Cut his hamstring!

This should probably be my screensaver.

Excalibah session on Pyro Radio NEXT WEEK!!!

As I mentioned a couple of weeks back I'm passing by the legendary DJ Excalibah's Pyro Radio show tonight. I'm going to be handing over some new records, I'm going to be debuting some new material and I'm generally going to tear it down. I'm taking Pixel down to the station to help me out, it's going to be a large amount.

I just got off the phone with Ex, Pyro are doing studio work today so we've pushed back the session to next week. You now have fair warning, make sure you tune in.

Check out the show live from 8PM Next Monday (03.05.08) only on PyroRadio.com

Is Tha Carter III really going to suck?

You may have seen blogs covering 'Tha Carter III Snippets' this weekend but a lot of them are one file and they don't have much info. Semtex has got everything in there in Zshare files with details. Hmmmm. In 2004 I was banging 'Tha Carter' very hard...no moho. He was just starting to change opinions among the hardcore, Tego was into the South on another level at the time so he was bringing a load of crazy shit around us that didn't stick, Wayne pretty much became all of our favourite rappers (Jay-Z was retired) by the time 'Tha Carter II' came out though. The beats weren't as dark as they were on the first album but it had genuine hits. 'Tha Carter II' stayed on my phone for like a year. He killed the remixes and the freestyles for a solid year or so before I started to get worried, in my opinion, save for 'Gossip' and a few freestyles here and there Wayne has sucked for over a year now. I know 'Lollipop' wasn't for me and I know it's number 1 in the States but that's not the same Wayne as 'I Miss My Dawgs', that's somebody else. He was basically worthless on 'Barry Bonds' and 'Hello Brooklyn', he flopped when he came over here, made himself look pretty silly and honestly these snippets aren't filling me with much excitement. It seems like Jay-Z and Lil Wayne are going to do a Jay-Z and Biggie by only ever collaborating on slightly subpar production. Saying that; Jay's track on the last T.I album had a dodgy beat as did his track on the last Beanie Sigel album.

What do you think? Can Wayne pull it out of the fire?

R.I.P Camu Tao

I just found out that Camu Tao died. He was battling cancer apparently. I honestly didn't know. You find out about my secret underground side now; Camu Tao used to do a lot of work with my second favourite white rapper Cage. They made the above album together 'Nighthawks' he was really nice. I did wonder why it was that he'd fallen off the face of the earth after beating the shit out of Copywrite (not one of my favourite white rappers) a couple of years back and I guess now we know.

HipHopDX.com reports

R.I.P Camu Tao

Vepl- With Absolute Minimix Vol.2 Feat. That One Time Lillica Libertine Remix

I was just sent this mix on French blog Vepl.fr. It's heat. I'm on it which is why I listened to it to begin with but I advise you do too. Something about French music, it always sounds like they're having fun. Perhaps not so much for this stink weather.

Traklisting...

1.Raw Man - Wargame
2.MSTRKRFT - Vuvuvu
3.Crookers - Magic Bus
4.Marvin - That One Time (Lillica Libertine Remix)
5.Dusty Kid - The Cat (Crookers Remix)
6.Nrotb - Take me upp!
7.Ocelot - Lo sforzo (Sirhan Texas Trash Remix)
8.Switches - Every Second Counts (Ocelot Remix)
9.Turntablerocker - No Melody (Malente Remix)
10.The Loose Cannons - Whyd4ml (Stupid Fresh Remix)
11.Giko - Asshole (Facteur Remix)
12.Barney - Oh Please
13.Alex Gopher - Belmondo (The Subs Remix)
14.Dragonette - Take It Like A Man (Felix Cartal Remix)
15.Harvard Bass - Stitches
16.Crookers - Lollypop
17.Young MC - Bust A Move (Don Rimini Remix)
18.Nixon - Ass
19.Goose - Nike Original Run
20.Mika - Lollipop (Yuksek extended Remix)
21.Moby - I Love To Move In Here (Crookers Bass In Here Remix)

Vepl- With Absolute Minimix Vol.2 [Mediafire]

