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RJD2
DEAD RINGER
(DEFINITIVE JUX)
A beacon of street-credibility amid a sea of
geek-rap, El Producto’s Def Jux imprint has
panned out to become everything we wanted Rawkus
to be. This isn’t your standard instrumental
hip hop album either- while most non-lyrical
excursions amount to little more than aural
wallpaper, RJD2
terrorises paranoid potheads with the splatter
flick intensity of ‘The Horror’,
‘Ghostwriter’ starts life as a peculiar
skanking folk fusion before launching into an
explosive horn arrangment, while the sampled
ambience and heavy drums of ‘The Chicken-Bone
Circuit’ recall a certain Mr Josh Davis. For
adventurous beatheads willing to stray from
their Shadow-centric world, this is pretty much
as good as it gets.
BEENIE MAN
TROPICAL STORM
(VIRGIN)
Despite the close relationship between both
sounds, hip-hop and dancehall have fused like
oil and water in a mess of phony patois and gun
chat. Cheerfully avoiding the current roots
revival, it’s all about the bling and buff
gals for this one-time child prodigy- avoid the
saccharine sweet Janet Jackson collaboration
‘Feel It Boy’ and a So Solid collaboration
that despite the obvious garage-ragga connection
never ignites. Instead, skip to the bleeping
Neptunes banger ‘Bad Girl’; irresistible pop
sensibilities of ‘Miss L.A.P’ and the Sly
and Robbie produced ‘You Girl’ for a true
taste of Beenie Man’s prodigal skills.
JUKE BOX 45’S
(STONES THROW)
A compilation borne of obsession, as Stones
Throw CEO Peanut Butter Wolf’s fetish for the
long-dead hip-hop seven inch format led to a
limited edition self-released series, containing
tracks unavailable elsewhere- until now.
Containing a punchy remix of Quasimoto’s
‘Microphone Mathematics’, Captain
Funkaho’s dedication to the pre-Nintendo
gaming days ‘My 2600’ and an outstanding
appearance from the sadly-deceased Charizma on
the Hammond-hammering ‘Devotion 92’
alongside the usual Rhodes-riffing and retro-stompers.
The Lalo Schifrin on PCP excesses of The Stark
Reality’s ‘Rocket Ship’ will prove an
acquired taste, and it would’ve been nice to
own these tunes on miniature black wax rather
than an anonymous shiny disc, but that’s due
to my own cheapness and stupidity. Invest.
LATIN BOOGALOO
(HARMLESS)
Unless your collection is particularly vast,
you’re unlikely to experience the
disappointment/elation (delete as applicable) of
already owning a track incorporated on a
Harmless compilation. The angle for ‘Latin
Boogaloo’ is to collate cuts from a late
sixties subgenre that fused Latin with R&B,
leading to output like The Joe Cuba Sextet’s
clap-a-long ‘Sock It To Me’ and a mightily
rhythmic collision as soul meets samba for
Orlando Marin’s ‘Out Of My Mind’. With
watertight percussion, and more importantly, a
bonafide grasp of the funk in all it’s sweaty,
squealing, breakbeat-laden glory, in layman’s
terms, if these cuts don’t get you moving,
you’re a soulless twat.
DMC PRESENTS PLUS ONE- CHAMPION SOUNDS
(DMC LIVE)
Now that the era of excruciating Chuck D
impressions and faux Brooklyn twang has finally
passed, the UK rap sound is in particularly rude
(boy) health. With prime selections like New
Flesh’s remarkable sci-fi stomper ‘Lie
Low’ and Fallacy & Fusion’s hyperactive
‘The Groundbreaker’ (single of the year?)
Plus One balances a great choice of tracks with
prodigal turntable technique. Hosted by Rodney P
(surely an OBE is imminent?) disc two ups the
beats per minute with a supreme drum & bass
mix housing Dillinja’s blinging ‘Thugged Out
Bitch’ and DJ Clipz’ siren squealing
‘Witchdoctor’. Worth the entry fee for this
Scratch Pervert’s bagpipe routine alone,
‘Champion Sounds’ is reassurance that you
don’t have to replicate Westwood’s
yankophile playlist to rock a party. Essential.
