A quickie today, kicking off a Sway miniseries, which will feature most of his many mixtapes (cop the studio albums in the legal tip…), continuing on the UK hip-hop thang I’ve got going on at the moment.

A nice little set of tracks and freestyles, showcasing Sway‘s lyrical and production talent, with a healthy dose of beat-jacking (see “Pepsi”, “Thief’s Theme Freestyle”, “Caught Up [Remix]“), released as a taster of his new-found solo career, following moderate critical acclaim as part of One.

Completely unpolished and occasionally lacklustre – in true mixtape fashion – but ultimately pretty damn amusing, This is My Promo is a decent introduction to Sway.  More to come later.

CLICK HERE TO DOWLOAD SWAY – THIS IS MY PROMO, VOL. 1 (2004)

Like the overwhelming majority of all notable UK hip-hop acts, Skinnyman is a Londoner.  His music is London, his accent is London, and his swagger is London.  A minor point of interest, though, is that he was born in Leeds, a background that ties in very much with his ‘council estate’ persona.

Skinnyman’s discography is deep, although it consists mostly of guest appearances and posse cuts, starting out circa 1997 with a slew of Mud Fam freestyles such as the following…

And brief verses alongside the loose London Allstars collective:

Fastforward a couple of years to 1999, and Skinnyman had graduated to mixtape cuts, appearing on “Da Struggle”, alongside the likes of Fallacy, a track lifted from a low-budget DJ Disorda Suspect Packages mixtape.

By 2003, Skinnyman was releasing singles and EPs in his own right – mostly in vinyl format, and initially exclusively rolling with Low Life Records until their abrupt demise in 2007, after which Skinnyman bounced from one indie label to another.

His first – and, to date, only – album, Council Estate of Mind, was a long time in its coming, released the best part of a decade after Skinnyman begin to creep onto the UK hip-hop scene in the late 1990s.

Council Estate of Mind is not an excellent record.  It is not even amongst the cream of UK hip-hop which, it saddens me to say, still has a long way to go before its overall quality and consistency matures into a packaged product that can rival its American brethrens’ scene.  It is, however, an above average album, from a significantly above average emcee.

With production largely handled by Adam M, Baby J and DJ Noize, Council Estate of Mind takes us on a journey through London’s sprawling public housing provisions, which are roughly equivalent to US projects.  Make no mistake, there are no happy endings throughout this record – which is poignantly laced with vocal interludes lifted from the iconic film Made in Britain.  For its faults (which, to be completely fair are relatively few), Council Estate of Mind portrays British lower working class life like it is.  No airs, no graces, and definitely no glitz and glamour.  Your life ain’t complete until you’ve heard “Fuck The Hook”:

Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you read the Daily Fail), Skinnyman is currently incarcerated, serving a moderate 16 month bid for the harassment and assault of a female acquaintance.  Most strikingly, though, is that Skinnyman – real name Alexander Holland – was described as being of no fixed abode, rendering this extraordinarily talented man effectively homeless.  And that, my friends, is a sad state of affairs…

Following the demise of Low Life Records, Council Estate of Mind is now in a (probably permanent) OOP state.  In the meantime, cop it, bump it, and live in hope that upon his release, Skinnyman cleans up his act, hits the studio, and does what he does best…

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD SKINNYMAN – COUNCIL ESTATE OF MIND (2004)

Just a brief pause, ‘cuz I’m about to get back onto some UK shit for the rest of today, it’s about time, and am aiming to have 3-4 posts lined up, for slow release over the next week or so.

Anyway…

I am not a huge Nas fan.  Like most serious hip-hop fans in general, I was all over Illmatic like a tramp on chips when I first heard it (and still am, occasionally), but I’ve never paid the rest of his catalogue much attention.

Yeah, It Was Written has its moments, as does The Lost Tapes and God’s Son.  Shit, even I Am… has at least two listenable joints.  But this track, “What Goes Around” is lifted from Stillmatic, an album which – in my opinion – consists of five or six above average tracks and, for the most part, half decent production.

Ultimately, Stillmatic is a forgettable album, notable only because it was an okay record released at the height of the Nas/Jay-Z “beef”, and just two years after what is undoubtedly the worst Nas album of all time, Nastradamus.

Tucked away at the end of this album, in a spot usually reserved for album filler, is this standout track, “What Goes Around”.  Laced with twangy Salaam Remi production, Nasir spits some karmic, prophesising truths.

The point of these posts ain’t to give the game away and present a full critical breakdown of tracks, but is to encourage listeners to peep and appreciate music that I’m feeling.  So if you haven’t already, give “What Goes Around” five minutes of your time via the YouTube link up above.

Despite being a relative unknown, Silent Eclipse – real name Darren James – is a true old-timer in UK hip-hop.  His first impression on the scene was in 1991 as MC D with “How Many Miles” and as Two Times Def with “First & Last”, both on Mendoza Records:

Fast-forward just one year to 1992, and the Silent Eclipse persona was born, dropping two standout singles “Take The Stage” and “Bad Boy Buckeroo”:

James steady built up his career over a period of almost two decades, notching up several guest appearances, production credits, DJ ventures, and three studio albums, but it is his 1995 LP venture Psychological Enslavement – as Silent Eclipse – that remains his most notable work to date.