The Streets new album = Done

Mike Skinner has just announced on his blog that his 4th album is officially complete which is a great look. It's a pretty interesting blog because he talks about something I've been dealing with the last few weeks. I finished 'Devil In The Distance' in September 2007. It was fully mixed and completed in February and it's coming out July 28th. Ever since the day I went back to Brixton from Bristol in September last year I have been planning my next album. I couldn't imagine my first album going any better, all live synths, no samples, a 100% honest account of my life thus far, I consider my album to be perfect. But it was made at that time and since then I've been experimenting with some shit in my head that is so far removed from 'Devil In The Distance' that I sometimes confuse myself (see 'Boyspot'). In March I started to act on these thoughts. Me and Jack have been in the studio whenever we've had a spare minute recording, mixing and writing. Just today I recorded a song called 'Step 2 Skank' which is for all intents and purposes; a Dancehall record. At three of my gigs this year I've played a record me and Jack made with a third party called 'Charge Me (She's Bad)' which is about a prostitute (it's a story. It goes deep). I have a lot of faith in both of these records but they could never have been on 'DITD'. With my first album I spent a lifetime planning, I spent two months writing, I spent six weeks recording and there wasn't much room to say "Fuck it" which I like. But I've only this week started to think "Am I working on my second album?" I think I might be. I'd told myself it was an E.P so I didn't have to commit to it all the way, but the songs are clocking up and they've got a pretty consistent sound (dark, electronic, conceptual). Mike Skinner says his next album is already in his head and that it's way darker than the record he's just finished. I thought it was an interesting parallel, also when he says that he has to live 12 months ahead of his fans, it's weird, when we did Hartlepool a couple of weeks back I didn't do any of the songs from my album and I hardly noticed. Of course that was bad of me because I instantly regretted not adding 'Superhero', 'Get By (Be Good)' and 'That One Time' to the set but it's strange how what I might consider an old record is not an old record and what I consider a new record I recorded the week I debut.

Also, 'That Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living' is a fucking great album.

While I'm on the subject of my weekend in the studio, I put together two new freestyles for my mixtape (sooner than you think) and an exclusive freestyle for Excalibah's next mixtape in the already classic line 'UK Dubstate'.

Man has sex with cars

I mean this guy really has sex with cars. Hey no judging!

Busta Rhymes on Westwood debuting 'Don't Touch Me Remix'

That looks like fun. The original is hot as hell too.

Public Enemy @ Brixton Academy last night

Last night I checked out Public Enemy at Brixton Academy. I can't claim to have ever been a proper P.E fan, I am entirely too young, but I am a scholar in many respects so I know my hip-hop history. Public Enemy performing 'It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back' at Brixton Academy is an amazing thing to be happening. You see when Public Enemy first played Brixton Academy back in the 1980s they were supported by The Beastie Boys who were shocking the shit out of British press at the time with talk of penises and naughty things of that nature (these days they don't swear and make jazz fusion records...the British press win) and the gig absolutely went down in hip-hop history the crowd noise was actually used in the interludes during 'It Takes a Nation...'. We know a guy who was at that gig and he talks about it a lot.

So last night was the first time that Public Enemy would be performing 'It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back' from front to back anywhere in the world so Brixton is pretty excited (plus it's a Friday so Public Enemy fans can probably stay up past midnight or something similarly shocking). I live literally two minutes from the Academy because I'm Brixton like that. So of course I miss the first two support acts; Edan (who I probably would have been interested in seeing) and Anti-Pop Consortium (who I could live without forever I think), I got into the venue after being sent to two windows only to find out I had a V.I.P pass waiting for me at the stage door just in time to catch some guy in a fruity scarf freestyling badly over what appears to be a Canadian DJ in a wrestling mask (how do I know he's Canadian? I just do). After the tedious freestyle session is over Mr Fruity Scarf gets into a song I know. The guy on stage it turns out is hip-hop legend Kool Keith and he's now performing Dr Octagon songs, I'm pretty excited at this point, I'd written him off as a lame just minutes prior, he's not, he's Kool Keith and 'Blue Flowers' kicked the shit. The scarf is still fruity though. Keith throws some magazines into the crowd (I think) and exits stage left.

Next up we have a DJ performance from The Bomb Squad Hank and T Shocklee. The Bomb Squad of course produced the majority of P.E's classic material including 'It Takes a Nation...' so it's an honour to have them on stage. They start with a remix of T-Pain's 'I'm So Hood' and I'm pretty much the only person in the venue who knows what it is, not to worry as for the next hour or so there will be no more choruses, just hard industrial house music and dub-step (I think The Bomb Squad live over here now) "We be at the underground clubs with yall". They outstay there welcome to an extent, some people refuse to accept that the same song appears to have been playing for about 25 minutes out of respect and I respect that. T Shocklee dances around the stage for a few minutes before finally promising us Public Enemy and the Bomb Squad are done.

