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cappo

ASSEMBLY – We Stay True

July 21, 2021 by Kieron Sullivan

Well this is a bit fucking excellent isn’t it… The good folks at We Stay True records have only gone and made a free to DL album available only on bandcamp HERE (don’t be a dick though, if you’ve got some P then give them something for it). Featuring tracks from acts including Oblique Strategies (made up of label bossman Mr Brown and Notts legend Cappo), DJ Nappa, Juice, Mista P, Mo Fingaz, Armed Dukes and more…

Phoenix Da Icefire & Strange Neighbour – Expendables ft. Logic, Verb T, Fliptrix, Kyza, Cappo & More

September 1, 2020 by Kieron Sullivan

Phoenix Da Icefire & The Strange Neighbour ‘Expendables’ Lifted from Cinematic out now and available HERE.
Featuring: Manage, eMCee Killa, Tesla’s Ghost, Da Flyy Hooligan, Genesis Elijah, Big Cakes, Logic, Fliptrix, Verb T, Mic Assassin, Big Toast, Jack Diggs, Kyza & Cappo.
Starring: Alfie Green from Global Movement Agency LTD & DaddyMakesDoh Directed by Dfacer.

UKHH.com & THTC Clothing Turn 20… Celebrate With Us! @ Rich Mix Shoreditch – 31.05.2019

May 29, 2019 by Kieron Sullivan

We’ve put together an insane line-up of talent to celebrate our joint 20th Birthday with the original ethical threads brand, THTC Clothing.

Buy Tickets | RSVP on Facebook

WHEN?
31st May. 8pm – 3am

WHAT?
An event celebrating 20 years of hemp and hip hop. An obscene concentration of hip hop talent from across the UK under one roof for a modest price. (Early birds sold out but advance tickets still available here.)

WHY?
Because its our Birthdays, so we’re going to party like it’s our Birthdays. (Bacardi available)
And 20 Years in the game is reason to celebrate:

THTC…
For over twenty years, THTC Clothing has worked tirelessly to blend great design with ethical business. Their materials are organic, and their producers are paid fairly and treated with dignity. Started by the Lawson Brothers, Gav and Drew, in the autumn of 1999, THTC had a simple mission – to bring hemp to the high street

UKHH.com…
This here website was established as the home of UK Hip Hop way back in 1999. While the good ship UKHH has had a few people at the helm over the years and a constantly changing crew, it’s remained a trusted source of hip hop news, views, interviews and more. 20 years on… We have a long history of live events, an expansive list of artist features on original video content and a steadily growing following. And that’s all been done purely out of love for the scene. So come get drunk with us!

WHO?
We think the band of renegades we’ve assembled to celebrate this evening would be seriously hard to improve on. Here’s why…

CHESTER P:
Its more than fitting that we’ve roped Chester P into headlining our 20 years event. 2019 also marks two decades since the release of Task Force’s debut LP New Mic Order. The impact on the UK’s underground hip hop scene that Chester has had since then is immeasurable. Both as part of Task Force (along with brother Farma G) and as an individual lyricist, he has been a source of inspiration and imitation for a generation of writers. A pioneer of a more complex flow delivery coupled with serious depth; beyond building up a massive catalogue of heaters, Chester has also consistently been a voice for reason and social change. It would be very hard to name a lyricist more influential in the development of the UK hip hop style over the last 20 years.


MYSDIGGI:
This don has been a pillar of the UK hip hop community for time. With a well-earned reputation for humour and insight that’s permeated a long history of releases (under old title Mystro and new incarnation Mysdiggi) the Natural Born Spitta has become a household name for fans of the genre. Beyond the impressive recording career, Mys has become a face of and voice for the UK scene at large. So far, strings to the bow have included; numerous live projects, charity work, some impressive branding partnerships and putting on an ocean of UK talent co-hosting ‘The HipHop Show’ on Fubar radio with Sarah Love.


