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lee-scott

Lee Scott Speaks on Cult of the Damned album, tour dates and upcoming projects.

April 20, 2018 by dylan

Fresh off the back of the release of Cult of the Damned ‘Part Deux: Brick Pelican Posse Crew Gang Syndicate’ we spoke with the man with a thousand fingers in a thousand pies Lee Scott about the album release, tour dates and upcoming projects.

Lee instructs his pianist to play some gentle classical music in the background while we do the interview.

The new Cult of the Damned album dropped on Friday 13th, How long has that been in the making?

Its been in the making for about two years really, when we released that first video Part Deux, that was the first track then we started making a few others. We made a load of tracks, most of them just got scrapped or thrown out or whatever. So basically it’s been about two years, but only about six months of that have we been actively doing the album, you get me. We kind of had a break and then came back to it and made it sound hard.

How did Children of the Damned transition in to Cult of the Damned?

Children of the Damned had expanded as a group cause people were all over the place doing different things and what have you, and we just had the idea to do a big Blah posse cut, which was that ‘Cult of the Damned’ track, the first one you know, the black and white video one. So we did that and were like why don’t we call the track Cult of the Damned, and then it just sort of turned in to a natural thing you get me. There was no super big plan or nothing, it just became that, and then we changed the name cos its not the exact original lineup, and everyone hates it when people do that shit you know, bands replace members and that so we just though fuck it, different name, but still paying homage to the original Blah crew, you know what i’m sayin’

Cult of the Damned brings together a bunch of different styles, whats the creative process like with so many people and who jumps on a track etc.

I mean for that album its just more like whatever inspires the people you know, not many verses really get cut from the tracks and that, its just pretty much very natural. There’s not really any big secret to fucking tell you man, they just get made.

For anyone who’s never heard of Cult of The Damned, what would your 3 reasons to listen be?

I don’t know man you tell me innit. I really just don’t, I can never answer those questions bro, cos its just like fuck knows man, I’m too busy making the music to sit around thinking why you should listen to it. Just do or don’t innit you know what I mean (laughs) I don’t know.. Just listen to it, don’t be a cunt.

You’re personally one of the most prolific artists in the UK, how do you juggle all your solo projects with crew projects and label responsibilities?

I’ve got other people that help with the record label, like Salar and Reklews been helping for years as well so its just one of them really, but I don’t know man its like when you think about it when people do 9-5’s that’s like… how many hours is it from 9-5? however many hours that is they do that Monday to Friday, so its like how do they manage to then go home and make dinner and look after their children, you know what i’m saying, its just what I do innit, I make music every day, but someone else would work every day. It’s just literally what I do.

Yeah man, I read your interview with Ginger Slim, and you were talking about taking a break, but you’ve not showed any signs of slowing down since then.

The thing is I say that but like I’ve got albums, I’ve got tons and tons of shit just not out you know what Im saying, cos the thing about it is you’re supposed to do videos, get it pressed up, do promo all this shit you know, and really I don’t wanna do none of that shit, I just wanna throw it all out, but then it just seems like a waste you know what I mean. It’s like if you do some videos and put a little effort in to each project they reach more people so you know, its kind of necessary, but man I’ve got enough albums to literally see me through the next ten years if I stopped doing new shit now. For real man , I got projects like with next sounds that people can’t even fathom yet you know what I’m saying. So when I say take a break man, that’s different to how someone else would take a break, when someone else says take a break that means you wont hear from them for time. you’re still gonna hear from me though, cos I got albums upon albums, you know what I mean, I got a new Hock Tu Down album, Mcabre Brothers album, Mcabre Brothers EP, fucking two solo, other solo records. tons of shit man, you get me?

Blah Records

Photo By: Lyza Jane

What’s next for yourself personally and for Cult of the Damned?

For me, I’m not sure yet man, like I said man I got so much shit, just whatever I feel like is the right mood for the time, you know what I mean. My plan is to release the ‘Hock Tu Three’ album, that’s the third Hock Tu Down joint, that’s me and Reklews are Hock Tu Down, if you don’t know. He produces it I rap on the shit. We made an album ‘Prozium Peddling’ years ago and then we did an EP and this is the third project, so I think that, but at the same time man I got a couple of other little small things I might squeeze in before then, its hard to say for me. As for Cult of the Damned, I’m actually in the studio now, just going through the tracks. We’ve made the third album already innit, I’ll reveal more on that as time goes on cos this one is crazy. if you think that Part Deux is mad, this one is next level man.