A giant Public Enemy banner is lowered down the back of the stage that excites glee in the packed arena (it was sold out well in advance). A terrible British accent asks the crowd if they're ready "Then I've got one thing to say to you....YEEEAAAAAHH BBOOOOYYYEEEEE" man that was as exciting as a man's voice can get. Flava Flav and Chuck-D take the stage with the S1Ws who look a little old but they get the job done. For the first time I consider that perhaps Flav looks younger than Chuck? It's possible. The fitness, energy and general rehearsedness of their show is unbelievable. They really don't stop. Professor Griff wasn't allowed out of America for the show and Chuck's pretty pissed. He says something about Minister Farakhan like this is 1994 or there were more than 2% black people in the audience. It's worth mentioning again at this point that I don't know P.E material like that so they're doing songs I've heard but I really don't know them, they're definitely doing them well though. I was disappointed that when doing 'Don't Believe The Hype' there was no effort to perform the horse noise. The hardcore fans wearing tight 'Fight The Power' hats weren't even making that great horse noise. Very poor. Chuck and Flav manage to look as enthusiastic about performing as I think I could possibly have imagined. They dedicate 'Terminator X' to Terminator X of course who retired in 1998 to run an Ostrich farm in North Carolina (does he still run an Ostrich farm?).

What was truly notable about the show was the amount of times I heard samples, lines and hooks that have been reused in contemporary rap records absolutely in reference to Public Enemy that I'd never picked up on before. I feel privileged to have seen the gig last night, Public Enemy are the best stadium rap performers I've ever seen live...they're probably the only stadium rap performers I've seen live but still, they rocked like Metalica who I saw at Leeds Festival a few years back or Iggy Pop who I saw at Reading the year after. That's a good thing.

Goldielocks + Me > Example + Defury

Don't believe the rumours! South-London ran tings last night on D:U:M Radio. Me and Goldielocks spit some nasty, nasty bars, Black Cherry were on some biased ting because true Defury's their boy from way back and true his bars made sense they were like "Nah they won!" but you know how South-London does; me and Goldie robbed them all, took Example's Red Bull and everything.

Good times though. They should give more amateurs radio shows, I say "They" I don't know "They" are all I know is me and Goldielocks repped.

Goldielocks on Blogspot
Defury on MySpace

Diesel U-Music Radio tonight from 10PM

As I've said before. I am on Diesel U-Music Radio tonight on Black Cherry's show with Example and Goldielocks. I just found out there's a live webcam where you can watch the show unfold. Right now I'm watching Hot Chip, they're playing bangers actually, I don't know what this reggae/funky/grime thing is but it's nice.

WEBCAM LINK

Ayo Tapanga!

Man look at that! You remember 'Boy Meets World' right? Tapanga was that chick in 'Boy Meets World' now she's lezzing up for the intranets! Woo! God bless you intranets!

"I'm the new Public Enemy I'm different than Yung Joc"

Saigon just said it so I guess I'm gonna have to go see P.E at Brixton Academy tomorrow night. I'm too young to completely "Get" Public Enemy but I'm willing to learn.

I'm going to party tonight. Diesel U-Music Radio 87.7 to all my South London people ONLINE PEOPLE CLICK HERE from 10PM tonight. There's parties going on downstairs before and after the show so I'm gonna get loose.

Saigon free

I just found out that Saigon and Just Blaze worked out a release from Atlantic Records. I don't think it's an ego thing when I say that I always saw a parallel between mine and Saigon's careers. The time lines matched and everything. I really hoped that 'Devil In The Distance' would come out the same year as 'The Greatest Story Never Told' it was one of things I was looking forward to saying this year, I hope them getting their release from Atlantic means that they can press ahead with the album which Just Blaze says he kept the masters to. I am a genuine Saigon fan as you may have been able to tell from my 'C'mon Baby Freestyle' and I'm obviously a Just Blaze fan. For all the people disappointed that 'The Greatest Story Never Told' is looking like a 2009 release I promise 'Devil In The Distance' will bridge the gap. For the time being Just Blaze just leaked this new Saigon banger. That's that soulful shit we need.

Saigon- Believe It

UPDATE: Saigon talks about leaving Atlantic on his MySpace