Devil In The Distance came out 1 year and 2 days ago...

Yup. I never actually popped champagne on my album. How crazy is that? We said we were gonna do it when we got the deal first deal with Universal, then the second deal with Universal, then when the album was done, then we the album dropped and we never got around to it. So we're planning to pop a bottle next week in honour of my debut album. My favourite album of all time. The Universal released rap album by me. The Champers is already on chill waiting for next week when we can actually toast what we achieved. Fuck thinking about what we could have achieved, the album is perfect as I see it and as I wanted it. The next one will be as perfect.

To mark the anniversary of it, a small thing in a lot of people's eyes but a big one in mine; the link on to the album on the right of this page will no longer take you to iTunes but instead it will go straight to Spotify where you can listen to the album for free. When Apple sign off on the Spotify app for the iPhone the software will be available for pretty much all next gen smart phones and Spotify will be the way that the large majority of us consume our music for better or for worse. Who am I to stand in it's way? I was in the Westfield HMV a couple of weeks back and started playing with their download machine thing, I actually stumbled across my album for sale in their system, it kinda shocked me like, why would anybody pay for an album like this? I was in HMV buying CDs, don't get me wrong, but honestly I still don't get why anybody has ever paid for an MP3. Neil Young said "When this digital age is over, people will ask 'I wonder what the music really sounded like?'" I'm paraphrasing but the point remains.

Rather than worry about all that bullshit though [I really can't be bothered any more. Take my music for free, then one day, when this thing makes sense again, I'll make money off it] I figured embrace the bullshit.

LISTEN TO DEVIL IN THE DISTANCE ON SPOTIFY BY CLICKING HERE

Things I've listened to over the last few weeks... Part 2.

I feel I should explain what I've been listening to recently. I don't know why, is it to encourage you to listen to the same thing? Is it to make myself look busy? I don't know. I don't really take much from other rappers these days, not consciously anyway, I used to.

YOUNG CHRIS & DON CANNON/ THE NETWORK MIXTAPE: If you've been a regular on this site for a while you'll know I fucks with Young Chris. To me he's one of the best out there, he really needs an album but this tape is the closest he's come to a complete project so far. A lot of Roots style production leanings and pretty incredible guest rappers including Beanie Sigel, Wale, Freeway, Black Thought, Twista and Rhymefest. The mixtape was online exclusive freeness so if you search it you'll find a link.

JAY-Z/ DEATH OF AUTOTUNE: I know it's just one song and most people are sick of it but it doesn't stop being incredible. I'm not really in that 'Run This Town' place yet, not sure what I was expecting but I'm kinda nonplussed about it.

FREEWAY & JAKE ONE/ BLOGGERS: This Freeway and Jake One album is going to be amazing.

MAVADO/ MR. BROOKS...A BETTER TOMORROW: This album is way more soulful than the first album. It kinda lacks the punch but it makes up for it in some pretty amazing arrangements and concepts.

I'M ABOUT TO PUT THE FOLLOWING ON MY MP3 PLAYER....

CAGE/ DEPART FROM ME: Cage is one of the most underrated of all time, his first album had a big impact on me as a rapper. This album doesn't seem to have done very well for some reason, I might find out when I listen to it. I hope not.

NEWHAM GENERALS/ GENERALLY SPEAKING: I like Newham Generals, they fuck with some unusual production. I'm excited about this album.

FABOLOUS/ LOSO'S WAY: I've never really been a Fab fan but his last album held me down when I was writing 'Devil In The Distance'. During the day we weren't allowed to smoke in the studio so I'd grab the MP3 player, stand around the skreets and invariably end up listening to him. This album sounds a bit forced from what I've heard but it sounds a little less scatter-gun than his preview records so we'll see.

WALE/ BACK TO THE FEATURE: I wasn't sure about Wale for a while, but the more I hear him in context the more I appreciate how much better he is than most of the new generation of rappers. This tape got a lot of love so I need to listen to it.

Rap-a-doooo

So I guess...ummm...yeah. I've been so frickin' busy. Surviving this crazy recession yuddig? I haven't done any blogging whatsoever. The fuck is wrong with me? I've probably had a little bit of time but if I did I can't remember when. Oh I might have had some time a couple of weekends ago but instead I filmed Akira's new video. I was up at crazy early hours, sitting in a make-up chair and almost as if magic...hold on...



That's what it's going to look like. I think it looks sick. It was a lot of fun.

The BNP thing seems to have settled a bit doesn't it? I don't think that's a good thing, they're probably more active than ever in their power-bases talking up their negative publicity as conspiracy. God knows the current government aren't going out of their way to clear anything up. Why are that headless monster allowed to continue? I mean, seriously?

Last time I checked into the blog I told you I was almost done with my new project. Well I am done. WHAT? Yes. It's not my project so much. It's a collaborative project between me, Jack and Pixel. Jack produced every beat front-to-back with me and Pixel handling the vocals throughout. It's a new concept for us, we're actually dropping it in two parts. The first part [which isn't actually named yet] is done, done and done. We're mastering it [yeah boy, mastering free music, you don't get that often], designing the artwork, hitting a few DJs with some exclusives and dropping it exclusively right here on you swines. The next part of the project is 70% complete and the last 30% of it will be based on your reactions to the first part. I'll have artwork, a drop date, a name and all the rest in the next 2-3 weeks swear downs.

