On the very slim list of good things about 2020, the dystopian shit show we’re living through is actually kind of the perfect backdrop for the reappearance of Babylon Dead. ‘Nineteen84’ features J Man on acerbic form with the kind of enraged ragga-rap flows that make BD unique. Illinformed smashing the beats side of the equation out the park as expected.
New LP Book Of The Dead drops on RLD Records on September 4th. The list of features is mad.
“It came from Africa. Everything came from Africa. And now it’s coming back with stars like Chronnix and Morgan Heritage but all that’s changed is the packaging. It is their music. It is African music.”
Keeping things mad international, we caught up with the ever eclectic DJ Vadim in Kampala, Uganda. We spoke on the new LP with Jman, physically travelling the word and musically tying the strands of various sonic spheres together…
It would be easy for DJ Vadim to ride the wave of his work; repackage the same successful formula and milk it for a label. But adventuring through the shrubbery of disparate sonic worlds is one common thread in an unpredictable career path. He has over twenty years of releasing music under his belt, including 15 solo albums – with Stevie Wonder, Corinne Bailey-Rae, and Foreign Beggars all leaves among a bronzed whirlwind of names he has produced for. Through all the acclaim of credits, Latin Grammy nominations, and Mixcloud DJ of the year awards, the man they call Daddy Vad has always seemed most at home with his ear to the ground on the cusp of new sounds. We meet just off the heaving Ggaba Road in Kansanga, south Kampala.
“I think coming here is stepping out of your comfort zone into the unknown. There’s something in me that has always been a great adventurer. My grandfather was a seaman and he went to, I don’t know, eighty countries. Maybe 90. He died last year – he’d been to a lot. I’ve been to 84. Ever since I can remember I’ve loved maps, I’ve loved travelling. I’m very interested in geography and going to new places. Seeing what they are like. Experiencing them. One of the most common things you’ll hear when you speak to artists – I mean emcees, singers, writers, producers – is that ‘I have a beat block. A creative block. I can’t write anything at the moment. I’m not inspired.’ That’s never happened to me. I have so much source material and ideas. I don’t have time – that’s what I lack. Time to execute the things that I want to.”
With up to 200 live shows per year, you might think a burdensome touring schedule could restrict the output of new material. Within ten minutes and one glass of red of meeting Vadim, it is clear his appetite for discovery makes “travelling all the time for DJing feed the production”. Last week Italy. Today Uganda. Next week Kenya. Spain, then Greece, Macedonia, then Glastonbury. “And that’s just June. All the time it’s very different experiences. Very different people. And that feeds itself. I come from this kind of experience, then I’m going to Macedonia and Greece where it’s the complete opposite; a complete lack of black influence. That’s gonna be interesting. Then to Glastonbury which is one of the world’s most prestigious music festivals where you literally have the crème da le crème of everything. World music, jazz, blues, soul, R&B, rock, punk, thrash. So many tents and so many stages and so many great artists to come there and see how something that developed here comes to commercial fruition there. Because everything we do in Europe musically comes from here some way or another.” His eyes light up so much his nose could be a moth. “You know, I was in the studio the other day and the guy has a fiddle. A handmade thing. It’s like a tiny little miniature bongo with a string and a little stick at the end to tune it. That’s mad because, with the little bow he had to play it, that is the basis of stringed instruments for violins, violas, you know what I mean? The basic element of classical music – Beethoven, Mozart – you are playing with an orchestra heavily using stringed quartets or multiples of. It comes from here. Everything, musically speaking. Just it’s more refined.”