Unashamedly political (peep “Best at Slavery” to hear Silent Eclipse threaten to remove all the African animals from London Zoo, and calling the Queen Mother “a slutbag”), pretty much every track on Psychological Enslavement tackles issues such as racism and inequality with aplomb.

If you’re a fan of PE, X-Clan, early Ice Cube and the likes, then Psychological Enslavement will add a nice British twist to what you already know and love.   Unfortunately, it’s perpetually out of print, so you know the drill…

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD SILENT ECLIPSE – PSYCHOLOGICAL ENSLAVEMENT (1995)

There is relatively little information about Fallacy on the internet, however, he self-professes that he was “born in the 80s”, meaning that when he appeared alongside Blak Twang on “Homegrown”  in 1997, he was no older than 17 years of age – possibly younger.  The situation was similar for 1999’s “Da Struggle”, alongside Cane, Skinnyman & Anthony Campbell.

I was the early 2000s, though, by the time Fallacy began to put out a slew of guest appearances and underground cuts, finally cumulating in the 2003 stellar album Blackmarket Boy, to rave critical reviews, yet almost zero national fanfare, aside from the moderate hit single “Big N Bashy”, with the late Tubby-T:

Slick, mature, and unbelievably polished (thanks to production largely handled by Fusion), Blackmarket Boy is a musical onslaught from beginning to end, and is in my opinion one of the finer UK hip-hop/grime releases of the past decade.

Nowadays, Blackmarket Boy is out of print, and shows no sign of revival, yet you can cop it here:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FALLACY – BLACKMARKET BOY (2003)

A real quickie here, as this is something I’ve just discovered on my harddrive.

It’s a mix CD from Low Life Records, and all I remember about it is that it came free with Hip-Hop Connection, sometime around 2006.

I have apparently since disposed of both the CD and its accompanying magazine issue, and would love for somebody to dig out the old mag and put some context to this thing…

Either way, shit is alright.

Tracklisting as follows:

1)  Rodney P – Doggist (intro)

2)  Mystro – Yeah!!

3)  Asaviour – Bangers & Mash

4)  Rodney P – The Future

5)  Skinnyman – I’ll Be Surprised

6)  Michall Parknsun – So What

7)  Jehst, J-Zone & Harry Love – Staircase to Stage

8)  Verb T – Sound So Cool

9)  Kashmere – Flight of the Iguana

10)  Braintax – Gulliver

11)  Rawdog ft. Taskforce & Braintax – Arrest the President

12)  Taskforce – Fugs R Us

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD LOW LIFE RECORDS – LOW LIFE MIX CD

Firstly, please accept my sincerest apologies.  6 months is too long to go without a post, but once again, real life got in the way.

I’m about to re-start things with a mini UK hip-hop series.  Now, before you get too excited, I need to let you know a couple of things…

1)      UK hip-hop is not necessarily my forte.  I estimate that I own approximately 50 albums from UK hip-hop artists – a drop in the ocean of my 5000+ CD/tape/record collection.  Therefore, I am no authority on this genre (despite having been born and raised in the UK), and if you’re looking for a particular record or awaiting a particular album posting, then I’m afraid the chances are you might be disappointed, as I’m likely to either not own it, or plain not know about it.

2)      Postings from any hip-hop subgenre will be in accordance to this blog’s general spirit, i.e. the record(s) will either be out-of-print, downright obscure, or truly worthy of posting and promotion.  Therefore, much as I love him, I won’t be posting any Dizzee Rascal, for example.  Instead, I got some banging Silent Eclipse lined up…

So, as for Hijack…

Initially starting out as a strictly DJ trio, the original incarnation of Hijack, circa 1986 consisted of DJ Supreme, MC Ron (later named Kamanchi Sly, or just Kamanchi) and DJ Undercover as The Turntable Trixters.  Having rocked more than a few London hip-hop parties, MC Ron turned his hand to…MC’ing…and adopted the name Kamanchi.

1987 is where things get sketchy for me, as the trio evidently picked up members Ulysses, Agent Fritz and Agent Clueso, and promptly changed their name (with “Hijack” apparently picked out of the blue by DJ Undercover).

Fast forward to 1988, and “Style Wars” dropped on Music of Life Records, and proved to be a moderate hit for the group, not just locally, but throughout wider Europe too, thanks to its hard-hitting, abrasive sound:

The double single “Hold No Hostage / Doomsday of Rap” followed “Style Wars”, and were equally critically-acclaimed:

It was these three landmark records that set the stage for what happened next – a rarity in UK hip-hop, as they were snapped up by none other than Ice-T and signed to his Rhyme Syndicate imprint of Warner, under which “Hold No Hostage / Doomsday of Rap” was promptly repackaged and re-released as part of their 1989 Rhyme Syndicate EP “The Badman is Robbin’”:

Work promptly started on their debut LP The Horns of Jericho, slated for a 1991 US release.  However, Warner decided not to run with the record, and it was never officially released Stateside.  In the pre-digital era where ‘filesharing’ was limited to the primitive art of ‘tape swapping’, The Horns of Jericho remained a largely UK/European phenomenon, yet to this day, US heads still bump it, as an artefact of some of the hardest, most progressive UK hip-hop of its time.

