From The Guardian:
As Ramadan begins, more than 100 hunger-strikers in Guantánamo Bay continue their protest. More than 40 of them are being force-fed. A leaked document sets out the military instructions, or standard operating procedure, for force-feeding detainees. In this four-minute film made by Human Rights organisation Reprieve and Bafta award-winning director Asif Kapadia, US actor and rapper Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def), experiences the procedure.
It’s almost a waste of time to watch this off the fact that you don’t even hear any music. Definitely looking forward to a final product of some sort.
Play it Down’s latest — number 7 in the 12×12 series — released 12th July.
P-Wild reveals the artwork for his upcoming project, #Wildout, which is set to drop on Saturday. New Slutty Boyz tape coming this Fall.
ALBUM REVIEW: Jay-Z – Magna Carta… Holy Grail
★★★☆☆
Despite the wildly left-field moves that Kanye West made to promote his album Yeezus, leave it to none other than Jay-Z himself to take it a step further by selling approximately 1 million copies of Magna Carta… Holy Grail well before it’s release date. All you needed was a Samsung Galaxy phone, and you were able to collect lyrics and check out in-the-studio adverts (complete with Hov, Timbaland, Pharrell and Rick Rubin laid out on a couch) before you could download the album for free.
I’m not even going to speak on how he outshined the actual Magna Carta in England, either.
What makes this review interesting are those lyrics; this is because when you read them, you saw a lot of the depth in some of his songs — particularly ones like ‘Jay-Z Blue’ and ‘La Familia’ for example — and the news headlines caught on to the fact that he was spilling his heart on a lot of personal issues concerning his family, fellow industry peers and even his new sports agent business. For me, it was further confirmation that this was about to be one of the greatest albums I’d ever heard.
And then it came out and we listened in its entirety.
One thing is for sure on Magna Carta; Timberland isn’t just back, this guy is even better than ever. Even with the other producers’ contributions to the project, you knew that Timbaland had his hands all over it, and it was probably the best decision Jay-Z could’ve made on the album. But we’ll get back to the production in a moment.
The biggest problem here, which is a surprise, is Jay-Z’s lyricism. It’s easily the most minimalist raps we’ve ever heard from the greatest emcee of all time this side of ‘Girl’s Best Friend‘. There’s no doubt that gems are on here, with lines like…
“When I was talking Instagram/Last thing you wanted was your picture snapped”
or…
“Can’t take this money with you/Burn this shit up like I’m Richard/Niggas asking/Is the oven on”
…but for the most part, Hov is basically conversing to his listener in the simplest way possible. While folks like Evidence, Prodigy and even Tabi Bonney can get away with this style, it’s not what I want to hear from Jay-Z.
As I said before, the production is damn impressive thanks to the overseeing of Timbaland (special kudos goes to Mike Will for ‘Beach Is Better’ and 16-year-old Wondagurl — with Travis Scott — for ‘Crown’)….hell, ‘Tom Ford’ could potentially be the greatest club anthem/trendsetter this year…
…and then there’s ‘BBC’.
It says that both Pharrell and Timbaland produced this, but it’s obviously more of Pharrell’s sound, and it’s terrible. It sounds like the type of beat he would have given Jay-Z during his Roc La Familia era, and after that missile that he gave Kendrick Lamar for good kid, m.A.A.d City, I’m floored as to why this was chosen for a song that also featured — in addition to Jay-Z, Timbaland and Pharrell — Nas, Beyonce, Justin Timberlake & Swizz Beatz.
So, to sum it up: Magna Carta… Holy Grail is a cool album with sick production from Timbaland & Co. and minimalist raps from Jay-Z (that sometimes do get personal enough to enjoy). That’s about it.
PURCHASE: Jay-Z – Magna Carta… Holy Grail
We’ve all heard ‘Part II: On The Run’ on Jay-Z’s album (which is the sequel to Jay-Z’s ’03 Bonnie & Clyde’), and now Beyonce returns with her solo version of the song.
Some jazzy, unreleased Capital STEEZ, released by Joey Bada$$ on what would have been STEEZ’s 20th birthday. I still think he was the best out of that group, RIP.
Swedish Hip-Hop in the form of ‘På Riktigt’ (‘The Real Deal’), courtesy of rising star Adam Kanyama.
Epidemic’s junior release “Somethin’ For Tha Listeners” brings to light yet another dimension of the duo’s creative abilities. With soundscapes profoundly reminiscent of one of Hip-hop’s most esteemed eras (the 90’s), the two MC’s move away from their traditionally abstract and complex concepts, into more concrete, down to earth, and real world themes. Keeping their trademark multi-syllabic, rapid fire style of rap, this time around they chose beats with fairly slower tempos to ensure that their messages were clearly understood. All tracks on the album were mindfully crafted by a virtually unknown yet highly talented west coast beatsmith who goes by the name of Esco. Bringing to the table an authentic golden era sound, as well as adding a touch of west coast flavor, he provides a perfect musical backdrop for Epidemic to drop some of their slickest, most heartfelt, and witty rhymes to date. Somethin’ For Tha Listeners was constructed to be played throughout without the skipping of any tracks. All songs fit like integral parts of a puzzle to create one of the smoothest listening experiences in Hip-hop since the 90’s. Whether you’re kicking back with some headphones on, driving in a car, or listening at home with your system bumping, this album promises to take you to another time and place with its smooth boom-bap production, peppered with grain and vinyl static, while stimulating your brain’s left hemisphere with intellectual, content-heavy rhymes. The album includes a fan favorite bonus track titled “Nothin’ Matters” produced by affiliate B.B.Z. Darney as well as DJ cuts on most tracks by DJ Tha Boss, and scratches on “One Life” by Dixie.
