Curated by Jonzi D,the line up for this kinetic event features global talent, including Japanese duo Hilty & Bosch, mad popper Mr Steen; Phax, whose ’animation skills’ have seen him labelled the slowest man on earth, France’s Pro-Phenomenon and Phase T, who reached the semi-finals of Battle of the Year in 2009, and more local b-boy moves from the likes of the Bad Taste Cru, performing Council of the Ordinary, that focuses on a homeless person’s daily experiences of the street and was first performed at the San Francisco Hip Hop Dance Fest in December 2009.
Time to reach for the shell toes and stretch those joints.
Potential classic banger alert. As We Enter, the Nas and Damian Marley collab, is the lead single from the forthcoming Distant Relatives LP that is set for release this May and has been created to raise money for projects in Africa.
As We Enter samples Mulatu Astatke’s classic 1969 cut Yegelle Tezeta, that was used to brilliant effect in Jim Jarmusch’s bittersweet comedy, Broken Flowers, which followed Bill Murray across the US revisiting his ex-girlfriends. Never a good idea!
Astatke, pictured here with The Baron aka Malcolm Catto (check issue 03 for the low-down) who he worked with on Inspiration Information, is releasing his new solo album Mulatu Steps Aheadon March 29th. Listening to the sampler, Mulatu, even after all these years, is one step ahead of the game.
HiphopDX broke some very worrying news earlier today concerning the health of Guru, one of half of the legendary Gang Starr, the Boston born MC went into hospital following a cardiac arrest and is currently in a coma. With his buttery flow, no nonsense lyrics and a swagger that makes Lil Wayne look like Lil Moe Guru is among the beacons of 90s golden era rap and everyone at Bonafide would like to wish him a safe and speedy recovery.
This week sees two musical heavyweights step into the ring looking to find their form and titles again.
First up Massive Attack look to expunge the dissappointment of 100th Window with Heligoland. With the pressure solely on 3D to deliver the goods I found 100th Window creak under the weight of expectation. The sound was stripped too far back, with the vocals masked by the bleeping electronica. Horace Andy, father of gawd knows how many kids, has never sounded so impotent.
Heligoland, like 100th Window, contains a few eye-brow raising guest vocalists but, with Daddy G back in the fold, initial hype suggests that Massive are back on track and nearing Mezzanine’s heights again. Fingers crossed this is the case for one of the UK’s most original and influential groups.
Meanwhile across the pond and sitting in the red corner is Gil Scott-Heron. The grandfather of rap, Scott-Heron has spent years in the wilderness slipping into a hedonistic lifestyle at an age when most artists are going clean. Indeed he’s has been in a strange position where the tales of despair, loss and alienation he was documenting in his songs in the 70s, were actually foretelling his own recent troubles.
Gil Scott-Heron is where it all started in many people’s eyes and, like the Massive Attack album, I will be purchasing I’m New Here with a mixture of excitement, hey they could be starting a revolution again, and apprehension that maybe…
Since its inception Bonafide has gone from strength to strength, last year saw a bi-annual release (issue 02 & 03), the launch of www.bonafidezine.com and our first foray into events management. As we continue to grow we are looking to spread the load and acquire the services of an experienced Sales Manager. Click Here to find out more.
10 years of making a buzz. Flying Lotus selects some of his favourite work and The Gaslamp Killer packages it up to into (mutha fecking) great retrospective mix. Bonafide interviewed Fly Lo for issue 02 , where we probed what makes him Fly. His new album, Cosmogramma, is coming out April 20th on Warp and should be well worth the wait.
Publishers Continuum are adding more titles to their 33 1/3 series this year. Each 33 1/3 book is based around an influential album, with the writer having extended access to the artists and aiming to capture the ways the creators were influenced by the circumstances and ideas around them. The pocket sized tome then becomes a comprehensive documentation about the making of the album. Last June Coninuum released Illmatic, that elaborated on the NY State of Mind Nasir Jones was in when making his classic debut. Slated for this coming summer is PEs It Takes A Million, and I’d imagine that will make for a riveting holiday read.
Another 33 1/3 release worth checking is the Paul’s Boutique offering that demonstrates how the free-wheeling and madcap lives of the Beastie Boys penetrated what they put on wax. A highly entertaining, enjoyable and (rope-a-) dope accompaniment to the main event.
Lowriders got in contact earlier this week regarding the launch of their new mixtape series. Following an agenda to promote the dark and sometimes underbelly of beat making ,whether it be hip-hop, dupstep, crunk, wonky or skweee (this is a new one for me) it’s all about stretching boundaries and pre-conceptions. Coco Bryce’s effort lives up to the template and is a nice introduction to another world of music appreciation.
Always been massive fans of the Best Joined Up nights, the heady mix of art, beats and booze is difficult to beat for a night out. The new sessions at the Faversham will be running now on the last Friday of every month. Kicking off on the 29th of January, The Pern, Sune, Woman 158, Curse 273, DJ Format, Zero 7 (DJ set), Bullion and more will be in full effect.
From old-school hip-hop to hip-hop on the outer reaches.Kidkanevil’s love affair with all things Japanese continues apace with the release of his new LP Basho Basho. Listening to the tracks it sounds like hip-hop through an ancient East Asian filter. Check it out and take advantage of bagging one of his previous albums, Problems & Solutions or Back Off Man, I’m A Scientist, for free when you purchase the CD.
What I also really like about KidK’s releases are the artwork. Produced by Matt ‘Monkey Boxer’ Bailey, Matt’s work has great flexibility and the illustrations for Basho Basho and the single Megajoy/Minjo are really suggestive of woodblock prints, feudal Japan, Rashoman and things of that ilk. Now that’s what I call proper record cover artwork.
BTW anyone not aware of KidK should check out our interview in issue 02 and his ill Public Service Announcement mix on Groovement. Both are straight outta Tokyorkshire.
