Last month my boy and very talented brother Growzie Beatz released a new mixtape entitled"Growzie Presents... The Progress Volume 2". The mixtape will feature eight new tracks, and is the sequel to the previous mixtape"Growzie Presents... The Progress Volume 1"released in July and if its anything like the first then I'm telling you, you'll hear fire in both beats and lyricism.
One of the many things that make Growzie Beatz's style unique is his sound. Whether its his own original beats, remixes of others or him vocaling known instrumentals, he always delivers the type of vibe that has been unheard yet easy to relate to and jam to. And its not your typical sounds either, I'm talking sounds and vibes that of which level up to artists like Lykke Li and J Dilla, giving different angles to rap.
On a personal note, I can say that the guy is musically gifted and minded and a hard worker, banging out recordings every day. An artist.
I could go on and on but don't take my word for it, download the mixtape and hear for yourself, you'll see what I mean ;-) Click the pic below to download Growzie Presents... The Progress Volume 2 and to check out any other music by Growzie Beatz follow him on Twitter for more details@GrowzieBeatz
I got another artist for you all to look out for. Now I know this blog is supposed to be about everything and NOT just music, but its hard to ignore true talent. I will be dishing out other topics in the near future but for the time being I'd like you to check out Jamal Msebele AKA Eklipse.
With lyrical content that can flow both over Grime and Hip Hop he definitely puts the work in and has a bright future. Need proof? Check out his material at http://www.youtube.com/user/TheMrEklipse
But right now I wanna show you a specific piece of work brought to you by the artist.
"Thank You". A track by Eklipse with banging lyrical content laced nicely over a beautiful instrumental. I get a sense of a little message for the haters and the fakes as well as a personal self-story. I was feeling it and I think you will too so give it a listen. There's a video for the track, produced by Harleigh Reid, another talented individual. To see more of her work check out http://www.youtube.com/user/TheHarlsz
But back to the subject at hand, the video to "Thank You" by Eklipse.
Its below.
Enjoy, I'll hit you all back soon. Peace!
Let me hit you up real quick on this artist I came across named Silqe.
A rapper, ten years in the game, straight outta Reading. I initially heard his cover of Chipmunk's/Chris Brown's "Champion" and I was diggin it. He's recently put out a new mixtape entitled "Welcome Back Hip-Hop" and if I'm to be honest, that is the full vibe I got from listening to it, Hip-Hop, real Hip-Hop. See, these days with alotta lyricists its hard to say what genre these MCs and rappers are doing - Is it Pop? Is it Grime? Is it Techno? Or "chart music"? We've all come across that confusion, but there is absolutely no confusion what so ever when listening to "Welcome Back Hip-Hop".
There are some amazing instrumentals used, good vibes, smooth samples, classic Hip-Hop beats, the ones you forgot about and when you hear you're like "Oh my dayz he's sick", yeah, those ones. I felt a mix of reminiscence and new music. For example, one track by the rapper called "Good Sign" uses the classic "Song Cry" beat from Jay-Z. That alone takes you back and gets you zoned, but then listening to Silqe's twist on the track, you become enlightened with a story of pregnancy scares and parenthood preparation.
I would like to pick a few stand out tracks but to be honest the entire mixtape stood out to me. There were no fillers or tracks that were hard to engage with. They all had my attention and all had my admiration. The self-titled track "Welcome Back Hip-Hop" was a real powerful track as the instrumental was one of those ones that just get you in the mood for music immediately, perfectly laced with serious lyrical content. Following that is the track "Point Proven" which showed Silqe spittin a more faster flow, again hittin hard. And then there was "Work Alot" which had an old school Carribbean/Reggae vibe to it. But as I said, the entire mixtape stood out. In both lyrical content and sound there was mad variety, diversity etc.
Silqe definitely stayed true to Hip-Hop throughout this mixtape, nuttin watered down at all. With a variety of different flows, concepts and beats all in an 11-track collection all hosted by DJ Skitz you're bound to be attracted to the music.
This post is definitely long overdue as the mixtape was released earlier this year but it's still worth talking about, and if you've never heard a Silqe track before this is a great introduction for you.
