Episode 208 : Grinding Through

"Taking selfies while the world burns..." - Konny Kon The title is the only way to describe putting this episode together! The headphone monitoring on my mixer is broken, and I can't get any service centres to respond to my emails (are they scared of money?), and then the machine where I usually run my Serato DJ software decided we weren't friends anymore. I've hopefully delivered an episode not too rough around the edges, with a good number of brand new/very recent releases alongside some album cuts and remixes you can now flex about knowing 😁 Mastodon : @airadam@mastodon.me.uk Twitch : @airadam13 Playlist/Notes Mega Ran ft. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien : Box And One "Live '95" is the kind of basketball-themed release that was perfect for a Hip-Hop and hoops head like me. Philadelphia (Mega Ran) and California (Del) come together for a real bar exam, no hook, with references piled upon references like a librarian's book trolley. DJ DN3 provides the beat, as he does on most of the album, and it'll have your shoulders moving and your head nodding! Oh, and for those that don't know, a "box and one" is a specific (some say gimmicky) defensive strategy in basketball intended to slow down an opposing star and force their teammates to score instead #KnowBall Exile : Heavens Gates Just so you know, the apostrophe is missing in the original title 😁 Anyway, the Los Angeles MPC master Exile released this instrumental on his 2019 contribution to the "Baker's Dozen" series, and it's a standout. Gospel provides the sample source and he turns the sample inside out in an unsettling way with a skittering hi-hat line running alongside an organic-feeling kick and snare. This beat was originally released back in 2006 as the music for "Pearly Gates" by Mobb Deep - very dope track, but if you have delicate religious sensibilities, do not listen to Prodigy's closing verse! Children Of Zeus : As The World Burns We kick the first mix off with the title track from the big release of the month, the latest LP from Children of Zeus! While Tyler Daley's smooth tones build the hook, the meat of the song has both he and Konny Kon in full MC mode, running down the state of the Zeus nation over a chunky beat produced by Cre8, Styles Davis, Forestxfire and Orenji Soul. The world might well be burning down, but at least we have a quality soundtrack to watch the bonfire! Sway : On My Own It was a real shock to hear of the passing of Sway (Derek Dasafo) this month, an artist who blazed a trail independently in UK Hip-Hop and truly deserved his flowers. This track is taken from his debut LP "This Is My Demo", and he tells the tale of his struggle - from childhood, through to choosing music as his career path and trying to make his mark. With vocalist Nate James adding the sung chorus as a breather between two serious verses, this is a testament from an independent spirit. May he rest peacefully. Tall Black Guy : Believe In Me TBG is back with another collection of mind-bendind sample flips, the "Black Vandross Suite" project. This spacey, polished track gives you the rhythmic feel of something like Slum Village's "Tainted" while folding in samples from a classic Luther Vandross number, before elevating the combination even further with bass and I think extra keys too. Luther's voice haunts the proceedings, and this track stands out as a personal highlight of the album. Mary J. Blige ft. Mos Def & Talib Kweli : Beautiful (Blackstar Remix) A great extra track from the 12" of "More Than I Can Say", with Mos Def and Talib Kweli adding a bonus to the headline-worthy vocals of the great Mary J. Jam and Lewis are credited as the main producers, with Hi-Tek on the boards for the smooth grooves of the remix. Recording-wise though, there is a little distortion on this - and having had a go at digitising it twice, I think it's part of the pressing. If you can excuse that, the 1999 12" is currently available at very reasonable second-hand prices, so don't miss out on this. [Kev Brown] MindsOne : Equinox (Instrumental) Kev Brown, the bassline master, the groove specialist, the pride of Landover, Maryland. Here he is with an instrumental from the 2014 "Pillars" EP, a collaboration with the North Carolina crew MindsOne, building the track around a nicely-chopped piano sample, then adding a bassline that interplays with it, and a simple (sounding) but effective drum track. "Pillars" is one of those welcome releases where there's a full set of instrumentals included, so definitely one for the beat heads. Busta Rhymes & J Dilla : Back Pain, Chest Pain, Head Pain Not a meditation on life in your forties, but a straight thumper from the brand new "Dillagence II" album - the latest from Busta Rhymes, soundtracked by beats left to him personally by the late great J Dilla. That famous Mantronix siren sample is the little signature and warning, and then Busta stomps straight through on a track that showcases a different facet of Dilla's range to the chilled, loose-feel style that so many people have tried to take and run with. It's not Busta's most sharply lyrical performance by any means, but his aggressive energy matches the instrumental. Clear Soul Forces : Blow Ya Mind This doesn't sample the track I'm thinking of, but it feels very much like the banquet theme from "Enter The Dragon", chopped and blended with highly-fortified drums - a level of ruggedness required to balance out the lyrical onsalught of CSF! Nameless on the beat, and the whole crew on the mic, this is a banger from their 2015 "Fab 5ive" album that represents that era of