Vadim’s gigs across the region were booked by Kampala based East African Records. The label’s head honcho, David Cecil, and right-hand man, Daniel Semulema, catch wind of our chat and mention how Kampala audiences can hear local music by the likes of Chamaeleon or Bobi Wine as foreign if it is played by foreign DJs. A musical take on judging a book by its cover. Amongst the elder statesmen of the East African music worlds there too is spun a trope that the authenticity of local music is diluted by external influence. Vadim adds a caveat to the cyclical theory of all sounds exampling African roots. “If I went to a club and started playing Beyonce and somebody asks me to play local music, I couldn’t say this is local just because the rhythms that Beyonce is using, through enough generations, come from Africa. It’s a bit further fetched. Like saying English and Germans should understand each other because it’s the same language.”
Broadened musical horizons only complement the soundscapes DJ Vadim was raised around. Born in Leningrad, Russia, he grew up for over fifteen years in east London – or as he puts it, “I used to live in a shithole called East Ham”. His latest LP, Likkle More, is a collaboration with long-time associate Jman and marks a convergence of the reggae and UK hip-hop Vadim grew up with. Singles have been drip fed on a monthly basis since late April, beginning with the Baltimore booty house infused ‘Heart Attack’.
The full project was put out in June and the video for ‘Bad Like This’ (featuring Shanty B) has just been released. “I met Jman at a festival in Devon about ten years ago. There was some grime tent and I walked in there and there’s a bunch of kids just going at it and he was one of them. And I was like, this is sick bruv. Let me get your number. Kept in contact. Recorded. First song we ever did was This DJ which came out in 2012. And pretty much every project I’ve done since then I’ve had him. He wasn’t on Dubcatcher actually, but he was on Dubcatcher Vol. 2 and Dubcatcher Vol. 3.”
So had a full-length collaboration always been in the works? “I didn’t think when we started recording that this is going to be an album. It was like, ‘oh, we’ve got four tracks’. I live in Spain and he lives in Exeter and I was like, well come back over let’s see what happens. He was just really into recording. We had a good vibe. It was easy.” The recording sessions began in January 2018 when Jman was polishing up three features for Dubcatcher Vol. 3. “I flew him to Spain to record for Dubcatcher 3 just to finish his tracks. He’s the kind of guy where if I send him the beats it’s gonna take ages. He’s just on some slow thing. I live in Barcelona and so does Sr. Wilson. He’s a Spanish singer who works a lot with O.B.F, so I got him to come through to do some choruses. I said to J it went really well with Sr. Wilson, we’ve got four tracks done. I told him I was thinking of getting another singer in because it helps him and it helps me to get the creative juices flowing. So I got this Lacai guy over. He’s Spanish, he’s from Madrid. Got him a train, he came in. Then Jman was like ‘I’ve written all these tracks; I don’t know what I’m going to do. I feel a bit uncomfortable. Are you going to do tracks with him or me?’. So, for the first day he was a little bit reticent. And I was like, yeah, I don’t know. Fuck. Shit. Thinking I shouldn’t have really got a singer in because it’s deviating from our plan. But then it just clicked. Everything fell into place. And before you know it, we recorded six tracks – six really good tracks.” Vadim’s knack for fusion sees Lacai’s soothing vocals cradle verse after verse of snappy Jman delivery.
Back in 2012 Jman featured on the Devilman track, ‘Jackiechan’, and delicately illustrated the image of cumming in his girlfriend’s Tetley tea. “I know J can kill the verses. No doubt. That’s not a problem. The choruses; I’m more interested in getting those right. He is 25 now. That’s what, seven years ago? When you are 18, that angry and young. I don’t think he’s that kid now. I’ll have to tell him about that though.” Vadim is twice a winner of the Sony Award for best album artwork and this time around the release has himself and Jman as chefs flipping pancakes – or chapatis if you are in Uganda. “It was a French guy that Jman found somewhere, somehow. We gave him the album and asked if he wanted to do this and he said yes. And the next day he basically delivered 90% of the album cover. Drawings all coloured in.” Not like waiting for a Jman verse? “No! Every time I do an album I try to think about the packaging, think about the artwork, try to make something decent – something people want to get.” Given how Jman makes his teas you can only hope zero pancakes were eaten in the production of this record.
