Leaders of the Next School
Sup world, for the uninitiated allow us to introduce ourselves. We’re Associated Minds, a record label working with some of the newest rising artists from all over the UK, currently based in Cardiff. We’re not an experimental ‘sub-genre-of-the-month’ label but a hip-hop record label that still isn’t scared to play with what people expect. …Read More.
Made over just 5 days, produced for less than a 10th of other ‘Indy’ Brit flick budgets (I’d hate to think how few weeks worth of dodgy back passes it took Rio Ferninand to finance his multi-million pound schlock fest) and more than treble the charm. Le Donk … tells the tale of a self-appointed (music) svengali who is down on his luck, Le Donk (Paddy Considine), …Read More.
The Godfather of hip-hop photography.
A trip last February to the Beautiful Losers exhibition, Milan, highlighted that our potted history of the record covers wasn’t exactly watertight. We realised we had missed out influential heads, and furthermore might be wrong in theorising that the evolution of music packaging has lead to visuals being fine art. Perhaps it hasn’t been a linear progression, maybe it was down to different philosophies producing different types of work. Bonafide decided that the best thing to do would be to go back in the day and speak to an OG creative heavyweight. That someone was George DuBose. …Read More.
Bonafide aims to be a creative resource; to make it as informative as possible, we worked with people characterised by a drive to achieve and who eschewed conservative, safety first PR attitudes. A strong example of this is the interview with design collective Ehquestionmark. Ehquestionmark openly discussed work for Lex, an affiliate of Warp. The Lex imprint has an agenda to release experimental hip-hop and the Lex x Ehquestionmark relationship has blossomed to deliver some of the best music packaging ever seen. …Read More.
“EXPERIMENTAL SEX MUSIC, AN ALTERNATIVE ‘DOGGYSTYLE’ IF YOU WILL!” − DAVID KANE MEETS THE AVANT GARDE CALIFORNIAN PRODUCER TO TALK POLITICS AND SEXUAL BEATS.
After months of anticipation this summer saw the release of Flying Lotus’s sophomore LP, and Warp debut, LA. An atmospheric epoch for contemporary Californian music, LA explores emotional and musical depths that defy the producers 23 years. From the dark adrenalin fuelled frenzy of Riot and GNG BNG, to the outer-worldly Golden Diva and the clandestine beauty of Auntie’s Lock/Infinitum. …Read More.
James Pants makes the sort of intentionally ambiguous music that will make rap backpackers and electro nerds wet their pants in excitement. Alien wave, fresh beat and forum favourite, ‘quirky retro shit’, are just a few of the of the new fangled genre labels that have so far failed to stick. James met his boss (Peanut Butter Wolf) after his prom night some 10 years ago. James didn’t even get to “snog” his date that night but he did land an internship, and eventually a record deal with Stones Throw. …Read More.
Mr Lif the conscientious agitator
In issue 01 we reviewed the Mr. Lif track “I Phantom”, from his Emergency Rations EP. In a rather excited review we suggested that the track was a sociological exploration of alienation in the modern workplace. It was, we claimed, the work of an individual who uses words so accurately, intelligently and dexterously, that they could be viewed as hip-hop’s equivalent to Orwell. The difference between the two individuals, we noted, was that Mr. Lif also has an ear for massive drums and brilliant music. …Read More.
In an era of auto-tuned Myspace rappers who release mixtapes on download, DJ’s who carry their music on memory sticks and footballers who are called legends after their debut, Bobbito Garcia embodies genuine knowledge and talent in the many cultures and mediums that he has made a name for himself in over the years. Baller, label owner, DJ, sneaker connoisseur and all round cultural personality, Bobbito is always busy on one project or another. With so little time in the day I caught up with him to discuss his new Connection Volume 1 Mix on R2 Records as well a whole bunch of other stuff that Bob has “ooh-wee’d” over. …Read More.
Last month saw the release of Xrabit and Damaged Good$ appropriately titled debut LP ‘Hello World’, an infectious, lucid and very forward thinking concoction of electronic influenced hip-hop. I first came across the Hamburg-born, London based producer Xrabit on a Wiley promo I was sent about 18 months ago, his remix stood out for being the aural equivalent of an Anime-inspired mushroom trip. So needless to say it was pretty good. But his uniquely off-kilter production was in need of equally unorthodox vocalists. …Read More.