TRIXSTA
OH MY GIDDY GIDDY GOSH
(TRIXSTA)
Following in the Patrick Cox-clad footsteps of
Fallacy & Fusion’s ‘The
Groundbreaker’, ‘Oh My Giddy Giddy Gosh’
sports a little UK bling, rocking Evisu jeans
rather than fat laced Superstars, as Lotek,
Roots Manuva and HKB Finn trade freestyle rhymes
over an ultra-effective orchestral break. On the
flip, ‘Sexy Girl’ –pays tribute to the
ladeez with a hip-hop two-step crossover, but
it’s the ‘A’ side’s rude boy charm that
ensures this unashamedly jiggy Brit release
shines harder than the rest.
D-TENSION PRESENTS…
TROUBLE SHOOTING/THE FUGITIVE
(BRICK)
A triple-header from indy hip-hop’s most
distinctive voices, as ‘Trouble Shooting’
sees Mr Lif bouncing over a chunky beat in his
inimitable booming style, Akrobatik’s ‘The
Fugitive’ flows like Mobb Deep on smart drugs
with a beat that recalls the Alchemist’s
golden cinematic touch, while Apathy’s
‘DSL’ is strictly top shelf material with
east coast lyricism over the tired trend for far
east sounds. Three tracks, three emcees and a
trio of production styles that earmark D-Tension
as one to watch.
J ZONE
S.L.A.P
(OLD MAID ENTERTAINMENT)
The polar opposite of his miserable underground
comrades, ‘Zone brings the cheery sexism,
casual violence and psychotic carnival sounds
again, complete with the finest use of an Eazy E
snippet ever committed to wax. ‘Ho Kung Fu’
pillages a Shaw Brothers soundtrack for some
misogyny, Chinatown style, and a switch into his
macked-out Captain Backslap alter ego (“I’m
hung like a chandelier”) for a porno sampling
re-haul of ‘County Check Pimpin’ completes
this slab of slaphappy hip-hop genius.
DJ VADIM
IT’S ON
(NINJATUNE)
Never a chap to leave anything to chance,
Vadim’s brain surgery precise beatmaking hits
a vital nerve with deadly Chi-town lyricism from
Vakill, and a fresh twist on the far eastern
sound, before exiting in style via a scratched
up outro. More rugged, but no less effective,
’Up To Jah’ merges Demolition Man’s
machine gun chatter and a simple digital dub
sound with a stripped-down conclusion that’s
worthwhile enough to foist unfairly high
expectations upon the forthcoming ‘USSR: The
Art Of Listening’ long player.
LYRICS BORN
HELLO / ONE SESSION
(QUANNUM PROJECTS)
Packaged with an ace Louis Vuitton theme that
puts his materialistic contemporaries to shame,
this solo mission allows Lyrics Born to reveal
unexpected pop-rap tendencies, flexing his
intricate yet horizontally laidback flow over a
skittering, synthesised beat, body popping
bassline and sing-song chorus. ‘One Session’
sees Lyrics transforming into a one-man
supergroup, Autobot-style, showcasing an arsenal
of lyrical styles alongside a Tangerine Dream
soundalike sample. The crossover possibilities
are endless...
OBSCURE DISORDER
THE GRILL
(AUDIO RESEARCH)
Treading the thin line between enlightenment and
crime-rhyme unsteadily, these Canadian cult
favourites spit gravel-voiced bleakness for
‘The Grill’ over a remarkably smooth A-Trak
rare groove tinged production (think ‘Ms Fat
Booty’ with testosterone enhancement).
‘Like’ maintains the apocalyptic theme, with
Dave One providing a cinematic dose of
coke-flushing string-led paranoia. From a
veteran crew who sound like they’ve seen it,
done it and served time for it, nerd-rap this
ain’t.
