We don’t do end of year lists at Bonafide but if we did Dimlite’s Grimm Reality would we be well up there alongside Shabazz Palaces’ Black Up, Thundercat’s The Golden Age of Apocalypse and Stepkids self-titled debut as some of the strongest releases of 2011.
Andy Spragg described Grimm Realityas “Ducking the cliché of ‘being taken on a musical journey’, Grimm Reality is more akin to going from ‘in here’ to ‘out there’, a sudden collapse of constraint into dazzling inventiveness.” …Read More.
Filed under: Artists, Bass, Competitions, DJ/Turntablism, Electronic, Funk, Hip-hop by D.K.
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Christmas is a time for giving, and thankfully beatmaker Clams Casino has joined in the Yuletide spirit by offering up the critically acclaimed Instrumentals LP from his Facebook page for free. In what was originally released as a free online mixtape and then pressed onto vinyl by the label Type, this new gift heralds a “previously unavailable high quality 320kbps digitally remastered version of Instrumentals“. And what better way is there to celebrate the festive period than experiencing Clams’ heady beats in all of their high quality glory? …Read More.
Filed under: Hip-hop, Rap, UK hip-hop by D.K.
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All City Records, the Dublin based independent label specialising in electronic leaning hip-hop, continues to defy the odds in a David v Goliath type fashion with the type of releases that make other labels (with far bigger budgets, dare i speculate) green with envy. …Read More.
Filed under: Bass, DJ/Turntablism, Electronic, Hip-hop, Rap by D.K.
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Much is made of the East Coast/ West Coast rivalry in the hip-hop world, with Southern rap coming into its own in recent years.
The same cannot really be said for the UK. Aside from London, Bristol and maybe Birmingham, hip-hop hotbeds are few and far between. Which makes the rise of beat maker Handbook all the more extraordinary. …Read More.
Filed under: DJ/Turntablism, Free Downloads, Hip-hop, Jazz, Mixes by D.K.
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Bonafide set out with the aim to celebrate hip-hop. Our aim was to explore ‘old-school, mid-school and new-school creativity’, five issues on we’re proud to present the old school x new school issue. In hip-hop chronological order we speak to the Godfather of it all, Grandmaster Flash, profile EPMD, the funky Long Island duo from the golden age of rap and get crazy with ‘the lazy hustler’ and fourth Beastie Boy, Ricky Powell. …Read More.
Filed under: Bonafide magazine, DJ/Turntablism, Electronic, Funk, Graffiti, Hip-hop, interview, Magazines, Photography, Rap, Record Cover Design, Reporting, Sneakers, UK hip-hop by D.K.
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PUTTING IN ‘WERK
When hip-hop’s beats became untethered from the vocals in 1996, few could have predicted the implications. It levelled the playing field for producers from all over the world to concentrate on sonic rather than geographical landscapes. Beats became dislocated from the semantics of words and formed a new language as producers from Tokyo to Leeds set about crafting beats on MPCs and SPs or using their parents’ computers. Nowadays, a neck-snapper is as likely to come from Singapore or Melbourne as it is from one of the five boroughs. Freeing the producer from beats that work for MCs has also let it incorporate more disparate influences and evolve more quickly. …Read More.
Filed under: Electronic, Hip-hop, Mixes, Uncategorized by P.A.
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News has recently been broken of an EP-length collaboration between Madlib and Freddie Gibbs. Still untitled, it will consist of six tracks, Thuggin’ and Deep being two, and be released through Madlib’s Madlib Invazion label at the start of 2012.
…Read More.
Filed under: Artists, Hip-hop, Jazz, Rap by Lev
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The easy-on-the-eye artwork motivated me to give this new mini-mix by Manchester’s Mecca:83 a spin. A preview for his forthcoming Life Sketches Vol 1 and 2, this tasty piece of work showcases Mecca’s adroit ability to mix tasteful tunes. Listening to this took me back to Manchester’s own Golden Era of Fat City and Grand Central. Good times.
Filed under: Hip-hop, UK hip-hop by J.G.
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London based promoters Sound Crash have been pulling out all the stops with recent sell out shows including Flying Lotus, DOOM X Ghostface at the Roundhouse and next week’s screening of Beats Rhymes and Life, Michael Rapaport’s candid documentary on the legendary A Tribe Called Quest, followed by a performance from Phife Dawg (there are still a few tickets for the show at Cargo on Tuesday).
This Saturday night features a cast closer to home with a label takeover by our friends from the south, Tru Thoughts, pitching up at Koko. …Read More.
Filed under: Bass, Documentary, Electronic, Hip-hop by D.K.
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What is it with rappers and acting? The tangible line of success between hip-hop and Hollywood has strengthened through the nineties and into the noughties, with countless examples of successful money-grabbing rappers trying to convert their lyrical talent into acting steel. What is it that prompts this change in field? The money? The ego? Probably both. The on stage persona that is seen as part and parcel in the hip hop industry appears to feed the musicians’ egos to the extent whereby they believe that they have the ability to cut the mustard in front of a camera.
…Read More.
Filed under: Artists, Film, Film Review, Hip-hop, Rap by Lev
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