Rye Shabby – Those Eyes
Lifted from the recent ‘Die Shabby’ project, Rye Shabby drops a video for Those Eyes. Visual courtesy of Parallel Media, with a cameo on the hook and production being handled by Verb T
Lifted from the recent ‘Die Shabby’ project, Rye Shabby drops a video for Those Eyes. Visual courtesy of Parallel Media, with a cameo on the hook and production being handled by Verb T
New visual from Rye Shabby to coincide with the release of his new project ‘Die Shabby’. Turquoise prod. by Verb T
Die Shabby is out today on In The Balance records, and available on CD here as well as digitally on Bandcamp and all good streaming platforms.
The heat is almost here Muthalovers! In keeping with all that good new ish we’re rolling out in 2018, we’re proud to announce the first year of UKHH Summer Sickness! In partnership with some of the best festivals and live events for UK hip hop, expect us to be bringing you a tonne of content on the hottest spots to get your fix of head nodding, winding, bars, vibes and general rap fuelled madness. Expect in focus features on everything from the history of partnered events, line up announcements and updates, exclusive interviews, warm up mixes from line-up acts, on site artist commentary, bars videos and live footage followed by after movies and articles. Consider us your forecast and news for the hottest conditions for hip hop heads for summer 2018.
To kick things off, we’re hyped to announce the first of our festival recommendations, Nozstock: The Hidden Valley. With a long history of using its line up to support and promote hip hop talent (article coming soon) and a reputation for kicking the party up to obscene levels, this is not one to be missed by hip hop fans and bass lovers generally.
UKHH ones to watch from the line-up announced so far include, the legendary Grandmaster Flash, Fliptrix, Task Force, Gardna, Chali 2na (of Jurassic 5), Dub Pistols, Illaman, Verb T and Pitch 92, Almatic, CW Jones, Verbal Highz, Revrt, Disorda and Defective Collective.
From Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd July, the festival celebrates two decades of mesmerising get-togethers on a working farm in the rolling hills of Herefordshire. Curated by the father and daughter duo of Pete and Ella and their huge extended family, Nozstock has flourished over the years into one of the country’s weird and wonderful odysseys.
Keeping things mad stylistically broad with artists from a host of other genres, Nozstock The Hidden Valley is incredibly proud to reveal the next wave of artists, performers, and entertainers performing at this summer’s 20th anniversary.
The new artists revealed include We Are Scientists, The Blockheads, Reginald D Hunter, Honeyfeet, Mad Dog Mcrea, Jalen N’Gonda, Slamboree Soundsystem, Spunge, Uncle Dugs, Mollie Collins and many more, along with an abundance of further performers across the festival, taking place at Orchard Stage, Garden Stage, Cubicles, Bandstand, The Cabinet of Lost Secrets, The Altered State, Elephant’s Grave and many more beautiful intimate and weird locations. They join the already announced Goldfrapp, The Selecter, Dub Pistols, Macka B, Electric Swing Circus, Kiko Bun, The Lovely Eggs, Oh My God! It’s The Church, Mr Tea and The Minions, Mad Apple Circus, Buffos Wake, Childcare, Catholic Action, Seas of Mirth, The Stiff Joints and many more are revealed, and from the DJ side there’s Chase & Status (DJ set + Rage), Grandmaster Flash, Chali 2na & Krafty Kuts, DJ Marky & G.Q, Black Sun Empire, S.P.Y, Audio, Dillinja, Randall, Sonny Wharton, Taskforce, Verb T & Pitch 92 and many more.
People say patience is a virtue. It might not be a mantra familiar to one of the most prolific acts on the hip hop scene today, but if his latest collab is anything to go by, Verb T is growing to appreciate the value of biding your time.
Produced with Pitch 92, the ever-busy emcee’s latest work Good Evening has been three years in the writing but that doesn’t mean either artist has been slacking. In that time Verb released a heap of other LPs, worked with the likes of DJ Premier, Illinformed and, of course, ruffled feathers as one quarter of supergroup Four Owls.
Meanwhile, Pitch 92 has been staking out his own claim as one of the most exciting producers on the UK scene, sharing the stage with the likes of Mos Def and Pharcyde while crafting the beats behind award-winning Manchester rap group Mouse Outfit. To say the two have been keeping busy is an understatement.
Verb T & Pitch 92 – I Arrived Late
You’d think Verb T and Pitch 92 would struggle to put together something so impeccable with so many projects on their plate, but as Verb explains on Mates Rates, “Shit comes together when you least expect it.”
Few other acts today can twist bars around a beat like Verb. His delivery sits somewhere between mesmerically sedate and ear-bendingly assertive. Good Evening provides both in spades, with closing track Break Limits a masterclass in breath control and metronomic delivery.
Verb T & Pitch 92 – Mechanical
There’s no doubting Verb T’s credentials in spitting but it’s his glib observations of modern society that propel him above the crowd. Past tracks like Where You Find Me and Sittin’ Here showcased Verb’s self-deprecating humour, but here lines like “I wasn’t waiting for your dumb attention, I can’t relate if you can barely string a fucking’ sentence,” come barbed with a new kind of venom. Good Evening takes that trademark world-weariness and injects it with a sense of urgency befitting the fucked up state of contemporary Britain.
Pitch 92 has already been causing a stir thanks to a prolific touring schedule, but Good Evening marks a new high for the Manchester artist. The spring-loaded percussion and soul-fused harmonies cast a pitch perfect backdrop for T’s verbal wizardry while the stretched out Sunday morning vibes of They Say are so chill they could probably be banned under the Psychoactive Substances Act.
Verb T & Pitch 92 – Sugar
There’s some top-class collabs on Good Evening too, but the titular track takes it with an oral onslaught – courtesy of Jehst and Confucius MC – reminiscent of Phi Life circa Millennium Metaphors.