On the skippy and bouncing Dubcatcher Vol. 3 collaboration, ‘No Hype Man’, former Roll Deep member Killa P shares mic duties with Jman. There have been previous forays into the grime world of Vadim’s hometown too, with the 2009 UK Flex remix of ‘Soldier’ featuring Tottenham’s own Wretch 32, as well as Kyza Smirnoff and Foreign Beggar Orifice Vulgatron. Could a strictly grime project be on the cards? “Grime emcees that I like are always the ones that are more on a reggae flow. So I love Rico Dan, Flowdan, Killa obviously, Jamacabi. I like Maxsta. D Double E just has the most incredible voice.” And ad-libs, right? “Yeah, him and his ad-libs are just insane. Footsie’s good. And the guy Jah Model is really good. Devilman. The only thing with some of the grime emcees is you have got to know them personally. It’s a very closed community. I’ve tried to approach some people before and unless you have a personal contact or you have met them it’s really, really hard. It’s not like that in hip-hop. It’s not like that in reggae.” Two breaths and the sonic laterality of Vadim’s mind is up and running again. “The same can be said about drum and bass. I remember Demolition Man telling me that. When drum and bass fused off from jungle in about ’97 – Roni Size signed by Talking Loud and drum and bass was really going up – it was controlled by certain DJs. And if you look at the DJs that made it from there it was a very close-knit community. And the only people outside the UK that were ever allowed in that club were DJ Marky from Brazil and his partner. It was all about whatever was happening in the UK. It’s the same if you look at the 90s. Hip-hop wise everybody was fixated on what was happening in New York. Fatbeats Records. Mos Def, Talib Kweli. That type of thing. So, the closeness of the drum and bass scene is a bit similar to the closeness of the grime scene.”
A dollop of thinking time and Vadim is again realigning the hymn sheets from disparate genres. “Grime is a type of hip-hop. They say it’s not but bollocks to that. It’s complete hip-hop. They are rapping. Not singing. Not yodelling. They are rapping. When Dizzee released his first album that was a specific grime sound. That 8-bit, really distorted 808s. Very punky. No grime sounds like that now. It’s much more refined. Is Stormzy a grime emcee? Listen to ‘Vossi Bop’, that’s a hip-hop beat. It’s coming full circle because grime emcees came from speed garage. There’s always been emceeing in the UK from dancehall and reggae; soundclash culture. Same in America. But in America when Kool Herc was setting up in the heart of the Bronx he inadvertently created hip-hop with people rapping over the breaks. Whereas in the UK we appreciated that and listened to Public Enemy and BDP and all of that kind of thing. But then we had rave culture mixed with dancehall culture. So, from dancehall and the early pioneers of Saxon, Tippa Irie and all of that going on, then you have got General Levy on the jungle back in what, ’93, ’94? Ragga Twins, £10 To Get In, that’s what? ‘92? And Rebel MC. When you listen back to those records you can see the progression – just slightly faster hip-hop. Then come in a few funny acid sounds. Beep beep beep. And the beat just gets faster and faster before you develop into jungle. Jungle at that point was quite ragga. It wasn’t quite so emcee lead. And then garage was big in the 90s all the time and they sped it up to become speed garage. And then people are hosting it.” As in a traditional emcee, master of ceremonies? “Exactly. The emcees went from ‘hey, big up my DJ, throw your hands in the air’, suddenly flipped to starting to write lyrics. And So Solid were I guess the first ones to commercially do it well mixing garage with emceeing. Because they weren’t like that duo, Oxide and Neutrino. If you listen to their big hit it’s quite catchy. But it’s kind of a bit like a school rhymes verse.”