Nowadays, the LP is pretty hard to find, and CDs less so.  Still, CD prices can be exorbitant, at as  much as $500 Stateside, yet the domestic (UK) market is a little more lenient, with CDs on offer for somewhere in the region of £40-50.

You can, of course, peep it here at oophiphop, so do enjoy:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD HIJACK – HORNS OF JERICHO (1991)

PS:  following the shelving of The Horns of Jericho in the US, Hijack soon disbanded, and its members have since been involved in numerous record-label and DJ-ing ventures, across the UK, Europe, and the US.  Most notably (and perhaps tragically), Kamanchi later teamed up with his brother The DJ Pied Piper – under the name Unknown MC – and unfortunately lent his vocals to this, and his production skills to this.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PHAROAHE MONCH – INTERNAL AFFAIRS

Man, this is an album I haven’t pulled out in years.  After a lengthy period spent trying to track it down via a substandard local HMV store back in 1999, I eventually copped the CD when I finally go into online shopping around 2001/02.

I failed to ‘gel’ with the album.  Aside from “Simon Says”, I was hearing a three year old album for the first time, that I’d long since lost interest in.  As such, it’s spent the best part of the last decade gathering dust on my shelf, and I’ve even contemplated selling it at times (it’s value has remained strong over the years, as the album was deleted from Rawkus‘ catalog almost immediately, and is permanently out of print).

Listening to Internal Affairs again this weekend in preparation for this blog post, it’s become apparent that I was a little unfair to this CD over the years.  There are some outsnading tracks on here, like “Behind Closed Doors”, “Rape”, “Simon Says”, “Right Here”, “Ass” and “Godsend”.

However, there are also several tracks I have never cared for, no matter how many times I’ve tried, such as “Queens”, “Official”, “Hell” (I hate the beat!), “No Mercy”, “Next Shit” (ugghh, Busta!), “Light” and “Truth”.

One plus point of the album for me is that Monch himself handles the majority of the production, which is for the most part completely on point.  This harks back to his Organized Konfusion days where himself and Prince Po held down the production and lyrical side of no less than three studio albums with aplomb.  And despite my negativity towards 50% of the album, it nevetheless received rave reviews back in its day, and continues to be considered a ‘classic’ by a certain hip-hop demographic.

All said and done, Internal Affairs is worth a listen, so enjoy:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PHAROAHE MONCH – INTERNAL AFFAIRS

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD NOTORIOUS B.I.G. VS. FRANK SINATRA – BLUE EYES MEETS BED STUY

Just a little something that’s been kicking around for a few years now.  The title explains it all.  Borne out of the mashup craze of the early-mid 2000′s, Blue Eyes Meets Bed Stuy pairs two legends using a combination of acapellas, instrumentals, and straight cut and pastes from well-known tracks.

Though the mixing is a little dubious at times – and the selection of Biggie tracks used for the vocals is a little poor – this mixtape/bootleg is one to listen to, even just as a curiosity.  With most of the tracks configured so that Biggie takes the limelight (with Frank offering support on the instrumental/hook/chorus tip), this is definitely one for hip-hop fans specifically, who like to hear cross-genre marriages and mash ups.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD NOTORIOUS B.I.G. VS. FRANK SINATRA – BLUE EYES MEETS BED STUY

Koyto is an MC and Beatmaker from the city of Valencia (SPAIN), with an underground career recognized in their country.  In this year 2010 presents “Back and Forth Vol II” the second international reference of Mixtape’s series “Forth and Back” featuring Mcs like Phil The Agony (USA), Kohndo (La Cliqua) (FR) N’Dambi, Wildelux, 1773 (USA), Knightstaler (GER) and many more, all produced by KOYTO.  All remixes are OFFICIAL.

01.- SABOTAWJ – My Rhymes Feel Like
02.- WILDELUX – The Big Ticket
03.- MOUF WARREN – A Day In My Life
04.- JUNCLASSIC – Bout It Bitch
05.- GRAND P – Fuck What U Heard
06.- P. GENZ – Blow It
07.- N’DAMBI – Take It Out (Koyto Official Remix)
08.- KNIGHTSTALKER – Ancient Spirit Pt 2
09.- IMAAN FAITH – All My Life
10.- KOHNDO – Kohntact
11.- RIFAT AL-ZEIN & BEDBIN – Heut Da Vorbei
12.- PHIL THE AGONY – Blunted (Koyto Official Remix)
13.- 1773 – Get Up
14.- THE FRONT PORCH POETS – What The Deal
15.- WONDER BROWN – Whut Up

MORE INFO:

E-Mail:  koytobeats@hotmail.com
Web:  www.myspace.com/elkoy
Music:  www.koyto1.bandcamp.com
Facebook:  KOYTO
Youtube:  http://www.youtube.com/user/unomicro

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD KOYTO – FORTH & BACK, VOL.2

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD KOYTO – FORTH & BACK, VOL.2 (Instrumentals)