Peven Everett’s King Of Hearts is available now.
King of Hearts is the highly anticipated new album from Peven Everett who returns with a bang! Instrumentalist, prolific lyricist and heatbreak extraordinaire. This album is fully armed with a sparkling set of super smooth and sizzling love songs. Once again showing us his unique ability of seamlessly floating across all genres from RnB, Power Soul, Funk, Rap and Soulful Vocal House.
The official music video for Itch’s new UK single ‘Best Shot’ (available for preorder here).
Hip-Hop (and other forms of Urban music by our standards) continues to cross borders; one example of that would be the Ukranian group The Cancel, who are making waves with a type of music best described as Jazz-Hop. You can check out their latest tune, ‘Sunshine’, below.
Coming off the back of a five year stint releasing for Warner, Atlantic and Sony, veteran Dance Producer Alistair Albrecht, is returning to set the 2013 Summer on fire, with ‘Feel So Alive’. On lead vocals is the talented X Factor finalist Nicole Jackson, who is returning to form after entering the UK Charts singing for Redlight’s smash hit ‘Get Out My Head’.
Having remixed for the likes of Ke$ha, Ministry of Sound and Spinnin’ Records, Alistair is no stranger to the scene. Having managed Destined Records and scoring them No.1 hits with Sandy Rivera’s ‘Lollipop’, Alistair decided to setup his own label ‘Bedtime Records’ to offer a new outlet for his productions. ‘Feel So Alive’ is his debut release.
Bristol born Nicole Jackson, shot to fame in 2009 after landing a place in the last 6 finalists of The X Factor. Since then she has toured with Tinie Tempah and released on Chase & Status’s MTA Records, added vocals for some of dance music’s pedigree, like Massive Attack, Ben Westbeech & Joker and you have a little picture of what she’s been up too.
‘Feel So Alive’ is an epic slice of House, with it’s euphoric piano hooks and energetic, stratospheric vocals from Nicole. Staccato piano/synth stabs form into an infectious hook, that lure punters’ attention with ease. Meanwhile, hypnotic harmonies give the track an extra rolling interest. This is a track to lift the dancefloor to that next level!
Remixes come in different shapes and forms, offering DJs different angles for the dancefloor. Phormz Lab serves up a tasty D&B remix, whilst the Touch Of House Mix, provides DJs with an excellent dancefloor tool, perfect for late night use.
New visual from Life White for the smooth R&B number, titled ‘Rain’
Swing music making a return? Check out the latest from artist Ivy Levan (and then check out more from her here).
When she was 16-years-old, Ivy Levan hotfooted it out of her Arkansas hometown and moved to Los Angeles to launch the singing career she’d long coveted. “I didn’t have any real plan,” recalls Levan, now 26. “I just knew I needed to get out of there as fast as I could, so two weeks before I was supposed to graduate high school, I took off for L.A. with my mama.” After a few false starts—including a stint at a major label that tried to refashion the fabulously brash singer-songwriter as a Celine Dion-esque balladeer—and a foray into acting and modeling to make ends meet, Levan breathed new fire into her musical pursuits by returning to her Southern heritage. From Benjamin Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan to world renown DJ, Diplo, Ivy’s blossoming talent has been recognized by some of the most respected players in the music community. Now, with her debut EP Introducing the Dame on Cherrytree Records, Levan serves up a brand of blues-infused pop that boldly flaunts both her larger-than-life voice and gritty-yet-glossy, in-your-face energy.
The MOBO Awards are celebrating 18 years of MOBO music since it’s initial launch in 1996. We relive the best MOBO moments and honour those who have been apart of the MOBO Awards over the years.
Loose track for now, produced by Audible Doctor. Not bad at all.
Jammer drops bars for Toddla T’s show recently at BBC Radio 1, and it was all caught on camera. Declined!
Ciara definitely had a blast this weekend, as she was in Vegas performing in 1-Oak to celebrate the impending release of her new album Ciara. Additional clips below.
Kanye has linked with French clothing line A.P.C. for a limited edition ‘Capsule Collection’. A.P.C. teased us on their Twitter account yesterday, as well as their announcement that it will hit stores on July 14th.
Kevin Sinatra drops something off to pay respects to his city and the friends that have been down with him since day 1. Produced by VirtuosoTheGod. I fuck with this new record and look forward to new music.
Fa$tlife presents Bucky Malone’s “Call Back” video, by ClassicLP. The song is produced by Chad Geniu$ and off of Bucky’s highly slept on Boy From the Road free LP.