At 16 tracks long, Good Evening may seem like a bit of a stretch, but the listing is diverse enough to mean you’re never looking for the skip button.
The pairing with Pitch is a match made in hip hop heaven – spinning faultless beats beneath a heady procession of razor-sharp humour and caustic putdowns. It may have taken three years to write, but Good Evening is proof that you can’t rush perfection.
Good Evening is out on High Focus on 6th October pre-order on limited edition vinyl or CD here
New animated visual for Mechanical, lifted from the forthcoming Verb T & Pitch 92 album ‘Good Evening’ Set to drop on High Focus on 06/10/2017
Pre Order on CD or Vinyl here
Bugged Out is the first single lifted from ‘Bread Slices’ to be released on In the Balance Records on 24th March. Bread Slices is an instrumental album with 4 bonus tracks featuring vocal features from Verb T and Rye Shabby. Check out the video above and head over to the ITB website to pre-order on CD and Cassette.
Youth, like genius, often gives its best at first.
Chillman is a 21 year old whose name essentially speaks for itself, as well as attract a like-minded audience to match. Having only emerged in the last 12 months, after joining In The Balance Records, Chillman’s rhymes have received thousands of Youtube views and plenty of plays on mellow days. Breakthrough singles such as ‘Defeat Stress’, ‘Say’ & ‘You Are’ feature on his upcoming debut album: Abstract Patterns. The production throughout the 14 track project is entirely handled by Verb T, a High Focus veteran and founder of In The Balance Records. Although Verb T is more renowned for rapping than producing, his portfolio of productions on more than 10 of his own projects, on top of collaborations with the likes of Dotz & Moreone, demonstrate his expertise in the instrumental field.
Although Abstract Patterns will be widely received as a Chillman debut, make no mistake that the album is thoroughly Verb T as well. It is his voice which the listeners hear first on the introductory track ‘Patterns’, laced with melodic ambient noises that set the tone for the following song ‘Say’. Chillman rhymes with a laid back flow, giving the listener an insight into his passion for hip-hop as Verb T constantly manipulates a bassy background rhythm to effectively emphasize the wordplay.
There’s two types of stresses – good motivational stress and the bad anxious type. Chillman & Verb T help to tackle the latter with the ‘Defeat Stress’ single, full of uplifting vibes that genuinely helps for unwinding into sweet relaxation. At the end of ‘Space and Time’, Verb T drops a chant which I can already hear fans reciting at the live shows, “I don’t wanna be like everybody else” – also a good summary of the track itself.
Set to release his second solo LP sometime soon, it’s great to hear fresh bars from Leaf Dog to remind people he’s still alive and kicking, as he makes the first guest feature on ‘Get Live’ – a party popper from start to finish.
Fun and games are had as the album progresses. Track seven, ‘Royale With Cheese’ see’s the listener trapped in Chillmans munchies episode, before he goes on to joke about queef deliveries and prank phone calls on ‘Funky Drifting’. Perhaps some will find them silly, but sometimes immature jokes can also be the most hilarious.
Moreone and Verb T step up with something more mature on ‘Step Into The Unknown’, before Verb T takes point on ‘You Are You’ with a breathless flow over a pacy beat, telling the listener to just be them, not no-one else. On the following track ‘Lonely Trails’, Chillman goes solo as he reflects upon close-to-heart topics, such as his upbringing in East Africa and being expelled from school, as well as contemplate the experiences encountered and the lessons learned over life’s course.
Every hip-hop album needs a good cypher. Chillman complies with a laid back collaboration called ‘Funk Dialect’ featuring Coosie, Joe Publik, Goose, Kenzie & Entra P over a smooth, jazzy instrumental. Abstract Patterns climaxes with the ‘Technicolor Talk’ finale, a chance for Chillman to shout out everybody who has supported him.
Altogether, Abstract Patterns is the ideal record for relaxation. The calm, captivating instrumentals combined with Chillman’s youth and Verb T’s veteran expertise provides something relatable for everybody. One of the most exciting aspects of Abstract Patterns is the knowledge that the 14 tracks are only a glimpse of Chillman’s future potential. If you were unaware of Chillman before reading this review, it’s time you found out what the hype is about. Abstract Patterns is an undisputable triumph for In The Balance Records, we can’t wait for to come.
Review by @ethaneverton
Abstract Patterns is out on In the Balance Records on 8th July and CDs are available to preorder now here. It’s also available digitally here.
New Video from Moreone ‘Turn Back’ produced by Verb T, with cuts by DJ Sammy B Side. 3991 Moreone’s debut album will be out 2016, on Verb T’s new label In The Balance Records
Verb T & Illinformed – Slightly Unhinged – Lifted off ‘The Man with Foggy Eyes’ out now on High Focus
Lok’s back with his fortnightly Free podcast – part 19 of 2015 now in association with 4649 Worldwide Clothing. Check out the tracklist below, and don’t forget you can grab all of these from 2013, 2014 & 2015 Free here
Tracklist
1. Mystro – Kiss That Ass Goodnight
2. Verb T & Illinformed – Rolex Dreams ft Leaf Dog
3. Philly B ft Dirty Dike & Jam Baxter – Never
4. Big Toast – Unbelievable Krimewave ft Jack Diggs, Oliver Sudden, Ogre Drool, Gee Bag, Stinkin Slumrock & Flowtecs
5. Life MC & Badhabitz – Round The Corner
6. Dirty Dike – Me & You ft Jam Baxter
7. Dubbledge – L.O.V.E
8. Manage – Soul Root
9. Dead Players – Oh Well
10. Ghost Writerz – Wind Up Your Waist ft Shiffa Dan, RTKal & G.O.L.D