The evolution Vadim recalls can be heard when you listen back to Tunnel Vision mixtapes or Lord of the Mics. In fact, when Kano was asked for his favourite grime verse of all time, he opted for Wiley’s contribution on Champagne Dance by the Pay As U Go garage crew. It is a UKG beat. “I’ve always been interested in that because for me it’s all emcee culture. I used to live in New York and yeah you have funk and soul and jazz and blues. Incredible artists. From Parliament to Billie Holiday to James Brown to all kinds of fantastic people. But it was very much, ‘the funk is over here, and here is the soul’. So, the soul boys never accepted James Brown as a singer. They segregated their music. In Chicago they created Chicago house. In New York you had the garage with Larry Levan. Between the two they created techno. At the same time as that’s happening in what, ’86, you’ve got the Hacienda in Manchester mixing things like The Cure and a long history of the UK’s electronic music. That is one of the reasons for me why the UK is the most inspiring music scene.”
This notion of shared histories is the integral building block for Vadim’s approach to experiencing and creating music. He sees percussive rhythms and punching basslines as lost bridges connecting peoples and lands. Fifteen years ago, when he was likely heading for a half century on his nation trotting list, Vadim visited the not so Democratic Republic of Congo. East African Records work with festivals in the eastern DRC Kivu regions to market artists across the border, and we all chat about the ancestry of Congolese ‘rumba’ and its Cuban namesake. During the Belgian colonial era only a toddler’s handful of radio stations were accessible across the DRC. One played Cuban son. The rhythm guitar and percussion of Congolese rumba are so evocative of its Cuban forefather that the two strands are mutually intelligible. If you were to play Cuban son to the Congolese or Congolese rumba to Cubans they would raise their respective glasses of Primus lager or Havana Club and toast to national heritage.
“They say Kinshasa is the birthplace of African music. They say Kinshasa is the heartbeat of Africa.” Arteries pump music around the globe and veins return these kindred sounds with new tones, colours, and flavours. The full circle travels of music. It is in these offbeat tangents that Vadim radiates the fascination of a little nipper encountering Lego for the first time. Away from the pretence of Royal Academies and ivory tower ethnomusicology, he lives this unravelling of musical history and breathes it into his formation of our musical present. From Chicago to Manchester, Kingston to London, Havana to Lubumbashi; DJ Vadim finds himself diving in the depths of musical pasts and crashing waves into shores we find ourselves dancing on today. He boasts an irrepressible love for discovery, which, when mixed with his zeal for beats and bars the world over, coalesces to form a sonic cartographer figure. The Jeanne Baret of soundscapes.
“I worked with Demolition Man. He’s a reggae, ragga, dancehall sing-J; DJ and singer. One of his nicknames is motormouth because can go insanely fast. I was playing him some double time American things from Abstract Rude, Tribe Unique, Aceyalone. Some LA stuff. Busdriver. Now it is fashionable to go double time but I’m talking about 2003. Before grime. People were rapping over 95 or 100 BPM hip-hop. And dancehall was up there too. He’d never heard it. Two different cities at the same time where artists were inspired to do something similar and they are not connected. There’s not a common producer. They are completely unbeknown to each other. I think this human development has happened more than once. There wasn’t one guy who invented the knife, in one village. It must have happened at around the same time when people realised they could take something and use it as a utensil to kill animals. It wasn’t one person who invented the wheel. It was probably many around the same time of human consciousness that realised they were fed up of lugging this shit around. Somehow our musical spirit is connected.” Admittedly, Vadim doesn’t quite explain why it took us so long to whack a pair of wheels on a suitcase, but he would be the first to say he doesn’t have all the answers. The joy is in posing the questions.
DJ Vadim is playing The Full Moon and Attic in Bristol tomorrow (October 4th) and he and Jman will be playing The 100 Club in London on December 16th (tickets here). Likkle More with Jman is available now, and you can order it here.
UKHH are mad excited to announce the third of our UKHH Summer Sickness festival recommendations… The mighty Boomtown Fair!
Although it officially sold out in February, Limited resale tickets are now available! To grab the last ones while there’s still time… simply click HERE!
