West Coast MC Murs has released a new video.
The track, Varsity Blues, is produced by Aesop Rock and revives the team-up from Felt 3. The video is below and you can check out Murs if you live in London, when he plays Jazz Cafe on Wednesday 13th May, which you should do as he’s a blast live.
Jazz Cafe, London
07.04.11
It had been a while since I last saw Edan perform a headline show, which was coincidentally at the Jazz Cafe too. Sandwiched between the two shows came an opening DJ slot for Public Enemy at the Brixton Academy when the MC was on criminally early, but it’s the shows like this when Portnoy is really able to show off his dexterity and he certainly didn’t disappoint this time around.
Proceedings kicked off with a screening of the film that had been made around his Echo Party mixtape with psychedelic colours and animation flitting around old Bollywood imagery culminating in half an hour of explosions for the ears and eyes. As soon as that was over, things really got going with Paten Locke, the hype man for the evening, delivery a short, sharp burst of his own lyrical prowess before the man himself walked down the stairs ready for action.
It would be impossible to put into words just how much fun was had on the night but suffice to say seeing a man rap whilst cutting two records at high speeds, delivering a word-a-man track with Locke and having him distort every last word of various tracks with some microphone manipulation pedals and switches will live long in the memory.
The two men on stage were having fun too – Edan putting on a wig whilst sitting down with a guitar and kazoo and Locke picking up some dainty sticks with which to deliver a few notes on a glockenspiel displayed the entertainment value perfectly. The duo then took turns scratching records in the vein of many great DJ team-ups, always with a smile on their faces before Edan mixed a folk song with rap drums – “Racial harmony right here”. Ladies in the crowd were given bunches of flowers towards the end too, bringing a light-hearted close to the night.
With tracks like Mic Manipulator, I See Colours [complete with chorus sing-a-long], Emcees Smoke Crack and Torture Chamber, Edan had every single person in the venue transfixed with his perfect delivery and old-school flow. When he did his patented showing of the vinyl cover when namechecking bands, Paten Locke dropped one of the sleeves, something which had “never happened before”, with Portnoy feigning anger for a split second before shaking his head and continuing the fun.
There are very few people in hip hop that have the skill of Edan and the stage show he performs is honestly one of the best around. He calls himself the Humble Magnificent and tonight was proof the second part of his name was well and truly on point.
Abjekt.
Make Some Noise
Capitol
It’s been a while since we last heard music from the Beastie Boys. It was 2009 when they dropped their track featuring Nasty Nas Too Many Rappers and had everyone clamouring for a new album to drop, but with MCA’s fight against cancer, the album took a deserved lay-off. However, now the New York trio are back with Make Some Noise and it was absolutely worth the wait.
The intro wah-wahs slowly before the drums are unleashed and segue into a backdrop for the inimitable MCs to bring the house down. The drums are crisp, the tune is fun and the gang vocal chorus is classic Beasties. We all know what the rappers sound like and we all love them, so hearing them on a fresh beat is as enjoyable as it could ever be.
With MCA rapping about parties on the right and the left, it seems inevitable that your feet will start to tap, your legs’ll shake, your head will nod and before you know if you’re having your very own personal party in your chair. And that’s what the Beastie Boys are all about – getting rowdy. Despite their age, they can still mix it with the very best and if this is any indication of the new album, we’re all in for a treat.
“It’s the anti-depresser” runs one of the opening lines, too bloody right!
Abjekt.
Sledgehammer Kisses
Associated Minds
Mudmowth is an artist that many in the UK know and rever and with Sledgehammer Kisses, he makes his return, teaming up alongside Metabeats on production. Having made his name as CRST making predominently dance based music, it may seem odd that Metabeats has teamed up with the rapper however, the doubt is dispelled immediately on tracks like Maad Tight with the low-down horns bringing to mind some of Dre’s beats on Chronic.
Lyrically this release does the business too with lines like “sparking my tumbleweed peace pipe / blowing smoke rings out your cheap mics” showing just why the Associated Minds camp have got behind the MC in recent years. The beats fit the rhymes perfectly throughout and whilst this is a good album to listen to carefully, it’s just as easy to bang on whilst doing something and let the production do the work for you.
Tracks like Life’s Never Enough is reminiscent of the hip hop the UK was bringing out in the early 2000s and Sing Tears proves you don’t need to have an overly complicated beat to make a good track, its simple piano chord sample and boom-bap drums revolving around the verse and Richie Hayes’ sung chorus.
Having been championed by various magazines, including Plan B who picked one of his previous releases as their hip hop album of the year, it’s certainly one for the fans of his work. Associated Minds have definitely got something to be proud of here.
Abjekt.
UK rapper Jehst has resurfaced with a new promo video featuring a brand new track.
One of the best rappers around on either side of the Atlantic, Billy Brimstone has been fairly quiet of late but with his new album The Dragon Of An Ordinary Family dropping in the not too distant [we hope!] it’s time to ramp up the action.
This video shows Jehst as a postman, rapping whilst passing numerous faces of the UK hip hop world – see if you can spot them all. It’s a banger and we can’t wait for the full length to hit us, it’s gonna be huge.
Aussie DnB superstars Pendulum have put a previously unreleased track up for sale to aid charity.
Ransom, which didn’t make the last album Immersion, is available to buy exclusively on the band’s official website www.pendulum.com and all proceeds will be split equally between the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders who are hugely involved with the relief effort in Japan. Speaking about the release, frontman Rob Swire said:
“Given the cause, 99p is really not a lot to ask for, so please support this by not sharing it around. If you’re young and don’t have a credit card, ask your folks.”
Definitely a worthy cause, so get involved!
RJD2 is holding an auction to raise money for Japan.
The producer, who released The Colossus this year, will be auctioning five original beats on eBay, with each starting at $150. All the proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders and winners will own the Pro Tool session master recording and the master rights of their tracks.
You can check out snippets of the beats here and head over to the eBay page here. Who WOULDN’T want to grab own an original RJ beat just for themselves?
Blu will see his previously unreleased “debut” album see the light of day on April 19th.
The rapper, who recently signed to Warner Bros Records, has built his reputation through the Below The Heavens [with Exile] and Johnson & Johnson but Her Favorite Colo(u)r was never put out. This will change when Nature Sounds release the album, produced entirely by the man himself, save one song.
The tracklisting is below. Blu is also heading to London’s Favela Chic on May 15th, ably supported by One Be Lo [formerly of Binary Star] and J*Davey.
1.Love
2.Amnesia
3.Since
4.Morning
5.Melo
6.Wind(terlude)
7.When(terlude)
8.Silent
9.Pardon
10.Vanity
11.Beggars Black Gold
12.Cellin’Ls
13.Untitled(LovedU)2
14.Peace
The Sword are back in the UK on tour in May and have dropped the banger that is their new video.
Night City is the third and final installment of the Warp Riders Trilogy and was directed by Artificial Army, featuring Esteban Powell, best known for his role as Carl in the classic Dazed and Confused film. The dates are below, so make sure you go!
8th – Southampton Joiners
9th – Birmingham Academy 3
10th – Glasgow Cathouse
11th – Manchester Academy 3
12th – London Garage
Jean Grae recently threw up a video for new track R.I.P.
The song, which features Styles P and Talib Kweli is due to appear on her mixtape Cookies or Coma which is due in the not too distant and once again showcases just why Jean is always top of the tree of female MCs.
Get watching!
Jean Grae R.I.P from BLACKSMITH on Vimeo.