Style 43

The fifth installment of the UK hip hop showcase series is out now, so we thought we’d drop a little science on what you lucky listeners have in store this time round, if you haven’t got yours yet.

In line with the original “On the Radar” mission statement, this is an opportunity to gather some of the best hip hop on the rise at the moment in this country - along with some of our more notorious wordsmiths and beatmakers - and give them all a platform to be heard by a wider audience.

Britain’s repping hard on this one: from Scotland to London and Yorkshire to Wales; proving that hip hop in this country has been as fresh and original as ever this year.

Volume 5 starts with an exclusive from one of the most talked about emcees at the moment, Chima Anya. The track “Drinks Up“, as the name suggests, is on a party vibe with the soulful vocals of Jason McDougall backing things up nicely . Big tings coming from Chima in 2010, no doubt. Next up I reckon you’ve got one of the highlights of the album, “Plug One“, from West Yorkshire’s, Homeless Genius. He rides a nice guitar-riff-laced beat with some hefty cuts from Eddie Scratch.

Suus puts in an appearance with a track that is slightly let down by its unimaginative hook, “Fuck the Top 40“. Suus can spit though and this track is still a banger, that hook just doesn’t work for me personally. Same as the otherwise dope, “Clap Your Hands“, from Kirk Spencer; featuring a welcome appearance from Scorzayzee, as well as some more East Midlands slang from Jah Digga, Tempa and Lee Ramsay. I’ve always been a bit freaked out by choruses sang by children, they seem like they belong in a cult. But again, thats just my weird opinion. Whatever, all the verses are on point and Scorzayzee is as dope as he ever was.

There is another exclusive to the album from London emcee, Kasha. “Round and Round We Go” is on a more soulful vibe than some of the previously mentioned tracks. Listen out for the hook, which sounds like its going to be the chorus from The Temptations track, “Best of my Love“, but isn’t. DJ Roast drops a nice beat built over a jazzy double bass loop for Cyrus Malachi to do what he does best, on “Trading Darts“, and then even more exclusives from Mr Flex on some nice Beat Butcha production, and the Delusionists.

The latter is another definite high point for me; every element of that track is tight, especially Ben Black’s production, and I hope the Delusionists make a lot of noise in 2010. The album is bought to a close in a flurry of different styles, from the likes of Teef, Illmystic and one of my favourites at the moment, 30kb. We’re going to be keeping a close eye on them next year, as I reckon they’re another crew who are going to be making movements.

As usual, my words don’t do this album justice and I have only touched on the amount of talent that’s involved here. I’d be telling you to buy this if it was in the shops, so I am definitely going to tell you to download it, which you can do right here, or here for free. Apparently this is the last in the series but you can be thankful it’s going out in style. I’ve tagged all the emcees & singers involved cos they all deserve a mention, and finally a massive shout out to Cee Banger for putting together this entire series. If you missed out on volumes 1-4, you can download them in a bundle here.

Tags: 30kb, Amass Hegemony, C-Lone, Certified Banger, Chief Wigz, Chima Anya, Cyrus Malachi, Delusionists, Dialect, DJ Roast, Eddie Skratch, Franko Fraize, free shit, hip hop, Homeless Genius, Illmystic, Jah Digga, Kasha, Kirk Spencer, Lee Ramsay, Missing People, Mr Flex, No-Change, Preest, Proptic, Reps, S. Kalibre, Scorzayzee, Sophie Rose, Suus, Teef, Tempa