In the midst of disintegrating Anglo-American relations, Brother Ali is bolstering the friendship by playing yet another run of shows in the UK. I swear the guy never stops touring! When we interviewed him back in April, he was in the midst of the European leg of the “Us” tour and then he was heading back to the States to do a few more dates. The definitive relentless work ethic.
Brother Ali is hitting these shores again for a set at Glastonbury [Saturday ...
This is a bit of a last minute reminder cos the show is on Friday, but we figure it's better late than never to remind you that Suspect Packages Live is back for another onslaught.
It seems like only yesterday that the mighty Souls of Mischief graced our shores with a dope in-store appearance at the Carhartt Store in Covent Garden. Well, we must have given them a good reception cos now they are back to do it all over again.
Mini-mix number four is now available for your listening pleasure. Who doesn't like ...
More free goodies from Paper Tiger, in the form of his third mini-mix. The theme this time is... well there isn't one really, more a sort of hotch potch of random tracks that he has mixed together. I haven't listened to it yet, so no idea what is included, but I'm sure it will match up to his previous two mixes.
The live hip hop starts here folks. Suspect Packages Live is back slightly later this month but Mr Disorda is starting shit off with an absolute stormer of a night, featuring some of the UK's best-known talents.
It's all been a bit quiet round these parts over the past few weeks, what with us relocating and not having any internet access. Plus all that festive cheer being rammed down our throats, kinda drained all the creativity out of us.
Luckily free internet access is everywhere these days and so I've finally managed to drag myself away from the festering mass of turkey, chocolate coins and neverending Tim Allen movies, to see what we've missed out on since we were last on it. And where better to start than the UK compilation we dropped a fortnight ago, thanks to our American friends at aboveGround Magazine.
A few weeks ago we found out that Paper Tiger was going to be releasing a series of 20 mini-mixes covering different genres/themes/acts, and he kicked things off with a favourite for all the b-boy and b-girls: 80's electro.
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.
Monday sees the Carhartt store in Covent Garden being taken over by some of the ...
If you caught the piece we threw up a week or so ago, then you already know about the soon-to-drop Freeway and Jake One album, "The Stimulus Package".
The album is set to drop mid-February on Rhymesayers and will feature, among others, Raekwon and Jay-Z favourite, Beanie Siegel, alongside Freeway's relentless rhyming and the beats that have made Jake One, some of RSE's hottest property.
Hot on the heels of November's dose of dope from Suspect Packages, Disorda now has Christmas in his sights as he has lined up another massive show for the festive season
This time the line up will feature one of my favourite crews of all time, The IRS. Their album is still one of my favourite UK releases of the past few years and their live shows are always a riot, so this should be no different. Joining them will be two of Cardiff's finest, Mudmowth and Metabeats, from the Associated Minds label, alongside Ralph Rip Shit and a potentially explosive special guest...
More antics occurring over at Doomtree.net, courtesy of Paper Tiger. He is going to be doing a series of quick-fix mixtapes that will be released 'whenever I get a chance to make a new one'.
Doomtree, Doomtree, Doomtree... that's probably all you're going to hear from us for the next couple of months, well at least until "False Hopes 15" is released anyway. That is a bit of a way off though and if you're anything like us, you need something now.
Well luckily for us there are people like 2DopeBoyz, who scour the virtual ether for exclusives and the like, to keep our insatiable appetites under control for at least a little while longer. Last week it was the Felt boys, this week it's Doomtree's turn.
Riding on the high from their success together on the tracks, "The Truth" and "How We Ride", Freeway and Jake One are due to release a collaborative album on Rhymesayers, in February 2010. In preparation for the album they have made this little mixtape which they are giving away for free.
Freeway is something of a paradox, as he is simultaneously releasing material through Rhymesayers and Cash Money Records, who are about as far away from each other as possible in terms of content and releases. Rhymesayers boast the likes of Eyedea & Abilities, Blueprint and Brother Ali on their roster; whereas Cash Money offer up Lil' Wayne, Mack 10 and Jay Sean.
Oh wait, what's that you're saying? Yesterday's Felt 3 freebie not enough for you? Need something else to fill the void? I bet you do. Well we're never one to shy away from the demand for all things hip hop and so now we have another track from Felt 3 to giveaway at everybody's favourite price.
Madlib, his many incarnations and his 4 ton record collection always come with the goods. Too numerous to mention, but you all know the score by now anyway. Well now the Madliberator is in the lab creating a 12 part CD series under the title of "The Medicine Show". Set to be released over the course of 12 months, it will be a collection of his new hip hop production, remixes and beat tapes. Plus soul, funk, Brazilian, psych, jazz and 'other undefined forms of music'.