KING KASHMERE:
We’re very hyped to also be hosting the shapeshifting veteran formerly known as Kashmere The Iguana Man, performing with long time collaborator Dr Zygote on the 1s and 2s. Following a long history of pushing the boundaries, releases from the duo in their most recent guise of Strange U (occupying the bizarre end of super-label High Focus) have gained widespread exposure and acclaim. Kash kicked off our third season of Rappertag last year and we’ll be dropping some dope new content from him in 2019.


CAPPO:
Another legend on the line-up with a career that’s spanned over 20 years, Cappo put the city of Nottingham on the map way back and has continued to rep like a boss ever since. With a stack of solo relases and string of collaborative projects and features that any UK hip hop artist would be proud of, Cap is frequently cited as the MC’s MC. Recent releases from the rapper have included last years excellent Postmoderism LP with Cyrus Malachi and flying the flag for Notts as part of super crew VVV with Juga-Naut and Vandal Savage.


GENESIS ELIJAH:
For the era of music being celebrated here, Genesis Elijah has a body of work that’s mad representative. Another soldier of the scene that has more than earned his stripes, Genesis has an approach that’s naturally evolved with the times. With diverse influences that maintain roots in the hip hop of the early noughties, newer projects incorporate current stylings from UK rap and trap without sacrificing any of the signature rawness that gave him a rep in the first place. Adding to the list of things to celebrate on the 31st, this Friday will also mark the release of Gen’s It Will All End In Tears Deluxe EP!


TRUEMENDOUS:
We’ve said it before and are likely to repeat this sentiment until its not true anymore…. TrueMendous is the most underrated female in the UK hip hop game right now. That’s not to say she’s not making moves. With ratings from pretty much everyone who already knows, the gradual expansion of the TrueMendous fanbase is starting to snowball. Achievements to date include a long list of independent EPs, a feature on last year’s massive Jagged Tooth Crook by The Mouse Outfit and having recently completed the first ever UK tour consisting entirely of female UK hip hop artists with Shay D and DJ Elle Prohan.


KOASTE:
“The paragraph paragon. Dangerous like handling an atom bomb with salad tongs”. Representing Brighton town. Koaste will be kicking off the evening’s proceedings with Snuff the Ablist on the decks.


AND A MAD SELECTION OF SELECTORS…

DJs to grace the wheels of steel over the course of the night will include:


DJ 279 aka Numbers + Special Guests

[mixcloud https://www.mixcloud.com/DJ279/dj-279-stay-in-ya-lane-3-head-nod-selection/ width=100% height=120 hide_cover=1]

Snuff The Ablist

A.gee


HOSTED BY:

Peaches the All Round Edutainer + Curoc (4our Pillars/Son of Noise)

Third tier tickets are still available here.
For Facebook event page, click here.



UKHH x THTC

UKHH x THTC 20th Birthday Party

April 17, 2019 by dylan

We’re proud to team up with THTC – The Hemp Trading Company to celebrate our 20th Birthday on Friday May 31st at Rich Mix in East London.

Buy Tickets | RSVP on Facebook

UKHH Flier

Celebrating 20 years of Hemp and Hip Hop

Performing live on the night we have an all star line up: Chester P, Mysdiggi, King Kashmere, Cappo, Genesis Elijah, TrueMendous & Koaste.

DJ 279 presents ‘Pass The Mic’ – spinning a selection of tunes from the last two decades with special guests gracing the stage

The night will be hosted by Peaches the all round Edutainer, and Curoc (Son of Noise). DJs are A.Gee & Snuff the Ablist 

Buy Tickets | RSVP on Facebook

Chester P

Mysdiggi

King Kashmere

Cappo

Genesis Elijah

TrueMendous

Buy Tickets | RSVP on Facebook

This is going to be a huge night celebrating the last two decades and beyond of hip hop culture in the UK.

