Haha, good work! Obviously, celebrated author Nikesh Shukla’s performance at the last UKHH forum reunion proper is a lot of people’s highlight but that aside, what are your favourite UKHH.com moments?
Yeah the Festivus night back in 2005 or 2006 was a bit of a memorable one to say the least….. I would have no respect if I dwelt on that for too long. Best moments? Hmmm… well there are so many epic threads and lol fests that it would be too difficult to say. I would say that just being around and involved in the hey-day of the genre was the best thing. I went to some great parties, heard some amazing tunes, met loads of really cool people and wouldn’t be promoting, DJing and doing what I am now if it wasn’t for UK hip-hop.
The scene is evolving and has always evolved, so I guess thats where something like ukhh.com has to change to keep up with the times and keep putting knowledge in heads!
Between the time you and I first frequented the forums and today, things done changed. The early Noughties saw broadsheet spreads on how our UK hip hop heroes were finally about to take over (and then didn’t), the emergence of grime, to present day where British acts combine a bit of both and hit #1. How do you feel about the current landscape and where UKHH.com fits in?
Yeah a lot has changed!! It was all about who/when it was gonna blow up back in the day, but never really did other than Roots Manuva to a certain extent. I guess that could be quite disillusioning for aspiring artists who grew up idolising Jehst, Taskforce and Skinny, but to be fair, the talent came through in other areas and other genres. For someone like Tinie Tempah to be doing so well is a great thing in my opinion and shows how far things have come in a relatively short space of time. The scene is evolving and has always evolved, so I guess thats where something like ukhh.com has to change to keep up with the times and keep putting knowledge in heads!
So what’s the deal with the Cache Well Spent mix? Can you give us an insight into how you approached it and what we might expect?
Well I was quite surprised to be asked to do this to be honest!! I’ve done quite a few mixes recently and they defo have a cross over of influences. My first love is and always will be hip-hop. What I play is more funk, breaks and soul with elements of hip-hop worked in, so when the powers that be asked me to do something completely different to the other two CD’s it gave me a good starting point really. I wanted to reflect the evolution and rebirth theme, so I tried a few different ideas before coming up with the mix which is essentially a bit of a woven history of hip-hop classics refixed and re-worked, with a few other choice originals to boot. Hip-hop is all based upon sampling, taking original ideas and expanding upon that, so I’d like to think I achieved that.
Sounds like an epic listen, it must’ve been a labour of love putting that together?
Yeah a bit, but it was great fun. It took a while to whittle it down to these tracks and within 75 minutes, so there were a lot of tracks and mixes that ended up on the cutting room floor!! Its not a bad thing though as its always good to have some inspiring new mixes to play out live… so because of that its not multi-tracked or overly edited because that’s not my thing. There are also a few refixes that were put together especially for this mix that won’t be found anywhere else. For now!
So now you’ve finished the mix, as a taste maker, what are you listening to at the moment
I listen to all-sorts…. quite a lot of hip-hop recently for this mix!! I’m lucky enough to get promos so its stuff from Quantic, Shawn Lee, The Bamboos and Smoove & Turrell at the moment….that sort of thing. Plus I always keep an eye out for all the mash-ups coming from the Nice Up!, Rhythm’n’Booze and Wack. Just recently I was out in New York so on my iPod was full of NY hip-hop, classic stuff like Paul’s Boutique and To The 5 Boroughs, which seemed pretty appropriate! Other than that I have a new 45’s mix from Boca 45, the new Quantic EP and a dope old garage mix by Todd Terry. I’m also big into the live music scene here in Bristol so there are a few bands that I’m keeping my eye on that fuse traditional MC’s with quite different sounds and styles.
I hear you’re a master of the ‘6th element of hiphop’, so just what is Blammin?
Blammin is otherwise known as sticky-hitting or stickering…. Excessively. Its a really good way of promoting the FFTT nights so I have rightly or wrongly got a bit of a reputation as a serial blammer. Its all good fun though, and I think I have the ultimate blamm; top of the Rockefeller Tower in NY looking out over to the Empire State Building…. though I don’t think it will stay there long!
Once and for all, is Uni a misunderstood genius or simply a man buckling under the weight of his own pedantry?
Man, Uni has been on the site for years! hahaha. I’m not going to comment on that, as I’m sure it would lead to an epic 99 page thread that Smiffy would have to lock. Eventually.
And to end it all, any shouts or bigups?
First off thanks to Smiffy for asking me to do this and organising it, thanks to Simon Randall for the awesome artwork and Wizzo for putting me in touch with him. Thanks to Vee @ Sweatbox Sounds for the engineering help, the mash-ups and generally getting the sense of what I was trying to do with this mix. Big shout outs to the FFTT crew past and present; Powercut, Hoozami & Vallee and Dr Karl Groover & DissCuss from back in the day. Cheers to you JeffLuv for the interview and Kesh, NickDogg & the rest of the Frowsies. 563, Excalibah & all the worldwide ukhh.com alumni who know me. Bristol Crew; Rob, Ollie & Tom @ The Blast/Shit The Bed, Brad @ Metropolis, Central Spillz, Spill The Beans, Scott Boca45. Smoove & Turrell and the entire Wack family. Big props to all the artists, DJs and anyone else I’ve met that will have in some way shaped FFTT and my musical interests over the years!
Thanks to Bone and Delbwoy for the interview. Remember you can pick up a copy of the new UKHH.com mix CD “Cache Well Spent” directly from us…
Related Links:
Mr Lingo has put together a new mix of the tracks which didn’t quite make the final CD. Its called the ‘Cutting Room Floor Mix’ and so check it out on MixCloud or download it here.
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