Now in its tenth year and tenth chapter of its evolving story line, Boomtown has a history of putting on an impressive array of hip hop talent since its beginnings. Label takeovers by the likes of High Focus and genre bending spectacles (such as 2014’s ‘Original Fever’ UK Hip Hop Reggae Showcase on the Lion’s Den stage with Daddy Skitz, Rodney P and friends) have become the stuff of legend. Talent to have graced their stages over the years (to name but a few not appearing this time round) include everything from international legends like Cypress Hill, Pharoahe Monch and Jungle Brothers, to a diverse spectrum of UK heroes encompassing everything between Ocean Wisdom and Dizraeli and the Small Gods.
For a pretty good summary of what vibe to expect… The bulk of the footage for the above video for ‘Weed & Ale’ featuring Jman, Dr Syntax, Eva Lazarus and Pete Cannon (all of whom are reappearing this year) was shot way back at Boomtown 2013. Boomtown has continued to grow with expanding crowds, districts, stages and hundreds more acts but the rowdy spirit of hedonism and positive vibes have remained the same.
No surprises then that this year’s line-up has an absolute tonne of talent for the discerning hip hop hunter to uncover!
As festivals can be confusing places to navigate for the soberest of brains and pouring over every act on every stage is a tiring process that most probably can’t be arsed with, UKHH have done all that painstaking leg work for you in order to provide our detailed guide to all the hip hop popping off at this year’s Boomtown…
One of the things that makes Boomtown so sick, beyond the debaucherously immersive city that all the madness takes place in, is the sheer diversity of musical styles peppered across the site at any given time. While each district and stage has its own stylistic focus, so mega-fans of a particular genre could be tempted to get settled, it’s a sure fire bet that doing so would result in missing something dope happening somewhere completely unexpected.
Case in point: Whistlers Green (a district renowned for Jazz, Funk, Soul, World Music fusion, talks and a host of chilled out/holistic activities) boasts a surprising array of sick hip hop influences on it’s Windmill Stage. Out of my personal must-see acts at the whole festival, the multi-influenced Ghanaian/Glaswegian producer and lyricist Kobi Onyame is towards the top of the list. Check out his most recent album Gold for an idea of the kind of triumphant afro-rhythm infused hip hop to expect from him. Seriously ill.
Also on the stage for anyone with instrumental leanings… Bilal; the hip hop influenced soul/jazz artist with notable collaborative efforts on releases from the likes of Common and Talib Kweli who scooped a Grammy for his input on seminal Kendrick Lamar album To Pimp a Butterfly, as well as boom bap jazzers Blue Lab Beats, mixing golden era hip hop influences with jazz instrumentalism and samples.
Keeping the curve balls coming, Rocks Foe, the highly charged and lyrically deep MC known to straddle grime and hip hop and informed by a further range of diverse influences is present as part of a takeover by Bristol label Black Acre. Also, embodying a truly international sound that’s impossible to pin down (I thought she was UK when I first heard her) with Zambian and Botswanan roots but now based in Australia, Sampa the Great is well worth a check. If you haven’t already heard her, think African rhythms, jazz, hip hop and a powerful voice phasing between neo soul melodies and conscious lyricism.
The roots-heavy Lion’s Den stage also sees some hip hop vibes blending their way into the mix with UKHH long time favourites Rodney P and Illaman taking the stage as part of the Spragga Benz and Friends set. Other highlights for heads are likely to include live trip-hop/lounge band Morceeba, and genre defying super-group Gorillaz in a headline slot that’s sure to include more than a few meanders into the territory of hip hop bars and beats. Switch districts and head over to Paradise Heights and you’ll find bass-heavy party starters Too Many T’s rocking the Hotel Paradiso venue.
Even hidden amongst the stellar line-up of broader dubby soundsystem hecticness that populates Boomtown’s woodland parties there are a couple of UK names for rap treasure hunters to track down. Prolific with the festival performances this year, Gardna can be found performing as part of the Wonka-Vision Forest Takeover and Skitz and Joe Burn are set to play the Tangled Roots stage where its safe to expect they’ll be providing a stomping soundtrack to the forest setting, fusing hip hop and Jamaican influenced basslines.