Cappo & Cyrus Malachi – Aqua Lungi

February 19, 2019 by Kieron Sullivan

Latest from Cappo and Cyrus Malachi is hard! Moody video, verse murkage and a sick instrumental by DJ Drinks. ‘ Aqua Lungi’ is lifted off Cappo and Cyrus Malachi’s collab LP Postmodernism,available now on Village Live.

Aver & Cappo – Something From Nothing

October 24, 2018 by dylan

The first drop Something From Nothing from the forthcoming Aver LP ‘Dressed for CCTV’ sees The National Curriculum producer enlist the services of Notts veteran Cappo.

Dressed for CCTV is out on 02 November on Village Live Records Pre order from 29/10

VVV – Golden Axe

October 26, 2017 by dylan

Newness from Nottingham. Cappo, Juga-Naut and Vandal Savage are VVV. Check out Golden Axe, the first single from the full length ‘Bozo Boyz’ dropping on 31/10/2017

Strange Universe

Strange U #LP4080 Review

February 13, 2017 by Kieron Sullivan

Strange U #LP4080Presumably at some point at the start of this strange decade we have been living in, Kashmere the longstanding man of a thousand names decided that there was a gap he was compelled to fill in the UK hip hop scene. While this is entirely speculation, I imagine an epiphany moment down a deep rabbit hole induced by days of acid at which point the Iguana Man realised that it was his responsibility to take on the mantle of the UK’s answer to MF Doom. Emerging from this entirely unsubstantiated spirit quest, he set about creating a soundscape and new identity typified by heavily psychedelic melodies, jarring beats, poetically dislocated topics and imagery and then even threw in the Marvel Comics inspired mask for good measure.

The shit works for him. Choosing to do something so ambitious and managing for its stylistic similarities to come off as more of a nod to Doom than jacking his style is no small feat. While comparisons to Doom are unavoidable, Kashmere and Zygote’s Strange U are not a tribute act in the slightest and carve out a take on the Doomesque approach to hip hop that is distinctively UK and markedly more raw with a heavier drive and weirdly loose bangers abounding.

Strange U emerged with their first EP in 2013 shortly followed in 2014 by EP #2040. Not too hard to muster up a connection here. Bar a few singles in between, #LP4080 is the first Strange event in the last few years. After a chunky waiting period the first full length album is finally here and the good news is that it’s sick.

From start to finish, Kashmere lyrically bobs and weaves. Balancing the deep and the ridiculous, he manages for the most part to maintain an ability to surprise throughout. Although as that’s what I’ve come to expect from Kashmere I guess the fact that he does isn’t that surprising. In terms of topics, #LP4080 in some way or another has the tone of a comic nightmare all the way through, tempering a terrifying outlook of people, culture and where the world is heading with beatscapes and lyrics that revel in embracing the ridiculous.

Strange Universe

It’s probably a sound decision in light of the chaotic imagery cascading through the verses that Kasmere (aka Obiesie Adibuah) as standard opts to break up the insanity with hooks of a simpler nature. In opposition to the weird wordsmithing that forms the bulk of the tracks, the choruses generally take the form of a perverse phrase on repeat soaked in delay. The function of this often acts as immersing the listener in attempts to clutch at the meanings tied together in the verses before throwing the overall abstract meaning of the song in their face in its simplest form. Equally useful in breaking up the verbal assault are the couple of odd instrumental tracks where Zygote masterfully adds a surreal intermission.

Doctor Zygote deserves props for consistently bizarre production. Strange U’s instrumental sound has forged a distinctive style since their first releases, typified by sounding like retro video games and the far future simultaneously. Zygote throws together a mix of 8-bit sounds, cinematic samples, chugging bass lines and off kilter kicks and hi-hats that creates a width and depth to the tracks which fully immerses the listener. Everything sounds crisp as fuck while being laden with enough echoing effects to vary between sounding like travelling down deep tunnels to riding a satellite through space. All this adds up to creating a sound for Strange U which has the feeling of a current view of our future phrased from a sonic platform a few decades in our past. It’s like an audio version of watching cult sci-fi horror movies from the 70’s and 80’s.

