Verb T & Illinformed – Feeling Strange ft King Kashmere
One of the illest tracks off recent drop Stranded In Foggy Times, Verb T links up with fellow HF veteran King Kashmere for feeling strange.
King Kashmere – North Star ft Maddy
Loving the King Kashmere renaissance that’s currently in motion. The former iguana man and dude who put the strange in Strange U is on toppest of forms again on ‘North Star’, the second single to drop lately in collaboration with producer Alecs DeLarge. Did somebody say album? No. Nobody’s said that yet. Fuck it. ALBUM. There. If it turns out to be true you heard it here first. We predict its arrival in 2022 on invisible vinyl with demonic artwork and a secret track that only dogs can hear.
For something more tangible, the humans at High Focus have digitally rereleased In The Hour Of Chaos the debut project from Kash, which originally appeared in 2006 on Receptor Records. Well worth a listen in full whether revisiting or bumping for the first time!
King Kashmere – Soul Calibur
High Focus Records is proud to present King Kashmere – ‘Soul Calibur’, produced by Alecs DeLarge.
Old Children – Abin Sur
Unholy collaboration going on between Booda French, HPBLK and King Kashmere on the beats. Collectively known as Old Children, the trio have been cooking up some serious heat. ‘Abin Sur’ is one eighth of the crew’s debut project Push Start, available now on Louis Den.
BVA – ‘Lex Neville’ Review
The last 14 months have been weird. No pubs, no festivals, no shows. Thankfully, some things have stayed the same. British weather is still shit, Piers Morgan is still a blethering bellend, and BVA is still one of the sharpest emcees in the UK today.
For the uninitiated, the Beav established his impeccable credentials through his time in 3 Amigos, Brothers Of The Stone and Four Owls. But despite over a decade in the game, Lex Neville is only his second solo LP. Thankfully for BVA (and hip hop heads everywhere), it’s quality over quantity.
That’s not to say the album is low on tunes. The sixteen tracks zip by so quick you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s just a ten-track album. Lyrically, there’s more of what made Be Very Aware slap so hard; the righteous anger, puerile petulance and endlessly quotable slogans.
‘Bring It Back’ is BVA at his best, painting vivid visuals with a liquid-smooth flow. Like his fellow RLD labelmates, he excels in mixing late the effortless vibe of ‘90s East Coast classics with a quintessentially British no-fucks-given attitude.Likewise, ‘Role Model’ twists a nifty little bassline around a Greek lyre that works as surprisingly well as Ouzo and energy drink (trust me, try it).
BVA is joined by the cream of UK hip hop, with guest spots from Datkid, Smellington Piff and, of course, Leaf Dog. Jack Jetson and King Kashmere join BVA to usher in the apocalypse in ‘End of Days’, while fellow Owl Verb T graces the instant classic ‘Rolling’. That oh so sweet mix of chopped up soul, obscure jazz and classic ’90s boom bap is still present. But the beats (courtesy of Leaf and brother IllInformed) throw up a few surprises too. The G-funk inspired ‘Groundhog Day’, wouldn’t sound out of place on a GTA soundtrack. Jazz T also drops in to provide some sublime cuts on several tracks, most notably ‘Carving Tablets’.
But this is BVA’s moment. OK, so there’s not exactly anything new in Lex Neville. But the Beav is very much living by the “if it ain’t broke” mantra.
After a year and a half of bewildering change, it’s nice to know some things are exactly as good as you remember them.
Lex Neville drops 28th May 2021 on RLD Records.
Caspar Grant – Snake Oil
Caspar Grant teams up with High Focus artist Kashmere (Strange U) for And What’s fourth release
Strange U – Arm Leg
Always a good day when King Kashmere and Dr Zygote form into the Strange U megazord to drop bombs on the cosmos. New brain-melter ‘Arm Leg’ sees the duo on fine form. More raps from outer space incoming hopefully.
Gawd Status – ‘Firmamentum’ Review
The weather in the UK is something that is always on everybody’s lips. This year has gotten people talking more than ever, with ‘global warming’, ‘save the planet’ and ‘fuck me its hot’ the three most recently used phrases. If you thought that this heatwave was hot, you are not going to be prepared for the absolute fire that has been dropped by Joker Starr and King Kashmere under the collected guise of GAWD Status, in the form of their new LP Firmamentum.
Released through Tru Thoughts the collaborative LP brings socially conscious lyrics laid out upon a canvas of new wave beats. The opener ‘Heavy Metal’ is formed by slow, almost spoken word lyrics covering subjects as broad as Catholicism to the influx of mumble rap. Though methodical in approach the beat creates a difficult sound, on the surface it seems slightly hard to engage with. This is helped by the lyrical approach juxtaposed the beat which draws you in. Once it has you hooked you can start hearing the complexity of the lyrics and the multi layered instrumental, a very interesting opener.
The next two tracks both touch on similar subject matters, ‘Messiah Hybrids’ and ‘I Am An African’ look back on black culture and heritage. Though through both tracks you can find similar story arcs, they are worlds apart in terms of sound. The former has a minimalist sound, subtle notes matched with a slow pace, creating a show of intent for the message to be heard. The latter has a steady pace to the beat, married with tribal undertones, it still wants the message of the track to be heard, though tackling this with a different approach.
The LP then begins to travel down the abstract route of the opening song. With tracks like ‘Amplified Science’, ‘Admiral Byrd’ and ‘Uranium’ all fitting with that ethos. Sandwiched in the middle of the space age noises, coming through is the throwback track, ‘The Alchemist’. Coupled with an Eric B and Rakim sample, the whole song is in a soulful boom bap style.
From ‘Nibiru with Love’, an instrumental track closes the LP, mixed in lo-fi sounds compliment the production of the album wonderfully, a perfect way to ease you out of the sometimes hectic sounds of GAWD Status.
An eclectic mix from start to finish, the duo have clearly set out a target and achieved it. All aspects of the LP have been created purposefully, though on the surface it can become quite hard to listen to, once the surface has been scratched it unveils a deep, meaningful product.
Fimamentum drops tomorrow and you can cop that ish right here.
Gawd Status – Messiah Hybrids ft Jazz T
We shot the video for ‘Messiah Hybrids’ the latest offering from Gawd Status (Joker Starr x King Kashmere) with cuts from Jazz T, lifted from their forthcoming album Firmamentum set to drop on Tru Thoughts Records on 30/08/2019.
Stream/Download here: https://truthoughts.ffm.to/messiahhybrids
Gawd Status – Heavy Metal
‘Heavy Metal’ is the first single from the forthcoming album Firmamentum by the newly formed Gawd Status, consisting of scene veterans King Kashmere and Joker Starr. Firmamentum drops on Tru Thoughts on 30 August, look out for something we have dropping with the duo in the near future.
Pre order Firmamentum on limited edition gold vinyl via Tru Thoughts here.