All this said… Unsurprisingly, although there are abundant MCs and DJs worth searching Boomtown’s myriad districts for, the bulk of our UKHH recommended acts can be found dominating the Barrio Loco District!
This year’s line up on the flagship stage Poco Loco is something fierce. For fans with a taste for grimier flavours, bill-toppers Ghetts, Lady please-answer-my-fan-mail-and-marry-me-already Leshurr, Foreign Beggars, Nadia Rose and Big Zuu will be providing unrelenting party vibes. Another artist to go heavy on the festival rounds this year is the ever unpigeon-holeable Kojey Radical. With a hard earned and steadily expanding following now aware of his varied and poetically raw body of work, the crowd are likely to go off for this one.
The suplex that the North has applied to the UK Hip Hop game in the last few years is suitably apparent in the presence of its multiple super-crews/collectives taking the stage at this years Boomtown. LEVELZ, The Mouse Outfit (ft Ellis Meade, Dubbul O and Berry Blac for their Poco Loco performance) and Cult of The Damned have all proved themselves to be serious threats. With fluid rosters and cross over between MCs (e.g. Black Josh is affiliated with all three) each entity reflects a distinctly different facet of a stylistically diverse, collaborative community. C.O.T.D. bring a lazy, fuck-everything rawness comparable to being the UK’s answer to Odd Future. In Contrast The Mouse Outfit bring positive, funk infused smooth grooves, with their recent album Jagged Tooth Crook sounding like distilled summertime. LEVELZ bring the rave.
For fans focused on live instrumentation… Poco Loco also provides. Taking it way back, in a salute to one of the all-time undisputed masters of production, the 18 piece Abstract Orchestra will be performing a musical tribute to the late J Dilla. Scene legends (and one of the original trip hop bands) The Herbaliser will also be taking the stage. Producer and MC duo, Makola, have developed their combination of afrobeat hip hop to include a live band and brass section that should have fans of Fela Kuti and UK rap alike moving in unison. It goes without saying that all of the above might be something special.
For a masterclasses on control of the decks: With a list of influences and collaborations as long as a life-size Stretch Armstrong’s arms, DJ Vadim will be tearing things up and no doubt have some surprises up his sleeves. Mixing global influences including hip hop, trip hop and a heavy pinch of sub-dub L’Entourloop will no doubt be providing a marching soundtrack to skank out to when they take the stage with Troy Berkley and N’Zeng. Kicking the party up a gear, festival and rave scene regulars, The Nextmen, will also be supplying the grooves with an extended family of Gentlemans Dub Club, Garnda, Kiko Bun, Eva Lazarus, and Jman.
Also on a hype tip, the infinitely danceable 808INK will be ensuring a steady stream of cleverly infectious bars and vibes to keep the rave moving and Babylon Dead will be capitalising on energetic support for their dissident ragga-meets-hip hop style and tearing the roof clean off. Another act to balance double time spits, basslines and politics, scene veteran and activist/rapper Lowkey will be in attendance to serve up heavy bars with some food for thought on the side.
For sure fire hits with UK hip hop fans, acts bringing that pure UK underground sound include Children of Zeus, Dr Syntax & Pete Cannon and Coops. C.O.Z. have been on a serious rise lately, with mellow, summery vibes aplenty, an RnB edge to their hooks and raps that sound both very Golden Era and very UK. Long-time collaborators Syntax and Cannon have a catalogue of material built up since the beginning of the century and (as probably the funniest lyricist in the UK scene) crowds can expect Syntax to entertain and hype in equal measure. Finally, High Focus Records’ most recent signing Jordan Cooper AKA Coops, will be showcasing his dope new album, No Brainer, and evidencing why he’s currently one of the UK’s fastest risers.