You can check out Silqe's Facebook Fan Page for his most recent work including freestyle videos and acoustic sessions and much more. To visit the page click here.
And to download the "Welcome Back Hip-Hop" mixtape click here!
I'll leave you with the first Silqe track I heard as I mentioned earlier, enjoy it, and go cop that mixtape!
Holla at you lot soon, Ridez
What's crackin' peeps? Got a new post for you all, this time I shall be talking about UK rapper Phayme and his upcoming EP entitled The PH EP.
Phayme, hailing from East London, is a rapper who dwells in both Hip-Hop and R&B.
Most times if he's not in the studio laying down some serious vocals for a track he's around the country doing shows at all type of events. Phayme likes to keep things moving when it comes to music, not being one to stand still at all.
With a few freestyle videos under his belt as well as an appearance on Westwood TV, the future is looking bright for the young artist. But to develop a talent one needs inspiration first, and when talking about inspiration in terms of those who inspire Phayme, the list is quite powerful. It includes artists such as The Notorious B.I.G, Nas, Big L, Jay-Z, Eminem, Royce Da 5'9, The Game, Kanye West and many more, not forgetting his biggest musical inspiration Michael Jackson.
Phayme's lyrical style and content can consist of something he refers to as "split personalities", showing different sides, everything from a cheeky childish side to a darker somewhat spiteful one, but all in all it depends on the story as storytelling is the task here. Another factor which contributes to the styles is the beats being vocalled. A beat can determine the vibe of a song along with the lyrics. One thing Phayme always aims to incorporate into his lyricism is the humour side of things whether its through stories/experience or someone else's expense.
This autumn Phayme will have a lot of things put into work. More performances and tours set to happen as well as his own clothing line "PhUk" to manage and a promo CD set for release entitled "Being Phriendly" hosted by fellow MC D Double E. But the real big news is the ten track EP that shall follow soon after. The PH EP is looking to land in September 2011 and will include some of Phayme's already notable hits such as "Spell It With A PH", "Most Go On" and "The Culture's Here".
Be sure to keep your eyes and ears open for Phayme and the arrival of his upcoming promo CD and the PH EP as it promises to be fire. Check out the preview below.
For more details on upcoming projects, shows, more music or just to contact the guy himself, check out the links below:
Hello peeps, I know its been a mad while. Been so busy as of late, finishing off with uni, working and other stuff, but recently I indulged in a very cool experience so I made sure that I'd dedicate some time to blogging about it. So here we go....!
Now that's me above in case you didn't know, and the little badge thingy I'm holding is a VIP pass for the 2011 Rock Assembly event that took place at the o2 recently. The event was aimed at young school children, the purpose being to enlighten them on the importance of education and bettering them for their futures and careers. Now this is right up WYGU's alley as WYGU is a social network for careers guidance, development and mentoring intending to help individuals find their perfect careers so #TeamWYGU had to be there right? Of course! So Steve Taylor and myself rolled up to the o2 representing WYGU as well as Full On Mag and made the most of it.
As soon as we entered the place I already got a sense of it being a very busy atmosphere. There were fans crowding around waiting to see stars, and other press organisations doing the same. A lot of people in suits and skirts too so maybe the Umbro tracksuit wasn't the best choice of outfit for the day but I made it work lol.
Before I continue I have to give a big shout out to my boy Luke Smith who was originally set to go to the event but couldn't so he called me up and asked if I'd like to fill in. Let's just say I'm glad I took up the opportunity. (Luke you definitely gotta be there next time! Thanks again)
So back to the story, I was told we'd be interviewing Chipmunk and Tinchy Stryder, little did I know I'd be meeting a couple other cool artists as well. Steve and I caught glimpse of what appeared to be a girl band so we thought let's go for it, see what they're about and holla. Turns out it was girlband Soundgirl and they were very enthusiastic to talk to WYGU. I asked them a couple questions, firstly on how the show was for them, the crowd and upcoming projects, then we went a little deeper and spoke on how important education is in their opinions. Little Nikki, Izzy-B and Olivia are surprisingly young teens preparing for their GCSEs (I thought they were older!) And they explained how despite being in the music industry, education is still so important to them as anything can happen, education is that backbone in a sense. It was good to see that the young stars had their heads on right. Plenty good vibes with the young ladies, especially when it came to discussing the best super power lol. It was a clash between being able to fly and being able to do something then have the ability to reverse it. Which power would you choose?
