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.
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.
Stay+ are something of an enigma, and by all accounts they’re very keen to keep it that way, adopting a meme like course of action to do so…
Here’s what little we do know about the collective; this summer they were forced to change their name from the ludicrously funny Christian AIDS after the charity name-sake issued them with a rather uncharitable ‘trademark infringement notice’, they come from Manchester and released only their second physical release this week, the bewitching Fever, via a 12″ on Ramp. …Read More.
In preparation for the release of Ugly Duckling’s fifth full length album, Moving at Breakneck Speed, the group have embarked on an extensive UK tour and have been good enough to deliver an exclusive mix for our Bonafide Beats series. …Read More.
A tropical hip-hop track (we’re struggling to place the rapper, any ideas?) opens proceedings on Benji Boko’s exclusive Bonafide Beats mix. And its funky opening starts as it means to go on. …Read More.
Ok, this mix has been with us for a couple of weeks now and it’s been on heavy rotation. The man behind the wheels of steel is Keor Meteor, the 26 year old Parisian beatmaker who is gaining a steady following due to his generous output on Soundcloud and Bandcamp. Making beats since 2005, the funky Frenchman has not only adopted some of the soul-slicing style of Madlib, Dilla and Premo but also their prolific release rate. Encompassing seven free EP releases this year, he has also found time to produce the Classique album with Yamio263 and Dennis Dove as well as winning a national remix competition for French MC Youssoupha. …Read More.
Following on from last year’s departure from the label he helped create, Anticon co-founder Sole hasn’t completely left behind the record label’s distinct characteristics in his latest release, and third album alongside the Skyrider Band.
Hello Cruel World is often emotive and ambitious with it’s ideas – recalling the psychedelic rap zeitgeist of cLOUDDEAD’s self titled debut and the acerbic, cerebral rhymes of Sage Francis (a guest on the album) and one time enemy EL-P – and the spacial new wave beats are deftly handled by the Skyrider Band. …Read More.
Bonafide Beats #18 sees MFP (MindFullPeace), soon to feature on the new Brownswood compilation, takes his place behind the decks and construct a tight mix that interweaves some of his own tunes in amongst tracks by the likes of Samiyam and Astronote.
The mix begins in silky fashion, courtesy of a Dilla remix of Vlooper, and continues to breeze by, with bleeps, squelches and synths all merging together to create a murky and hypnotic soundscape, moving seamlessly from the hip-hop of Simo Mood & Mood Schula and Elaquent back to the electronic glitches of FLP. Taking its cue from the wonky avant hip-hop that is produced on a regular basis from Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder label, MFP nevertheless brews a fresh and healthy assortment of slo-jam and funk beats that has enough legs to stand together as an assured mix from a soon to break producer.
Bonafide Beats #17 see’s Kount Fif steal in behind the decks and put together a calling card for Vaste Aire’s latest series of street vignettes – Ox 2010 – A Street Odyssey.
For volume 16 of Bonafide Beats we’re proud to present one of the most exciting and enigmatic new members of the US beat scene, Mexicans with Guns. Ernest Gonzales, the man behind the mask, was born in San Antonio though his amorphous, bass heavy music has found a natural home in LA, with headline shows at Low End Theory and debut LP Ceremony released on the Stones Throw associated Innovative Leisure label. …Read More.