And that’s just the hip hop… For anyone who fancies diversifying, you’ll be able to catch pretty much everything else under the sun at any moment. With a huge array of districts that each sport their own immersive worlds and more hidden side shows, hi-jinks and mini venues than you could shake a stick at, Boomtown ensures an experience that’s likely to fly by in a messy, technicolor blur. Come join us going tits up to our recommended acts, shooting some exclusive on-site bars, rolling round with a boombox on a music video flex and most probably at points getting completely side-tracked and lost amongst the carnage.
The final surge of resale tickets are very limited and will sell out fast, so to get involved with the 10th anniversary celebrations get yours now!
Outlook Festival announced an impressive fleet of boat parties this week with tickets going on sale today. Here’s our pick of which excursions to sign up to for the best hip hop on the decks on the deck. Get on board!
Boom Bap:
WHAT TO EXPECT: “Expect party vibes start to finish. We have live acts but we’re about DJs laying down the perfect soundtrack for a boat party on the Adriatic Sea under the sunshine. Hip Hop, Trap, Grime, Jungle/DnB & everything in between.” (Ivan – Boom Bap)
LEVELZ:
WHAT TO EXPECT: Mayhem! The motley crew of MCs and DJs manning this ship/collective have been mad prolific straddling genres, crews and labels over the last few years with affiliations including The Mouse Outfit, Ape Cult and Blah Records. Expect the unexpected. LEVELZ releases have defied pigeon holes but often seen lyricists known for hip hop muscling their way into grime and beyond.
High Focus:
WHAT TO EXPECT: “The yearly High Focus Boat party at Outlook Festival has become the stuff of legends, not only is it one of the first to sell out every year, but I’ve been told by the organisers and the various sea captains that have taken us out over the years, that it’s by far the rowdiest one of them all… don’t miss out and hop on board! JEHEEEZZE!” (Molotov – High Focus)
Diplomats of Sound:
WHAT TO EXPECT: Perfect blends of Neo-Soul and Hip Hop with a Mancunian twist, LayFullStop and Children of Zeus bring the perfect summer sound track. Nostalgic soulful sounds with a new school twist and bars for days.
We’re hyped to announce Outlook Festival as the second of our UKHH Summer Sickness recommendations! Renowned amongst festival goers for its unique heartbeat centred around sound system culture and all things bass, the four day event also has a long running history of cramming a tonne of UK hip hop talent onto its line-ups. Growing itself and its reputation steadily for over a decade, the combination of bass, Croatian sun, beaches, a giant abandoned fort and legendary boat parties, makes Outlook the obvious way to see off the summer with a bang!
To celebrate the Festival’s continued support of the UK hip hop scene and general reputation for sun-soaked insanity, UKHH will be hosting a bunch of related content leading up to and after Outlook. Expect features, interviews, line-up updates, exclusive on site bars and highlights of the event documented in HD.
No surprise that the line-up so far is already boasting an army of talent. UKHH ones to watch include Levelz and Friends, Ocean Wisdom, Children of Zeus, Peanut Butter Wolf, High Focus Records (Dirty Dike, Fliptrix, Jam Baxter, Coops, Ed Scissor, DJ Sammy B-Side, Molotov, Talos), Lady Leshurr, Nadia Rose, Kojey Radical, Melanin 9, Sonnyjim, Datkid, Pete Cannon, Gardna, Concept of Thought, Jman, LayFullStop, Free Wize Men and KinKai.
The carnage kicks off with an opening concert on the 5th of September followed by 4 days and nights of bass riddled goodness across 10 stages. For full line-up and tickets visit outlookfestival.com.
New heat from Dutch Mob, over a filthy Illinformed beat featuring Datkid and Jman. Watch out for the Passport EP dropping soon!
