Style 43

Things on the UK hip hop scene seem to be going from strength to strength, if the CDs that keep landing on my doormat are anything to go by. First it was the I.R.S., then Triple Darkness and Cons?iracy, and now we have the mighty Jon Phonics.

Mr Phonics will already be known to a lot of you out there and in fact, some of you will know his sound without even having heard his name before, as he was part of the brains behind Verb T’s smash album “Verbs With a Vengeance”. Now he brings together a whole heap of his top quality beats featuring some of the best UK emcees on the mic at the moment, in the form of his compilation, “Half Past Calm”.

Under the moniker of Illsmith Productions, Jon has built up a good rep with both well established artists and the up and coming talents that are emerging at the moment, and listening to ”Half Past Calm” it’s easy to see why. His beats are reminiscent of early Lewis Parker, before he started producing for Ghostface, with that whole crackling on dusty vinyl vibe. Syncopated riffs bring a nice jazzy feel to a lot of his sounds, but he can still knock them out harder if needs be. There are a number of tracks on here with members of the Triple Darkness crew, Cyrus Malachi and M9ine, who can’t seem to put a foot wrong at the moment (album review coming soon). Old favourites Sir Smurf Lil’ and Verb T are featured on a few tunes, as well as Mr Drastick who is definitely worth a look in at the moment.

But wait, I haven’t even told you the best bit yet. All this loveliness is available on FREE download via the Jon Phonics Myspace page! So not only do you get a hefty helping of dope beats and rhymes, but it all comes at everyone’s favourite price. What are you waiting for?

http://www.myspace.com/jonphonics

Review by Fyshh