Hiphop
Track: Bronx Slang are wise to wonder what will become of ‘Jane’
FABYL’S no-messin’ duo Bronx Slang have been bringing us the B-boy flow on a regular basis, track by track, news bulletin by news bulletin, across the past few months; dropping in to remind us with last October’s excellent mixtape, the clear-eyed flow and crisp breaks of “Just Say No” in March, last month’s tough “Happens …
Track: ECHT! – ‘500 gr.’: towering, atmospheric breaks from Brusseleir quartet preludes their September album
ECHT! is a fat-as-hell beats collective which calls Brussels home, although each of the four hails from elsewhere, drawn to the open, centrifugal force of the Belgian capital. The name comes from the local Brusseleir dialect, and translates to English as simply ‘real’, although the French ‘vrai de vrai’ might seem to hit slightly closer: …
Track: Bronx Slang – ‘Happens A Lot’: examining the rise and fall of the rhymer with tough old-skool breakz
STILL rhyming with power, truth, rhythm; still living it in the Big (Rotten) Apple, Beeks and Miggs of Bronx Slang keep the gems coming from street-level observations as they shape up for their album later this year? When? When? Jeez, if only I could tell you – I don’t know myself; let’s at least be …
Track: Rhys Langston – ‘a two state solution to soak eye contact’: cracking the political lyrical prism with an Anticon touch
ATTENZIONE, lovers of rhyme and lyricism transmitting in from the leftfield; come May 19th, POW Recordings will be presenting a new album from Los Angeles’ Rhys Langston, splicing oblique but conscious verbiage with the indie rock spirit of bands such as TV On The Radio, taking on the dominant power structures, throwing in Yiddish slang …
Track: Bronx Slang – ‘Just Say No’: into ’21 with clear-eyed flow and crisp breaks
FRESHLY scrubbed and lyrically equipped, Bronx Slang come slammin into ’21 with some fine verbal consciousness rising with their first drop of the new year. Ollie Miggs and Jerry Beeks are still seeing true; still understanding just how we got here and where we really oughta be, and they’re railing against the construct that keeps …
SEE: Bad Colours – ‘Feelin’ Like’: future breaks drop teases for debut album
IBE SOLIMAN, the London-born, Maryland-raised, and now Brooklyn-based DJ and producer, likes to guise up for the world of music he produces as Bad Colours; and he’s set to release his first full-lengther, PINK, on Bastard Jazz at the end of this month. The album sees him drawing on influences from across the beats and …
TRACK: Confucius MC – ‘Lanterns’: the first essential UK hip-hop of ’21 has entered the building
IT MIGHT just be the first properly essential UK hip-hop track of 2021, and it comes from Peckham’s Confucius MC, longtime friend of Kae Tempest, teacher, outreacher; and it’s a readymade headnod classic, fo sho, in which Confucius is joined in the flow by Sonnyjim, Verbz, and Jehst, a loop of bells glimmering over a …
ALBUM REVIEW: Madlib – ‘Sound Ancestors’: beats genii’s wide-eyed, wide-open odyssey
Madlib’s Sound Ancestors, produced by Four Tet, is the beats genii’s wide-eyed, wide-open odyssey. Like a fractal pattern, the deeper you focus and the more you pull out, the more you see
Meet: We interview North East artist Leddie MC
2020 saw a rebirth of North Easy artist Leddie MC. The year saw her starting again with her music, and gracing us with a new single each month before releasing an EP – Born Of Stone last September. (Read our review here) First of all, how are you? How are you coping with the pandemic? …
Track: Leddie MC – They Don’t Make ‘Em Like You (Ft Eve Conway)
To start the year off, North East artist Leddie MC has released a track from her EP ‘Made Of Stone’ which she released last year. (Read our review here) The track ‘They Don’t Make Em Like You’ features Eve Conway A sweet pop opening as Conway sings the chorus but then a more aggressive beat …