In between interviews myself and Steve were able to see part of the show from a private VIP suite. Got to catch Chipmunk performing his hit "Champion". The crowd were really into it. But I think seeing Diversity on stage interacting with the audience is what was really amazing. They got over a thousand people to do dance moves all in time with each other. It looked mad! Once they had finished being cool with the crowd they came back to the bar area and I was able to ask a few members of the crew about education and future careers. See what they had to say below!
One of the highlights for me was meeting girlband Parade (because they're all smoking hot lol) but also it was a highlight because they were very down to earth and talked a lot of sense when it came to education importance, their experiences at school. We had fun, the super powers question came up again and once again flying seemed to be the top choice, although I do remember hearing something about being able to be in more than one place at once as well. Seems like a cool super power to me! Check out Parade representing WYGU.com in the photo below:
Now we did try our best to holla at Tinchy Stryder, but you know how it is with stars, management can be a bit pushy sometimes and want to keep things moving so we missed out a little bit, but I can say from overhearing Tinchy speaking to other press organisations he too believes in the importance of going to school and bettering yourself for the future and was happy to come down and perform and help push that fact to the children. And I personally thought it was really nice to see some of the young fans so happy to meet Tinchy Stryder. Was kinda touching I must admit. But its all good because when we miss one we get another! I caught up with Grace Coleman from the Transformation Trust who told us about their work, including Rock Assembly and its intentions. Check it out below!
At some point Steve thought it'd be cool if I voiced some thoughts and opinions on the events as well as some career advice so I did the best I could. Was what I said cool? You tell me :)
Last but certainly not least, the main event so to speak! Chart topping UK artist Mr. Munk himself, Chipmunk. Quickly questioned him on how the show/audience was as well as some future projects on the way. I thought it was a cool interview, the guy is pretty humble and genuinely blessed. He even sorta told of someone who tried to rudely interrupt us which I thought was cool! Check out what Chippy had to say as well as him repping WYGU in the video below:
And there you have it people! My day out at the o2 for Rock Assembly. Have to admit this was my first time doing something this big but I really enjoyed it and just went with the flow. I gotta thank Luke, Steve and the whole WYGU team for the opportunity and giving me that epic experience because that's what it was and is totally along the lines of one of the things I wish to venture in in the future. I look forward to hopefully doing it again. To check out any more pics/vids from the event just simply sign up and stay tuned on http://www.wygu.com and Steve shall fill ya in on all you need to know.
Thanks for reading! Til next time, keep it bless! Peace. Yusuf "Ridez" Orekan
Few new tunes!! They are rough copies but have a listen none the less. Ridez
"Believe"
"Flow In Me"
"Miss Independent"
"Pretty Girl Fun"
Send your feedback to http://www.twitter.com/ridez1 or on the official Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ridez/128910603849959 or comment below.
Last week the dynamic due of Tinchy Stryder and Dappy (of N-Dubz) released a brand new music video for the upcoming hit entitled "Spaceship".
It wasn't that long ago where we saw the two collab on the number 1 chart record coincidently entitled "Number 1" and now they're back at it again.
Does Tinchy ever take a break? Seems not as throughout autumn/winter last year and the start of 2011 we saw Tinchy pushing non-stop singles/videos off his Third Strike album (click here for the review) including bangers like "Let It Rain", "Game Over" and "In My System" and now the young lad is working on his fourth album. Its yet to be titled but if it consists of tunes like "Spaceship" then surely it'll be the disk to cop!
I look at this video watching Tinchy and Dappy and I just think back to the early days and how far they've come. Songs like Tinchy's"Breakway" or N-dubz's "Better Not Waste My Time" still come on the iPod playlist today and cause headbops to commence to say the least, but as good as it was back then, to see where the scene and these artists are now, its definitely a good look. UK is moving!
What's going on people? I would like to take this time to introduce you to a good friend of mine and a very talented individual. I know some of you may already know who it is and be thinking "no introduction needed fam!" but hey, some people still need educating, so let's get into it real quick.