EDAN THE DJ
FAST RAP
(LEWIS RECORDINGS)
Amalgamating twenty-eight tracks that made Edan
the aluminium smoking MC/DJ/Producer and b-boy
eccentric he is today, this is the late eighties
East-Coast sound in it’s purist form, infused
with high speed syllables (hence the title) and
breathless beatmaking. There’s plenty of scope
for backpacker one-upmanship as well- your
average Carhartt-clad rap obsessive probably
knows ‘Chorus Line’ and ‘Raw’ like they
know their alphabet, but how familiar are they
with the Dismasters ‘Black & Proud’ or
Freshco & Miz’s ‘Now Ya Know’? An
antidote to the recent spate of half-arsed
“old-school” cash-in comps (if I hear
‘Rappers Delight’ again I’ll scream),
despite the distinctly lo-fi packaging, this is
a rapid-fire history lesson from hip-hop’s
golden age.
AFU-RA
LIFE FORCE RADIO
(KOCH RECORDS)
Ex-rhyme cohort Jeru may have naively jumped
ship, but Afu-Ra has stuck with the D&D
family for the follow-up to his overlooked
debut. A guitar-riffing anthem, dancehall
chatter and soul tracks are delivered with
breathtaking verbosity and Taoist discipline in
mind rather than calculated unit shifting.
‘Scatman’ (not a tribute to the deceased
novelty rapper) sets th minimalist rap agenda,
‘Open’ is a near-perfect retro-soul
crossover and ‘Blvd’ soars courtesy of
Premier’s production savvy. Ultimately ‘Life
Force Radio’ makes for more than just a
diversion until the next Gang Starr LP- it’s a
one-inch punch to the windpipe for ‘Ra’s
lazy competitors.
MAD MEN
MAD MEN ON ARRIVAL
(HUM DRUMS/ILLMINDMUZIK)
Another day, another weeded freestyle
side-project with a free-flowing West-Coast
underground sound. It’ll come as no surprise
that core Mad Men member Declaime is affiliated
with the Stones Throw camp, so Quasimoto
comparisons are inevitable, but unlike
Madlib’s otherworldly alter-ego, the distorted
attic sound of this EP keeps it very much
grounded. The haunting samples that prop up
‘Kanstructivist’ and ‘Mad Mad World’
stand-out among the lo-fi abstraction, and while
the seemingly one-take nature of these
eight-track sessions won’t win any converts,
‘Mad Men On Arrival’ is still closer to jazz
in spirit than any number of heavy-handed
fusions.
HUG
F*CKIN WIT HUG/REBEL RADIO
(OLD MAID ENTERTAINMENT)
With a deceptively uptempo beat that resonates
like the laughing policeman on PCP, the artist
formerly known as Huggy Bear trades knowingly
nihilistic verses with J-Zone’s maniacal
trademark spoken word samples. Backed with even
more intentional ignorance over an orchestral
soundtrack snippet for some b-side drama, this
is another essential Old Maid showcase of bad
attitude as an art form.
DJ JAZZY JEFF
THE MAGNIFICENT
(BBE/RAPSTER)
Despite his twenty-year tenure as a production
legend, turntable innovator, chart-topper and
“comedy” sidekick, ‘The Magnificent’
proves Jeff’s finest moment in the spotlight
since 1987’s legendary ‘A Touch Of Jazz’.
Withstanding the urge to rock the mic himself,
blistering collaborations from major label
casualties J-Live, Freddie Foxxx and The Last
Emperor, Philly natives Baby Blak and Pauly Yamz
and a remarkable Roy Ayers reinterpretation from
Jill Scott bolster this labour of love. Only ex-Boyz
II Men Shawn Stockman’s wishy-washy vocal
contribution and an adequate but out of place
Masters At Work co-production disappoint, but as
with any Okayplayer release, the sublime
beatmaking and smart lyricism will satisfyhip-hop
diehards, R&B devotees and the goatee
brigade, as Jazzy proves more than capable of
shaking a room without the Fresh Prince’s
assistance.
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