodes thrum of this.
at just the right point ‘tween didactic and tripped out. ‘For The Kids’ is suffused with the kind of frighteningly psychedelic synth textures Sesame Street and now Yo Gabba Gabba have made their own. Like ‘The Amazing World Of Gumball’ made into beats and bars, and all you sofa-bound dads and mums know exactly how awesome that’s gonna be. Go get, for the kids, and for you.
Kingdom Of Fear
Teaser YNR
9.5
Oooh yeah: was wondering when Edan-style psyche- hop was really gonna start belching forth from the headphone hebraphrenics of this fair isle and then here comes Jehst, and Jazz T and a cast of fellow YNR psychonauts with what should be one of the most stunning, startling, brain-jangling releases of 2012. Seek this out on Youtube — inspired by Hunter
S.Thompson and just as far out, freaky, fearless and compelling as auld King Gonzo himself. Absolutely goddamn freaking essential.
Action Bronson, Riff Raff & Dana
Hot Shots Part Deux Unifi
8.0 MICALL PARKNSUN YNR RECORDS
01. KINGDOM OF FEAR ‘Real Big’ YNR “I found it hard to find a favourite on this album, seeing as every track is a banger, but
this has to be the best of the best.”
02. MICALL PARKNSUN Me YNR Taken from the forthcoming album ‘‘Me Myself And Akai’. Ain’t nothing wrong with a
little self indulgence. Nah jokes aside, check it out now!”
03. JOKER STARR FEAT SONNYJIM ‘Caramel Fudge’ Soundcloud “Taken from the ‘Bloodren’ album. With Apa Tight on production and Joker Starr and
Sonny Jim on the mic, you can’t fail! Cop this album.”
04. K.I.N.E.T.I.K FEAT MICALL PARKNSUN ‘Here We Go’ KinetikTV “Taken from ‘The Kinesis Thesis Vol.3’. I’ve worked with a lot of MCs in my time but this
guy here is a genius with his wordplay.”
05. AB-SOUL FEAT DANNY BROWN ‘Terrorist Threat’ iTunes “Taken from the ‘Control System’ album. With Danny Brown or without Danny Brown,
this was destined to be a banger.”
06. THE BLACK OPERA ‘Opera Hands’ Mello Music Group “As soon as I heard this, I was like, ‘Who made the beat? This shit is bonkers!’ Mr Tall
Guy Productions murked it.”
07. BLU AND EXILE ‘Ease Your Mind’ Sire “Taken from the album ‘Gimme Flowers While I’ll Still Smell Em’. I listened to this every
morning and I haven’t got bored of it yet — future classic in my eyes.”
08. KARDINAL OFFICIAL & NOTTZ RAW ‘Miss Parker’ NA “This is a favourite with my whole family — my three-year-old son even knows the
hook! Line for line, ain’t left the car since.”
09. ODDISEE ‘Ready To Rock’ Mello Music Group “I’ve always admired Oddisee’s music but this song has made me a fan for life.”
10. RAMSON BADBONEZ FEAT BALANCE ‘Street Life’ Boot Records “This is on constant rotation in my yard.”
Downright sleazy, crushing up DMT-laced Tramadol into big fat biftas full of old-skool red-seal, AB & RR & DC lounging in the back of the limo as it rides rainbow- road out to the cosmos, some sultry cut-up Francophile vocals slipping into the space between bass and beat until the back of the cab becomes an airlocked chamber of doom. Fantastic cruise-control soundtrack your wound-up black- tints will want to bounce to all autumn.
Blu And Exile
I Am Jean Dirty Science/Fat Beats 7.5
Exile takes a warped weft of jazzz and forces it into a sensurround- sound chamber, the spiked walls closing in as the track progresses, shit getting so fragrant you damn near pass out, flutes and horns and bass unfurling like a beflowered noose round yr neck. Supremely twisted to the point where Blu almost seems to corpse at the craziness of it all. Superb.
Brother Ali
Letter To My Countrymen Rhymesayers
Mystro
That Rush Mysdiggi 9.0
8.0
Nicely fuzzed-up bass and perfect Motown-lushness conjured up by Jake One on this thoughtful banger from Brother Ali. Timely lyrics at this time where most of the world is terrified that America might make the biggest electoral mistake of the modern age. Beautifully insightful, non- partisan and humanitarian lyrics that serve as a sweet reminder that America’s good people will stand up and fight for the important things. Inspirational.
Danny Spice feat Kool Sphere, Craig G, Oxygen Simple One & DJ Mr Thing
The King Amongst Thieves EP
carryongoing.com 8.0
Finally, the EP that 2011’s ‘King Of The Beat’ 7” was lifted from, and it’s a doozie throughout. ‘The Heist’ thrums with the spirit of Lalo Schifrin and Quincy Jones, pulsating with Bosworth-archive oddity and fat funk. The immense ‘King Of The Beat’ with its huge Craig G cameo you should know, ‘The Treble’ skanks with stealth and menace, ‘Inner City Funk’ bounces on a Marvin Gaye bassline you all know, and ‘Raising Bars’ closes things out with some gloriously smoky jazzed-out abstraction. Superb, and you KNOW the instrumentals are just as vital. Bargain brilliance.
Homeboy Sandman
For The Kids Stones Throw 8.0
Sandman got one of those voices, those Native Tongues/Masta Ace- style voices that pitch themselves
www.djmag.ca
Heh heh — KILLA video for this, a great doomy piano-laden track that starts deep in hock to the combined spirits of Bernard Herrmann, John Carpenter and Sergei Rachmaninov but ends up spinning on a brilliant ruckus- starting beat peppered with some ace one-string Eastern European/ North African thrumming guitar. Bass ‘n’ bleeps come in nice-n- minimal and Mystro’s rhymes are a typically compelling, deep- yet-delirious rush of adrenaline straight to the synapse. The album soon come. Can. Not. Wait. Essential.
Verb-T
Said And Done High Focus
8.0
Fantastic soul-heavy track from Leaf Dog, seemingly with atmosphere and vibe piped in from Muscle Shoals circa 1966, that perfect Stax blend of grittiness, straight up testifying grit and off-kilter weirdness. Great rhymes from T seal the deal — the album ‘The Morning Process’ is out TODAY. If this is any hint (and certainly if Leaf Dog handles any more of the production) ‘twill be one to seek out.
Wu-Block (Sheek Louch, Ghostface Killah)
Union Square eOne Music 8.5
The D-Block & Wu-Tang collectives join forcefields and blend the streams for this drum-heavy hard hitter. Nothing but a beat and noise and shouting, and all the more effective for it. Like Ghostface himself says, “This is like carnation milk with oatmeal. And a dash of cinammon. We got killing on lock. It’s like assassination day & nothing but darts being thrown. It’s like Batman and Robin shit. It’s real street sh*t for the fans. They’ve been thirstin’ for this”. Gargle deep.
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MONEYSHOT!
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