Kaiz La Kazie.
Who is she?
I'd like to describe her as a unique blend of music artist and poet. She raps, she sings, I think she produces if I remember right, and a little birdie told me she tap dances... OK that last one isn't true, but all jokes aside Kaiz La Kazie is the future. But why is she the future? Well....
See, while a lotta lyricists these days are just spittin hype and jus gettin by, my girl Kazie is doing something different, being far from typical. Her style and content is in a sense quite unorthodox, and I mean that in a good way. She has the ability to deliver flows that go hand in hand with beautiful instrumentals, I ain't talkin about your typical Lil Wayne beats, I mean that real soulful stuff, the typa sounds that you gotta dig for. Its sounds like those that were made for such talents as Kaiz La Kazie.
She has the ability to bless these beats with deep thinking stories, whether they are happy vibed or sad vibed they have an effect on you as the listener. And when its neither of those then you can bet your student loan that its hard hitting raw lyrics that will be pouncing at you. She can be very descrptive in her rhymes which is one thing I really like about the aritist, because she can create vivid imageries for her listeners as they listen. Anything from her mental state (sober or otherwise) down to stains on her sleeve. Its just fantastically raw and when you hear it, you feel it. Almost like you are it. When a music artist can do that, that's something special. Simon Cowell can have his blonde twins, we got the real deal right here in the hood.
To my knowledge there have been five mixtapes from the young lady, not to mention all the extra tracks, freestyles and collabs being pushed over the years. From these facts alone you can tell that the work is been put in. But its not just about speaking into a mic, or writing words down on paper. Its also about what is being said and heard. I keep going back to the sound element because I feel that's one of the key things to understand when listening to Kaiz La Kazie. The vocal results end up being so diverse that its hard to categorise Kazie in a specific genre or put her in a box. Its kinda like she's made her OWN genre. I dig that.
The other thing I dig is the content. I explained how it has various vibes and can be raw etc, but another thing to take note of is not just the story telling ability, but the stories themselves. Kazie can make a topic such as love or heartache (which would normally come across as basic or typical with most artists today) sound totally unpredictable. And by truly listening to what's being said you can tell this girl's been through a lot in life. Its almost as if she's letting us into a part of her mind, giving us a little a tour. And figuratively speaking, in this tour we see many rooms, we got the anger room, the upset room, the sexual room, the love room, the hate room, the hilarious room, the music room, the list goes on. Add this to what I mentioned earlier about the type of instrumentals used for the music then you truly get a sense of realness from her sound. Kinda like that of which you get from live music, or an old school Soul artist, or even a rapper in the field of someone like Talib Kweli or Common or Mos Def. There's that real vibe and that poetic vibe mixed in with that raw and powerful musical vibe. The real music lovers will understand what I'm saying here.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, this artist known as Kaiz La Kazie is seriously one of a kind. Despite the fact that today's music overall is somewhat losing it (at least in the sense of what's getting pushed by the media) there are still many artists in this world who bless the mic in a tremendously unique way, and Kazie is one of them. She's not about the hype, she's about the music, and telling her stories. Doing those two things while being versitile and keeping it real are the main quailities of a real music mind.
There's loads more things I can say about Kaiz La Kazie, but I think its time for you to listen. You can download ALL her mixtapes and features by clicking here. Also check out the two videos below, the first being a full performance set live at Magnesium and the second being her brand new music video.
A couple years ago, a Grime collective hailing from Tottenham, North London called Marvell decided to release a free downloadable mixtape entitled “Marvell FM”. They had no street team, no music videos and no Ustream. Since then, a few thousand downloads later, Double S, Vertex and Shocka have now acquired all three of those things as well a huge following nationwide (and a few international fans too). Now, Marvell have done tours with Chipmunk and Diversity, performed at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, collaborated with artists such as Wretch 32 and JME, taken over Westwood TV various times, won awards for best newcomer and best video at the OMAs, had their single reach the number one spot on the MTV Base music chart and arguably created their own unique genre of music.
