Various
Tru Thoughts Funk
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In a now unavailable BBC documentary about the history of funk and soul music, one drummer was given over to describing funk’s heavy …Read More.

Filed under: Funk, Reviews, Soul by D.K.
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Having only become aware of Suburban Bliss earlier last year, I was disappointed to read that the label has now closed after 10 years producing clothing best described as original and fresh. Boasting subject matter that explored musical icons, handwritten typography and British folklore, not only was the artwork tip-top but the production processes, that involved hand printing in London and dis-charged, mainly water-based inks, made this eco-friendly brand way ahead of the game.

Peep the archive, grab a piece of history and join us in lamenting the closure of an independent UK clothing label. As a previous season’s Suburban Bliss slogan went “Suburban Bliss heavier than a death in the family.”

Filed under: Fashion, UK hip-hop by J.G.
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OK you might not be able to watch King of the Hill online (if you live in the UK) but you can still take advantage of the music Adult Swim have been consistently been putting out over the past few years. Peep the excellent Definitive Swim produced by Def Jux and Chrome Kids with Stones Throw. Now comes their 8 Singles 8 Weeks project with offerings by Madvillian, LCD Soundsystem and Freddie Gibbs. Bookmark the page and keep checking back each week for a new download.

Filed under: Free Downloads, Hip-hop, Video by J.G.
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UK beatboxer extraordinaire Beardyman has curated the Freestyle Project as part of this year’s Udderbelly activity. Bringing together a collective of some the UK’s greatest lyrical free stylers this an unrehearsed, off-the-cuff one-night-only freestyle jam. Happening on Monday 7th June @ Udderbelly, Southbank Centre, this moo-sive event is one for the dairy diary.

Filed under: Beatboxing, Festivals, Live by J.G.
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If you enjoyed the Bamboo’s Bonafide Beats entry then you might be interested in seeing the Australian funkateers live. Details of their forthcoming UK tour promoting their new 4 lp can be found here.

Filed under: Live, Soul by J.G.
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North London based producer Richy Pitch created Blackstar to build a bridge between contemporary electronic hip-hop and African inspired raps. The producer teams up with Ghana born MC Manifest for the (almost) eponymous lead single, one of a number of West African MCs who features on the project sees the album as a chance for connection ‘Blackstar is somewhere between an artistic autobiography and a collage of snapshots of life as a youngster in Ghana.”it was all a dream, but i never had word up magazine.” It’s also an allusion to the name of Ghana’s beloved soccer team, the “Black Stars.” The entire country gets religious/fanatic when they play.

So being a black star to me, a diasporic Ghanaian, symbolizes doing things in my artistic journey to represent and thrill my people like the Essiens and Abedi Peles of our history. ‘ Glad to see i’m not the only one very excited about the World Cup this summer.

This Afromix eases the listener into the sound of the upcoming LP entitled Ye Fre Mi Richy Pitch, due out on BBE Records later this summer.

Click here to download the mix.

Filed under: Dub-step, Electronic, Free Downloads by P.A.
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A slight change of direction for the latest edition of Bonafide Beats as Lance Fergus aka Lanu of Australian funksters The Bamboos brings us the Third Stoned From The Sun mix. Lance takes the listener through psychedelic seas of deep funk, psych rock and 60s surf also finding room for contemporary references such as the Lefties Soul Connection re-edit of DJ Shadow’s classic Organ Donor (who in turn sampled Giorgio Moroder’s Tears, etc), several Bamboos tracks through to various counter culture pop icons including, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Beck and Tricky. …Read More.

Filed under: DJ/Turntablism, Free Downloads, Funk, Mixes by D.K.
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As the above picture indicates, festival season and the chance to abandon your integrity is fast approaching. On this tip I thought I’d mention two that are happening right on my doorstep and name drop some of the acts who will be meshing their sounds with the those of the great outdoors.

…Read More.

Filed under: Festivals, Live by J.G.
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Far from being just the big guy in a shower hat behind Eminem, Detroit rapper Bizarre boasts a musical legacy to rival even some of today’s more high profile rappers. Ahead of the launch of his solo album, Friday Night at St Andrews Bizarre took the time to speak to Bonafide about the hip-hop legacy of his home city, MC battles and oh yes, the shower hat. …Read More.

Filed under: Bonafide Exclusives, Celebrity Rappers, Hip-hop, Rap by D.K.
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This weeks picks from the digital fruit tree go-a-little-something-like this.

Fresh from interrogating Ty, Bonafide investigative reports went and listened to Something Big Vol 1 the mixtape that dropped a while back to promote his new Special Kind of Fool album. Big things are always going on at Groovement (dude officially never sleeps) and I recently stumbled across Plato. Manchester hip-hop with a dollop of French style. My GSCE French stretches to ‘tres boooommm’. Also on the funky sauce and straight outta Portland, Bridgetown Breaks deliver the far out Purple Flavor (and bash out some well kitsch and rather nice artwork too). Closer to home Jus’ Like Music’s Bug serves up some eclectic fare with his new Soular Power mix on Soundcloud. 

All-in-all enough digital sizzle to keep the most music hungry fan sated for another week at the very least.

Filed under: Electronic, Free Downloads, UK hip-hop by J.G.
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