Detroit in fine style. Semi Six : Luxuries Back-to-back Detroit, with the title track from the brand new "Luxuries" EP by my man Semi Six. How much do you value luxuries? How far would you go to get and keep them? It's all here in this heavy track, produced by Nigerian boardsmith Buharee Black, who handles the beats for the whole project. Buharee brings in a dramatic, piano-laden boom-bap track and Semi brings the heat - no hook, just a stream of bars upon bars. Organized Konfusion : Thirteen An old favourite, and not just because of the title! This killer from 1994's "Stress : The Extinction Agenda" sees Pharoahe Monch going solo on the mic for three strong verses. Elite level bars, with lots of playing with flows and tone as well, and the Buckwild beat makes this an album cut classic. This was the second LP from OK, and one that laughed in the face of the dreaded sophomore jinx - seek it out for a listen if you've never heard it. DJ Epik : Criminology (DJ Epik Remix Instrumental) Philosophical question - if you remix a track with an all-new beat and then drop the vocals, do you just call it something new? In all seriousness though, dope work from Sacramento's DJ Epik, whose Bandcamp is well worth following for some great singles and remixes! Blu & Sndtrak : Jesus You're probably more familiar with the combination of Blu and Exile, who have done incredibly strong work together, but this release was a welcome surprise! Sndtrak is an absolute beast of a young producer who, while best known for his exceptional sample-flipping work presented in instrumental form, shows here that he can take an MC to the next level. The ten-track "LA" is exactly what the name suggests, an unapologetically Los Angeles album in all ways, with some beats we've heard on flip tapes before while others sound brand new - I think this is one. This church-music-sampling closer thumps at a menacing low tempo while Blu's vision of Jesus coming to Earth in modern day Cali is reminiscent of the "Black Jesus" series, but goes deeper. The Joe Biden reference possibly indicates that these lyrics might have been written a while ago; if they were more contemporaneous, we might be talking about the current situation bringing on wrecked markets, chasing with whips, and the rest... Dilated Peoples : Back Again Before the era of the drumless beats, The Alchemist was providing beats with this kind of sharp-edged sonic character to some of the best artists in the culture, and he hit Dilated with a good one here! This specific recording is from a 12" single release but the track was a single from the 20/20 album - one which kind of passed me by at the time of release in 2006 but really should get a proper listen twenty years later... The MCing is quality as always, and of course the third member of the group, DJ Babu (who invented the word "turntablist") seasons it up nicely with his cuts. One extra touch which will always make this track memorable for me is the pull-up and rewind off the back of Evidence's first two bars - great execution to emphasise his reversal of a famous Diddy line. Ghostface Killah ft. Raekwon, Method Man, and GZA : The Trial With roughly 50% of the Wu on this cut, you know you're in for a treat! "Supreme Clientele 2" was a welcome surprise as part of the recent "Legend Has It" series of releases, and this deep album cut was one of the best tracks. Method Man is the judge in this case, with the other MCs giving testimony and filling out the courtroom scene with their verses, GZA's uninterrupted closing verse (statement?) being the highlight. RoadsArt comes with a heavy, somewhat gloomy beat to carry the gravity, rounding out a track that demonstrates once again that actual writing is still important. Da Flyy Hooligan : SAAB '98 I do wish I'd bought a Saab before they went out of the car business! Nevertheless, Hooli gives us some precision vibes on this track from his second release of the year, the eleven-track, luxury-flavoured "Today's Agenda" album. The bars are delivered in a package of smooth instrumentation and crisp, tight drum programming with some nice rolls to add a little extra flourish. If you're not already on board, this North London representative is an artist to check if you want lyrics for the headphones and beats for the ride. Mitch Murder : Bayshore Connect I became aware of Mitch Murder through his bread and butter, the synthwave/80s vibe that he's a leader in, but he's got a very nice recent sideline in this kind of clean, airy drum & bass. I don't know if the vocals were recorded for this track, or imported and manipulated here, but the processing of the vocalist and the added effects make for interesting extra feel. Pick up this smooth, beautiful track from last year's "Hurricane" single/EP - or treat yourself and buy the whole thing! 4am Kru : High Time We end the show with more D&B, this time leaning on a sample/interpolation of a classic I won't mention here, just in case... 4am Kru was a new name to me who I assumed was an artist with a much longer history, but is actually a duo from the modern day influenced by the old-school jungle flavours! Forming in 2019, this London duo have by all accounts being coming with heat, including one album and a raft of singles and EPs - as well as energetic live shows. This track blends the classic sped-up break jungle style with a vocal sample from Memphis' Gangsta Pat's 1995 track "I Wanna Smoke", not an obvious choice but a great one. Even if, like me, you're not a smoker, you might find yourself humming along to this one as you go about your day... Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!