What else is going on? Hmmm...I'm thinking about going Xbox Live on you rarses. Who's on Live? I need to know I've got enough people to fuck with before I commit to my Xbox going online, I still think it's going to kill it.

VIDEO: Craig David's manager is sick of people saying "Craig David's all over your boink!"

That's good secret video footage. Craig David is a G for sitting in the corner.

Salvador Dali and Walt Disney- "Destino"

I hear Disney might complete and release it. I didn't know it existed untill this morning.

Things That Are Better Than The Transformers Movies (part 4&5)

Break




Heinrad





From Toplessrobot.com

"Heinrad is perhaps the greatest Transformers toy ever made, and let me tell you why. He's like the Doc Brown of the Maximals, containing a working alarm clock in his stomach that, in the fiction, allowed him to briefly stop time and phase between different points in time. He also rocks a badass pair of goggles. Heinrad (sometimes known as Heinlad, likely due to translation issues) transforms into a Tanuki, a Japanese Raccoon Dog. It is a real animal but is also a prominent trickster character in Japanese folklore. Like the Tanuki of folklore, Heinrad carries a purse full of notes payable and a jar of saki, from which he liberally swigs. Unlike the folklore, Heinrad can combine the purse and saki into a missile-firing blaster. The actual Tanuki is known for its comically large testicles, and the Japanese of yore blessed the fictional Tanuki with even larger balls, which it would sling over its shoulders like an *ahem* sack and beat madly like they were drums. And, yes, Heinrad is anatomically accurate. He's got a nice pair of robo-balls positioned beneath his alarm clock tummy. See, Devastator in Transformers 2 wasn't the first Transformer to have a scrotum!"

Japanese awesomeness!

More at ToplessRobot.com (The 12 Strangest Transformers Beast Wars Figures).

If Chris Brown was white he wouldn't be gettng such an easy ride.

I said it. I meant it. The way the "Urban" world is giving this guy a pass makes me sick. If I see him I'm gonna fuck him up. If Rihanna was white? Oh shit. That's another story completely.

VIDEO: XXL's I Know Rap People: DJ Edition

That Whoo Kid is a funny fucker.

Things I've listened to over the last few weeks...

I'm just going to list some things I've been listening to...

MY NEW PROJECT: I've been recording it and therefore listening to it. I say it's my new project. It's not. It's mine, Pixel's and Jack's. We don't have a name for it but it's almost finished and is almost ready for you good people. We'll shoot the cover next week.

50 CENT/ WAR ANGEL LP: 50 Cent is one of the best doing it right now period. If you don't think so then you are clearly confused as to what it is this thing of ours is. 'War Angel LP' goes very hard (excluding those two every-so-slightly-fruity numbers in the middle). If you haven't grabbed this yet, do it now, it's free on ThisIs50.com.

J.COLE/ THE WARM-UP: I was given this CD totally blind. I'm down the middle with it. I think the guy's got skills but I think he over-reached with some of his beat selection and his flow can get pretty monotonous when he doesn't have a specific subject. I'm with him for the time being though.

More later. Three posts in one day. Who'da thunk it ey?

So...uhh...Michael Jackson died.

Due to my slack blogging I've failed to mention the passing of one; Michael Jackson and my thoughts on it/him.

Well, suffice to say I'm sad. Of course. It's hard to truly quantify my feelings on Mike's passing as he'd spent the last 15-20 years going out of his way to annoy me and ruin his legacy...I guess. Did he? I don't know. I have to say I'm confused, not sit down and really think about it confused but more I'm writing right now and have to commit something in written form confused. The radio stations and music television channels have played Michael Jackson non-stop since, which probably helped me formulate my grief. Some of the greatest songs of all time were recorded by Michael Jackson, the greatest dancer of my lifetime (and that's the only time I'll ever not feel fruity talking about a man's dancing skills) and one of the only absolute ever-presents of my life (wargwarn Pat Butcher?). Is grief the right word though? I didn't expect him to ever achieve 'Billy Jean' again, I never expected to meet him, I never expected to see him live. I was absolutely convinced he'd pull-out of his scheduled O2 residency at some point (sad to think but I'm sure most of us had that feeling). I'd say I'm sad for his family (because of course it's sad for any family to lose a member, especially one so young) but for 20 years the public at large have had such a strange relationship with The Jackson family. Jermaine seems sad and he seems genuine. I'm definitely sad for him. Mike leaves behind an extraordinary body of music and a whole lot of questions. He definitely leaves the planet worse off, as his talent and showmanship doesn't seem to exist in any performer in the world today. I feel like there's a part of my soul missing without Jackson, not necessarily an important part, but those songs, that image, that voice, those moves, they've been with me my whole life in some form or other. I don't feel like I've lost anybody close to me, but I feel I've lost a little bit of the innocence I've carried with me from childhood, somehow knowing Michael Jackson was alive, thrilling, exciting and changing the lives of generation after generation obviously meant something to me. I can imagine this being the same way the majority of fans felt when Elvis died. Although Elvis wasn't fortunate enough to spend 45 years at the top man-and-boy influencing the world and surviving the cultural and technological advances Michael did.

There will never be another Michael Jackson.

I kind of got into it through my friend Danny. He’s really racist. Everyone calls him “Nazi Danny”

Sure thing. What ethnicity would you most like to make love to?
Oh, God, British.

Outside of that?
Say… black.

Hilarious interviews with "Babes of the BNP".