Video by This and That Media
Over a year of eager anticipation built up by premature video releases and performing unquestionably exuberant shows across the UK’s maddest hip-hop grounds throughout 2013, has all been leading up to this release from Greasy Vinyl records. Whether or not people will view it as worth the wait, I can certainly tell you right now that it was definitely worth the wait. Full of innovative collaborations from groups and artists around the UK, not mentioning J-man’s impeccable stamina and rhyming style that’s near untouchable in it’s originality makes this close to the most perfect début record that he could have asked for. Let me tell you why…
Welcome Aboard takes lift off into the journey that is Auronagraphy. Once mid-flight into 4D Reality you’re hit with an unnervingly mysterious beat, spat over by J-man’s deep bars that are rhymed on an elevated level with smooth delivery, intelligently detailing his fourth dimensional thoughts. Shouts out to Bad Habits on the beat for Any Point Of The Day, who pulsates a calmer backing track with a heavier hook. The lyrics promote a peaceful emotive, working to expose a light into the darkness of the world – completely relaxing material. This is followed by Highly Lo, which only further emphasizes J-man’s natural ease with delivering quickly spat verses.
Featuring Brighton’s current hottest blues/hip-hop hybrid Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Roll Your Dice sees J-man relive the tough times in a soft spoken voice over an even gentler instrumental, but through a love with the mic he found a way to overcome the troubles. An overall uplifting track only enhanced by Rag’s soulful singing – you only wish it’d play for longer. Another High Focus collaboration features in track 6 Inner Peace, where Jman’s supported by the expertise of both Fliptrix & Leaf Dog, who collectively offer their experienced deliverance in the form of thought-provoking insights alongside one another. Undoubtedly one of the most powerful tracks on the record is the Honey Trap, which tells a fictional yet serious account of the consequences caused in a sad scenario that’s unintentionally created by an unfaithful female, Samantha. With brilliant delivery in each verse, you can truly feel the rhymes coming from the heart in this one.
For The Love is more of a mid-way interlude than a track, marking the remainder of the peace talk before adopting more aggressive wordplay over the next 8 tracks, only further demonstrating his exceptional stamina. So Contagious is indeed infectious, where J-man alongside Inja & Dabbla spit trippy ‘mystic shit’ by going in hard, each individually producing impressive verses. More intelligent wordplay follows suit in Biroglyphics, spat with affluence over a fresh Boombap beat. To follow up, Splitprophets lyricist Res features on track 11 Father Figures, joining J-man to simultaneously produce slick bars to accompany the beat brilliantly, if anything only emphasizing that indeed neither gent is particularly father figure material and resulting in a track that’s indefinitely catchy to say the least.
Clik Shit sees J-man and GV Clik going in with aggressive venom that’s at first contrasting of the seemingly innocent instrumental, but becomes an excellent accompaniment before going into a dirtier track called Wet Fish, which gives insight into one of potentially many freaky sexual exploits endeavoured by J-man over a dark, groovy beat. Following this trait sees a viscous RLD showcase in Cougar Piss (named after a strain, not an old woman’s urine) which features BVA, Tommy Dockerz as well as Smellington Piff, Sean Peng and iNDEX. Each accounting for their own undesirable aspects with a sly pride, this track takes point as undoubtedly the dirtiest collaboration on the record.
Track 15 Anxious is probably to best track to highlight and express J-man’s true prowess over a deep, shadowy bassline which only just manages to keep up with his sinister bars spat at a furious pace – taking break only for Steve Strongs gentle chorus. The record ends on an almighty high with a Dr Syntax feature, alongside the sweet singing of Eva Lazarus over a hefty jungle sample on the final track Weed And Ale. Upbeat, cheerful and buoyant it’ll drown your worries and get you on your feet one last time for a fantastic finale.
Auranography is available for digital purchase on itunes and Bandcamp. Limited edition vinyls can be copped from the Greasy Vinyl big cartel website. Don’t miss out on this record any longer. Buy it today:
itunes
Bandcamp
Limited Edition Vinyl
Review by Ethan Everton