VIDEO: Professor Green/ I Need You Tonight

This debuted on The Sun's website. I have good feelings about this record I have to say.

VIDEO: Akala/ XXL

Akala is coming back with his third album 'Doublethink' this summer.

VIDEO: Nappy Roots/ Ride [Trailer]

This shit sounds extra nice. Before the was B.O.B there was Nappy Roots. Remember when this would have been a hit no question? People hated on the South but you look back and they had shit locked. Creatively as well as commercially.

Gully Vs Gaza: Reggae's Civil War

Really good article on the Village Voice website about Vybz and Mavado's beef. Most of the quotes stink of Jamaican exaggeration but it's definitely a serious war and there has been some seriously great music come of it.

Read: Reggae's Civil War [Village Voice]

VIDEO: Marvin The Martian Feat. Jack Nimble/ Sterling Crumble

Ha! Jack and Marvin don't even know I'm posting this. Just found it on an old hard-drive yesterday. Figured that since Marvin's taking so long to finish his new tape I'd let it go.

This is a hood video we actually filmed at the end of 2008 if I remember correctly. Filmed in Brixton and Hackney.

Download the song for free here

Paul Morley meets Giggs

This is a really good article and video of Paul Morley interviewing Giggs. Morley really knows his shit, really well researched. Really interesting.

Crazy thing about Giggs is if you didn't know better you'd think he was a new school gangster-grime MC but because he's from Peckham in the same era as me I hear the No Limit, Dirty South, West Coast influence. You don't know how the hustlers were going crazy for Master-P and them back in the day.

LINK: Paul Morley interviews Giggs [Guardian]

Mixtape update

Almost done, thanks to everybody who got in touch about doing the artwork. You all are some talented people for real. No pressure, I'll let you know how it turned out asap.

I was given B.O.B's new mixtape the other week, that guy's on some shit. Makes me want to start writing some bluesy pop ditties to see where they go.

I just broke some secret news to somebody via email. I'll reveal a little more to the rest of you once the mixtape drops.

I can't think if anything to say. I do things all week and go "I'll blog about that" and then when I sit in front of a computer I totally forget what they were. Too much weeds. Or not enough. I forget how that works. HA.

LATERS

MTM

What Ever Did Happen To Grindie?

I spoke to Joseph 'JP' Patterson [from all those Grime articles you read] a couple of weeks ago about Grindie. Remember Grindie? Indie and Grannies? Grannies Indie? Grindie? Yeah that's the one. Anyway, the result of our conversation has been published on the MTV website here. I could go on for days but I'm introspective like that. HA! Sorry, I meant pretentious.

Sorry, sorry...

Been MIA again. Busy as a busy prick. Who's not a prick but is still busy. Almost done with the tape. We really want to make it great. But also have enough ready for the follow-up tape so we're not left waiting like we are now.

I'm also looking for somebody to do me a little Mixtape cover? We usually do them in-house but the computer we had photoshop on has perished and it's all a bit too painful to think about. If any of you are geniuses and could do me a cover please email me whylout[at]hotmail.com.

For now, check akirathedon.com for ATD:21. One of my favourite Akira projects was his Valentines Day EP a few years ago. EPs are great. I'm listening to PUSH! Montana's Valentines Day EP 'The 5 Heart Beats' at the moment. It's free online. Google it. It's kinda saccharine but it's so polished and commercial, I kinda like it. Definitely does what it says on the tin.

I'm pretty much going to start the title of my mixtape with the letter A. Akira's smart like that, his mixtapes all come up first on iPods and MP3 players. I might call my mixtape "AAA- First on your iPod". Actually I might definitely call it that.

Aight peeps. I'll write again tomorrow. Or my name isn't Marvin Juggontanitis Thomas. Which it isn't.

The Stimulus Package

Oh man this album is amazing. February 15th everybody has to buy it. Best producer/rapper combination since Gangstarr. I promise you.

MP3: Marvin The Martian Feat. Jack Nimble / Sterling Crumble

With the UK economy finally clawing it's way out of recession I figured it would be a good time to unleash my ode to the financial mismanagement. We actually filmed a little hood video for this song, we delayed releasing it and ended up losing it to a dead hard drive hence its overall delay. It bangs so heavy though and the lyrics still resonate, especially considering the fact that most financial experts are predicting a double dip in the economy back into negative growth this Spring. Woo. They say the people don't feel the pinch until well after the "Recovery" we'll see.

This track features a guest vocal from Jacketh of Nimble. It's co-produced by Jack Nimble and Ben Official and is my official 'Get ready for the double dip' anthem. GET YOUR MONEY!

Marvin The Martian Feat. Jack Nimble/ Sterling Crumble [ZSHARE]

I've got a new song for you

I said I would and I do. You're gonna have to wait until this afternoon for it though. I'm getting the final mix sent over.

I recorded a couple of big boy bangers yesterday. We had a real good studio time. Also got a tiny bit crunk on Saturday night to toast my birthday. A little Kirsch, a little Tequila, a little Cider, a little Lager, a little Amaretto, a little weedings. I didn't feel great Sunday morning but the cafe set me right before recording.

I've been asked to contribute a song to a charity album which I am going to do. I'll get more details on that to you soon.

I'll be back this afternoon with something for the masses.

VIDEO: Ginger people have souls...who knew?

Why does racism intrigue me so?

This story about a white guy from Brixton who was racist and tried to kill a black man in Mitcham is pretty scary. Mainly because the black guy could very easily have been me, very easily. Racism intrigues me so much, I don't know why! Racism from anybody, I like it. The humourous elements, the dangerous elements, the evil elements, I want to understand it all.

To be a racist with an intent to kill in Brixton? That's crazy. Not because you wouldn't expect it to happen here, but because it could so easily happen here. When you think about the route causes of racism in our society, they're as easy to see in Brixton as anywhere else in the world. If people find themselves facing enough instability and have access to weaponry like Jamie Bunter did (20 years old for fuck sake) you have a very unstable and unpredictable environment on your hands. Brixton is unstable and unpredictable at the best of times. I feel like a voyeur saying it, but Columbine style rampages are not too far in the future if this kind of behaviour is in any way consistent.

I think the escalating gun culture and the increasing levels of frustration and miscommunication between the communities in this country could lead to some fairly dark times.

EDIT: Reading this back it kinda seems like I'm blowing this out of proportion and trying to scare people. I'm not. Racism is just one potential catalyst in my opinion for something as horrific as a shooting spree. When writing this I was taken down a very visual path, one which ended in a very dark place, but I feel like my point is apt. It's very easy to feel trapped in London and it's very easy for your frustrations and your fears to become hate, at that point anything can happen. With gun culture in Britain becoming more and more the norm the fusion of those things, unfortunately, I think is inevitable. Maybe not on that scale, but the potential is very real.