The LP boasts a solid number of stand out tracks with a range of different strengths. Terminator Funk is a great opener. Lurching forwards like a giant robot on a mission, it’s a stomper that it’d be sick to see live. It’s not the only head nod tune on the album. Other examples come in the guise of the tongue in cheek braggadocio of Grizzle and contrasting hilarious self mockery of penultimate track Waste of Space where the Iguana Man departs from his oddly dark musings on present and future to childishly take the piss out of himself in lyrics like; ‘This ain’t a Freddy mask, this is my face, I’m a loser, I might try living in space. Never been a popular guy, I was only trying to say hi and I got rocked in the eye, Never ask me how the music is going, It’s going terribly, I think about quitting this bitch and going therapy.‘

Mumm Ra, King Kashmere’s ode to a monster is probably the biggest banger of the project. Lyrically its one of the least elusive tracks on the album with the subject matter chronicling a lust turned to hate tale with a horror story as its vehicle. The vocal journey works perfectly on a driving bass and beat combination that from its drop is reminiscent of what was so sick about hearing Tribe’s We The People not so long ago.

The horror theme rears its multiple contorted heads repeatedly as #LP4080 progresses, phrasing different facets of itself deftly. Darkly sci-fi imagery is commonplace over the course of the album, most prominently when painting twisted future portraits on Eden’s Husk ft Jehst where the two genre heavyweights paint a dismal view of a burnt, toxic world in the year 2050. Extending the global environmental crisis currently escalating to its possible crippling conclusion Kashmere and Jehst descriptively track through the various attributes of a planet where man’s days are finite.

‘The sky’s burning, aviation is over, the ozone is gone, radiation exposure, can you handle all the dread, the ecosystem is fucked, all the animals are dead, could all have been avoided if we thought about the future, now it’s all up in the toilet, polar ice caps melting into the ocean, 200 ft tidal waves crashing over the barriers, to travel as far as the inner city, the one’s who escape will be the ones to write history, unless they cannibalise each other’s flesh, in a mess trying to rationalise each others deaths.’

There’s a heavily dystopian edge to a large bulk of the material on #LP4080 some of which sees Kashmere dwelling unnervingly close to the present day. Dipping their reptilian toes into the waters of political satire, one of Strange U’s most scathing tracks to date is Mr Kill, which dropped on Nov 11th last year. Featuring a nauseating mix of gross out imagery and depictions of excess with a darkly comic political narrative Kashmere tears into the political establishment by caricaturing the intentions behind the masks of our ruling elites. There’s an obvious added irony lurking in that when its rolling off the tongue of an abstract mask wearing counter-cultural poet such as Strange U’s front man.

For a cutting extension of Mr Kill (although it actually appears earlier on the LP), see also Hanging Chads for Kashmere’s campaign ad which says it all really about the political status quo as its remained unchanged in living memory. While this is essentially just a skit track, its worthy of mention as he hits the nail on the head when the preposterous disgusting nature of what he proposes in his bid for head of state is a clear mirror for the actions of our world leaders in reality. Its done simply but by putting crude satire in a psychedelic format that seems to distort reality it forces home how insane it is that the social destruction that he describes his intent for is actually far more of an honest depiction of how the powerful operate today than the sugar coated version we’re fed and come to accept to some extent as being real.

It’s worth mentioning that the videos for all singles off #LP4080 are another way in which Strange U have managed to forge a continuity between all facets of the project. A signature style visual jams together disturbing and pop culture footage and random images that look like they’ve been cut out of magazines with scissors. Bulletproof Moustache ft Lee Scott showcases intentionally shoddy camera work like a child filmed it on a camcorder in the early 90’s mixed with 8-Bit avatars of the two MCs spewing surrealist lyrics loaded with retro references colliding off juxtaposed pop culture clips. All of which compliments Zygote’s SNES style synths and bass nicely. Shots is another one to check and cracked me up multiple times. The scathing take on the hip hop mainstream and idiot culture in general, is effortlessly fuck you, intelligent and silly at the same time and the ridiculous video adds to the crease effect.