And you got the tour coming up as well, whats that 6 dates?

Yeah its six dates, Friday and Saturday for 3 weeks. It’s only a little tour man, we’re going with places that we know there’s an audience, well maybe except for Exeter, that’s just the wildcard, I have no idea if that’s even gonna get filled, but all the rest of them are nearly sold out. They’re smaller venues but we prefer that anyway, Intimate, you know what I’m saying. So yeah man, that shit is going to be crazy. Already its been crazy successful in proving to ourselves we can do it.

So what’s the craziest shit you’ve seen go down at an event?

[REDACTED]

…Actually maybe don’t mention any of that (laughs)

Ah bro, there’s so many crazy things happened man, like one of the funniest ones was years and years ago actually. We were going to this thing called UK Takeover, this was years back like when Skinnyman and all them were on the circuit. We were supposed to be performing, and we got a big coach from Liverpool, like a big massive coach full of scousers, and we were late as fuck so we missed our slot. Basically we were late because we stopped at like every single petrol station and shop on the way and literally just robbed everything out of all of them like left them clean you know what im sayin’, just all the way to the place, smoking out the bus, destroying it up, but the coach driver was the illest old guy ever, he just did not give a fuck, that was hard man, that was years ago, like 2003/4

Lee Scott

Photo By: Lyza Jane

Any shoutouts?

Yeah shout out me mum, and me nan, and me brother, and me cat Jesus who’s actually now not my cat cos he lives with King Grubb and Shakes, but yeah shout out Jesus the cat, and that’s all I want to shout out really, to be honest.

There’s a war anyway, we’re all gonna be dead soon, get the interview up before we go to war!

That’s it. Shouts to Lee Scott for taking the time to talk with us, Cult of the Damned ‘Part Deux: Brick Pelican Posse Crew Gang Syndicate’ is out now and available on various formats on Blah Records website as well as any half decent streaming site.

Catch a Cult of the Damned show in the following cities; Click for tickets!

Leeds – 27th April | Manchester – 28th April | Exeter – 4th May | Bristol – 5th May | Brighton – 11th May | London – 12th May

All photos courtesy of Lyza Jane

Lee Scott – What If Lee Was A Lil Rapper? Wow, OMG

April 3, 2018 by dylan

This happened. Lee Scott answered the question that’s been on everyone’s lips since  before the beginning of time What If Lee Was A Lil Rapper? Wow, OMG produced by Will Sniff

B-Movie Millionaires – Chicken Pill

January 16, 2018 by dylan

To mark the release of ‘Attack of the 50,000 ft SWEG LAWDS from Outer Space’ B-Movie Millionaires drop the third video Chicken Pill from the project

SWEG LAWDS

B-Movie Millionaires – ‘Attack of the 50,000 ft SWEG LAWDS from Outer Space’ Review

January 14, 2018 by dylan

SWEG LAWDSStraight off the back of Supergod5000 PLUS the cult leader Lee Scott is back, alongside Blah label mate Black Josh. Forces combined, they are B-Movie Millionaires and their latest album Attack of the 50,000 ft SWEG LAWDS from Outer Space (henceforth to be referred to as Sweg Lawds for the sake of ease) has landed! From the point the opening skit track with its cult focused infomercial voice over lends an obvious nod to Black Josh and Lee Scott’s prominent Roles in super crew Cult of the Damned, the LP is basically a résumé for why Blah records have become the embodiment of a unique sonic approach to hip hop at present.

Making a trademark of lazy, cocky, drawling lyrics that manage to be simultaneously witty and possess an air of zero fucks or effort being put into their construction, Blah artists have united over this approach over mescaline induced beat making to carve out a vibe that distinctly separates them from the ‘London Sound’ that has traditionally dominated UK hip hop. Sweg Lawds sees arguably two of the biggest names in this movement deliver a masterclass in exactly why Blah is a threat.

