JESSSUUUUS! Superb new track from Verbz and Mr Slipz!! Quality control has never been a problem for the duo with nothing but heaters this year, but this change of gear to full-throttle boom bap banger is a good look. Watch out for more fire incoming on High Focus Records.
The tried and tested High Focus team-up, Verb T and Illinformed, are back it. Completely unsurprisingly ‘Rotten Luck’ is some high grade, mellow fire. No details yet on whether this could mean a follow up to 2015’s excellent The Man With The Foggy Eyes LP. Fingers and toes crossed that we get more from the duo soon.
Verbz & Mr Slipz keeping the heaters coming since their signing to High Focus. The combo of new age wave and old school Boom Bap on ‘For My Peeps’ is everything that’s dope about the Slipz brand of production and Verbz is on strong form with the verses and hooks. Stay peeled for the debut HF project.
The welcome return of Coops is here! New single ‘Laws of Nature’ produced by frequent collaborator Talos has the MC on fine form, in trademark territory, dropping steady head-nod flows over some 90s-esque Boom Bap. More incoming soon on High Focus.
The latest drop from Telemachus‘s hotly anticipated Boring & Weird Historical Music LP which lands today on High Focus Records. Keeping things musically diverse is a calling card for Telemachus and ‘Wickedest Ting’ is no exception with chaotically aligned rhythms colliding over a nasty sub and Killa P bossing vocal duties as per usual. Cop the full project here.
Congrats to the dons Verbz and Mr Slipz for their much deserved signing to High Focus. Video for ‘Iron Grip’ has that distinctive Loudhouse vibe and is a fitting snapshot of where the two are stylistically at the start of the HF journey. Exciting things to come. Stay peeled.
Let’s be honest, the world has taken a nosedive. We’ve swapped spring days outside for watching the first sunlight in six months spill onto empty streets. We’ve gone from absolute abundance to hoarding toilet paper. More importantly, we’ve gone from Friday night pub sessions to Friday night TV.
So when you hear The Four Owls are dropping a new album, it’s almost a shock. You remember there’s still worlds beyond our own horizon. There are still people doing things. More importantly, there are still people pushing out world-class hip hop. It might be the end of the world but most of us don’t even know what day of the week it is. Nocturnal Instinct is confirmation that there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
With skills honed from almost ten years spitting bars together (and over a decade repping strong solo careers), The Owls have found that golden ground – garnering critical acclaim without burning the bridges that got them there. It’s not an understatement to say they’re probably the sharpest group in hip hop today.
Their status in the scene is backed up by the calibre of artist clamouring for a collab. Gang Starr legend DJ Premier returns to lay down some solid scratching on ‘100%’ while scene veteran Kool G Rap drops some obscenely smart bars on the aptly named ‘Pioneer’. Most fitting of all is Masta Killa’s guest spot on ‘Deadly Movements’. It makes sense; Wu-Tang planted so many of the seeds that would grow into The Owls hunting ground; from the simultaneous solo & group process to the classic soul samples now a bedrock of the Owls sound.
Opener ‘Sound the Alarm’ has some of the tightest bars of any UK release in the past decade. Whether it’s BVA’s talon grip on the bars, Verb’s hypnotic flow, Leaf’s razor-sharp staccato delivery or Fliptrix’s wise lyrical turns, the whole thing fits together like feathers on a wing. That’s not just down to delivery – it’s also thanks to the immaculate beats crafted by Leaf.
OK, so Nocturnal Instinct won’t make everything alright. It won’t save the NHS or keep your nan from being lonely (unless she’s bang into UK hip hop). But it feels like a moment of calm in the absolute shitstorm that is 2020. The world might have descended into a really dull version of 28 Days Later, but, Nocturnal Instinct proves some things will never change. Now wash your hands.
Nocturnal Instinct drops April 17th on High Focus Records.
YESSS! Marking the second collaboration between The Four Owls and the legendary DJ Premier, ‘100%’ is all the fire you would expect from the link up. Anticipation is high for the incoming Nocturnal Instinct LP, dropping April 17th.
The Four Owls swooping in with another banger featuring RLD Records’ Smellington Piff killing a feature spot. The highly anticipated Nocturnal Instinct is incoming soon!!
We’ve been banging on about how TrueMendous is criminally under-rated for a long time. So it came as very welcome news this week that she’s signed to High Focus and no doubt will be finally catching the level of recognition she deserves. New video ‘That Don’t Mean’ is everything that’s always been dope about her and then some.