Following Marvell FM, we heard Marvell FM 2, then Marvell FM 3, and now this month Marvell FM 4 has been released. The mixtapes usually consist of the boys dropping fancy yet powerful lyrics over various types of instrumentals. Everything from original beats by producers such as SX and Dot Rotten, to known instrumentals from songs by Jason Derulo, Drake and Sidney Samson.
Marvell FM 4 follows tradition in that sense but also comes through almost bigger than its being let off to be. Take away the fact that some of the instrumentals used are not theirs and you have a mixtape which has the quality of an album. It’s highly generous that it’s being given away for free, but I like that. Keeping the fans happy. When the EP or album does officially come out those same fans will be happy to spend cash. I know I will.
Marvell as a group in general are definitely one to watch and listen too. The crew is full of talent. All members deliver some of the best punchlines and wordplay you’ll ever hear. The overall lyrical content is impactful and diverse. They know how to be humorous and they know how to tell serious stories. Previous hits such as “Make Noise”, “Marvell Music” and “We Know” still get played on repeat by various Marvell fans. Add that to the fact that we have Vertex actually taking time out to direct music videos for other artists and the fact that the crew have a clothing line out in conjunction with Abuze London, not to mention Shocka’s hilarious skits on the FM mixtapes and Double S’s harmonies on the hooks, the future is definitely looking bright for the young stars.
Marvell FM 4 features collabs with Chipmunk, Lady Leshurr and Sneakbo just to name a few as well as vocals over instrumentals by Wiz Khalifa, the Black Eyed Peas and the notorious “We No Speak Americano” instrumental by Yolanda Be Cool and DCUP. It’s available now at www.marvellmusic.co.uk. Thousands have already hit that download button, do the same if you haven’t already. You shan’t be disappointed.
I’m excited to say that Phil, Alan, Doug and Stu are back at it again in the anticipated sequel to The Hangover, more so because I didn’t even see a sequel coming.
For those of you who have seen The Hangover (and have a good sense of humour) you already know about the tremendous amounts of laughs received from the antics these dudes get up to. I mean we saw these guys go from having a bachelor party for Doug at Caesars Palace to possessing a baby, altercating a tiger (and Mike Tyson’s fist) all whilst trying to find their beloved friend, Doug, yep, the same Doug that was about to be getting married. Anyway fast forward past the roofies and naked guys in car boots and the blood brothers are now in Thailand, this time for Stu’s wedding, but come on, do we really think this is just going to be a wedding? Highly unlikely.
The trailer for the sequel introduces one of the new characters, Teddy. The brother of Stu’s fiancée, and let’s just say he should not have gone out with the boys. What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas but what happens in Bangkok will ultimately involve a monkey in a Rolling Stones denim jacket, the return of the “ever so friendly” Chow, a bald Zach Galifianakis and plenty of violence. If all that can stem from a “pre-wedding bachelor brunch” then we are all definitely in for some epic laughs.
The film is set to hit British screens around the end of May and I for one cannot wait.
Ey I ain't even gonna say nuttin. And that's rare for me to do. I'll just let the talent and the video speak for it self. The guy's name is Pepstar (http://twitter.com/pepstaruk), for anything, just click play ;-) I'm out
I've never really done the whole "simple blog" post thing. You know, where bloggers post a YouTube vid with a little caption and leave it at that. I tend to go all out with the essays, not that there's nothing wrong with keeping it short, I just ain't done it, til now lol. Came across some cool videos, thought I'd share. Check em up. Courtesy of SB.TV!
First one up is called "Normal Wid It" by an artist named Startzy. Nice hood vid with some good lyricism. Look out for the punchlines :)
This next one is by Podgy Figures, Fix Dot'M and Youngsta and its called "Hustler Of The Year". I can't like, didn't feel the first verse by Podgy but soon as Fix Dot'M came in I got into it. Check it out
In the third video we see Youngsta again this time with Ghetts. Its called "Tidal Wave" and both artists have lengthy verses to listen to. Youngsta took a bit of time to get me into it at first but the beat slyly saved the tune and Ghetts came in and perfected it.
I'ma end it off on a video by Context MC featuring Vertex (Marvell). I liked this especially because it was something different and far from typical. A mad typa flow from Context MC and an interesting, unique video, worth a watch and listen. Vertex came through hard with his verse.