‘Cool Like Dat’ sets the tone perfectly for the album demonstrating why the duo work so well together and have achieved Sweg Lawd status. Lines like ‘I’m so motherfucking important I got offered a Nike deal before Jordan’ and ‘Lets make it all about me if thats ok with you. This is something I was born to do‘ are laced over a cavernous Sam Zircon beat that walks the listener step by step through a cult initiation ceremony leaving them fully devoted to the Lawds of Sweg. Listen out for the hilarious adlibs on this one.

In keeping with Sweg Lawd tradition the album was recorded in a kitchen in Blackburn a couple of years ago. Said kitchen sets the scene for the video Sw£g Level 9000 which hosts the albums only feature fellow cult of the Damned compatriot Bill Shakes. Check out the video below which gives a rare insight in to the Lawds’ super human capabilities, such as Leezus holding a pineapple hostage at knife point.

Production is handled entirely by UKHH stalwart, Zircon, and is consistently dope. Affecting different facets of an overarching dark and gritty sound that is varied enough throughout to give each track a unique identity and not get samey, soundscapes unite into a hypnotic, head nodding canvas for Josh and Lee to showcase their lyrical multiplicity. A stand out feature of the instrumental underpinnings of Sweg Lawds is the noticeably heavier pulse than might be expected from a Blah release, with a more animated, booming heartbeat that adds extra weight to the project. All this results in the Millionaries having emerged from the creative process brandishing an arsenal of authentic bangers that still also completely includes the tried and tested eery sacrificial formula we’ve come to expect from Blah. Think the heavier end of the labels spectrum e.g. the Zygote produced ‘Cult of the Damned part deux‘ and you’re roughly in the space occupied by numerous Sweg beats.

After bumping Sweg Lawds for a about a week or so, I’ve not found myself skipping any tracks. There are no real low points. Personal highlights for me include the Hilarious ‘Whatchusayin’ which revels in both taking aim at and perfecting the art of saying nothing, and the lead single ‘Social Media’ (which can be viewed below) firing shots at the Social Media generation. This is definitely well worth checking out, will no doubt be well received by Blah’s regular fan base, and hopefully capture the attention of those not already familiar with Lee Scott or Black Josh.

Cop Sweg Lawds on the Blah Records website on limited edition casette or vinyl, hoodies also available.

Lee Scott x Black Josh – Social Media

January 4, 2018 by dylan

Lee Scott & Black Josh are B-Movie Millionaires. Check out the first video for ‘Social Media’ produced by Sam Zircon from their full length project dropping later this month ‘Attack of the 50,000 ft SWEG LAWDS from Outer Space’ on vinyl and cassette on Blah.

Lee Scott – Hiii Ft Milkavelli & Sniff

November 27, 2017 by dylan

New visual from Lee Scott featuring Milkavelli & Sniff, produced by Dew8 lifted from SUPERGOD5000PLUS available for pre-order on vinyl, and digitally

Antiheroes Godnose / Disasterpiece

August 15, 2017 by dylan

Lyric Video from Antiheroes (Lee Scott & Salar) for Godnose & Disasterpiece produced by Farma G

HAPPYPPL ft Milkavelli – Manzel

March 15, 2017 by dylan

HAPPYPPL The collaborative effort of Lee Scott & Trellion team up with Milkavelli to bring you the cult anthem that is ‘Manzel’ The latest insight in to Things to do in Happy Land when ur Dead. Sumgii on Production duties.

Head over to the Cult Mountain bandcamp page to get a copy on vinyl, cassette or digital download.

HAPPYPPL [Lee Scott x Trellion] ‘Swayze Point’

February 20, 2017 by dylan

HAPPYPPL is Lee Scott & Trellion – Swayze Point is the second visual released from the forthcoming ‘THINGS TO DO IN HAPPY LAND WHEN UR DEAD’ Produced by Sumgii.

THINGS TO DO IN HAPPY LAND WHEN UR DEAD is released on 6th March and is available digitally, on limited edition cassette and limited edition vinyl, along with a bunch of other exclusive merch on the Cult Mountain Bandcamp page

Check out the first visual for ‘Heart Shaped U’ below

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.

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