Going overboard on collaborations has been a common phenomenon on hip hop albums for a long while, with vastly varying levels of effectiveness. LPs saturated with guest spots on occasion are excitingly diverse but often come across as packing in too much filler or dick riding credible associations to pick up the slack for an inability of the title artist to provide enough fire to compose a dope album on their own. This in mind, you can’t really argue with the balance that Strange U have struck with features on #LP4080. Collabs are limited to four cameos. All of which are sick and don’t detract from Obiesie’s ownership of the lyrical terrain.

These team ups appear as contributions from industry legend Jehst and Blah Record’s main man Lee Scott (as already mentioned above) as well as verses from High Focus’s founding father Fliptrix and Nottingham rapper Cappo. As line ups go this one is pretty flawless. Every one of them steps up to the plate and kills it in keeping with the audio arena provided by Zygote and adds a complimentary texture to Kashmeres lyrical approach. Breaking from the verbal pace and flow style that is Kashmere’s signature throughout the rest of the album, on Illuminations the Iguana Man speeds up his verse to keep pace with Fliptrix’s excellent guest spot. Particularly as the instrumental is Zygote’s most chilled, spacey and minimal offering on #LP4080, this sudden alteration of momentum in the vocals towards the album’s end is a welcome shake up. Final track and penultimate single, Zuul, complete with 80’s b movie style ominous bass and a runaway metronome dot see’s Cappo throw down the gauntlet with an imagery laden boast rich in mind bending scheme extension.

Theres not much to level at #LP4080 in the way of criticism. If anything, it would be that most swords are double edged. Creating and maintaining a project that through its sound, lyrics and visuals has as much continuity as Strange U, amounting to being a defined artistic whole that has been a distinctive entity since its inception is very impressive. The one downside of this is that even if that entity is something as weird, wonderful and ingenuitive as Strange U, by the nature of being a specific thing it means that at its least stand out moments (of which there aren’t many on #LP4080) it can sound like ‘another Strange U beat’. As #LP4080 stands at a point where the group are fairly new and still very exciting this is barely a noticeable issue, particularly as the vast majority of the songs have something that give them an individual significance. The challenge for them with future releases will be to continue to surprise when the benchmark they’ve set for insanity thusfar is already more experimental than the majority of hip hop artists ever get.

Strange U, as the name suggests, aren’t ever going to be everyone’s cup of Tetley’s. Fans of a more standard UK hip hop beat and flow pattern or hip hop with a grimier edge may be likely to disregard them. While this means that they will most likely permanently occupy a specific niche in the UK scene without many comparable acts to keep them company in that space, it is also likely to ensure them dominance over it (in the short term at least) and a dedicated long term fan base. #LP4080 is a consolidation of an expectation of quality and integrity based on all the smaller releases that have come before it. Production and bars kill relentlessly from start to finish and I’d be very surprised to talk to fan’s of Kashmere, Zygote and Strange U who weren’t more than satisfied with this step in the Strange odyssey. The two artists are both pretty prolific so hopefully it won’t be too long before there is a new chapter. In the meantime, King Kashmere and Bambooman are releasing a short EP entitled Supergod on the 3rd of March and Strange U will be showcasing material off #LP4080 during the High Focus Records event at Concorde 2 in Brighton on March 10th.

#LP4080 is out now and available on High Focus Records.

Stream Cappo’s down-tempo Ether

July 29, 2016 by Craig Monts

Shouts to the long-standing Cappo. This down-tempo, self-produced track is the second single from his forthcoming ‘Dramatic Change Of Fortune’ project. Shouts to YNR & all involved.

FARMINGTON2016

Cappo / Remulak – Karma

December 18, 2015 by dylan

New Heat from Cappo – Produced by Remulak ‘Karma‘

Out now on limited edition 7″ here B Side – Lewis Parker ‘Maintain’

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