Copywrite Vs Asher Roth

Now some of you may already know about this, but I've got to admit that it's news to me!  Asher Roth isn't someone I pay particular attention to, but I've loved Copywrite's material ever since I heard 'Holier Than Thou' back in 2002.  So it came as a surprise to find that he'd had an EP out in 2009 called Ultrasound The Rebirth which went completely under my radar. 

It's a 9 track EP with some tight production, that's much slicker than Copywrite's usual style, but it doesn't distract from his clever rhymes and fluent delivery.  There are guest appearances from Sean Price and Royce 5' 9", but it's his solo effort on the track entitled 'Cremation' that really struck me.
He goes straight for Asher Roth's jugular, no holds barred.  He's even sampled some kind of funeral service music and looped it throughout the track, and to great effect.

I don't know what sparked this (if anything), and to be honest I don't really care for hip hop beefs, but I do like the track and thought the EP might have passed others by too.  Check out the video for Cremation.

Merry Xmas

What better way to celebrate Christmas than with some Christmas Rappin' (sorry, I couldn't resist it).

Anyway, it's taken a while to get this blog up and running but at last.... we're here, and things are really picking up!!!  I want to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has been involved and given advice, and thanks to all the readers and followers, it's you that we do it for and who make it all worth while.  So - Merry Xmas & Happy New Year to you all.

In 2011 we will bring you much, much more including many rare gems from hip hop's past.  But for now, enjoy what is probably hip hop's most classic Christmas single from one of the all time favourites.

Shock G - Talks about every Digital Underground LP incl. 2Pac's debut

Legendary producer Shock G talks to Vibe about the last 2 decades of his career and gives an unprecedented insight into the early days of Digital Underground and how it all began. 
He talks about each and every album, the influences, the problems, the whole lot, and some of his tales will come as a surprise. 

To think that Doowutchyalike came out in 1989 kind of shocks me now.  Pretty much everything else at that time (except the odd love song by Big Daddy Kane) was so hardcore and street, it makes you wonder how it ever happened.  In fact, Kane should have a took a leaf from the Digital Underground book when they released Kiss You Back, a cheesy love song that actually worked and was fun.

Hats off to Shock G.  One of the true legends in the game who is still bringing us dope beats.

http://www.vibe.com/photo-galleries/full-clip-shock-g-runs-down-digital-undergrounds-entire-catalogue-2pac

Sing-A-Song - Part II

Whilst downloading the Nottingham's Finest mix from Dominic Owen's website (see post below), I noticed that he'd got scans from an old copy of Hip Hop Connection magazine.  HHC was pioneering, it was operating before other magazines like The Source and in it's early days it was an incredible publication, let's face it there was no other publication representing us UK B-Boys.  How things have change at HHC since the late 80's....

Anyway, I have this issue somewhere, along with a couple of other classic issues, and I was well chuffed to see it again.  This particular issue meant a lot to me as it reviewed the Sing-A-Song artists, some of whom I knew personally at that time.  It's a trip down memory lane seeing youthful photo's of them again. 

Many of you will better know The Rapper Groove under his later pseudonym Blue Eyes or you will probably have attended one of his legendary events, the most notable being Fresh 97 and 98.

To all of you old skool UK Hip Hop fans, enjoy a flashback to how HHC once was.

Sing-A-Song (Updated)

In the late 80's and early 90's, Sing-A-Song Records was the prominent Hip Hop record label in Nottingham (UK). At that time, the Nottingham scene was second only to London, and Sing-A-Song Records were representing many of Nottingham's major artists.

Dominic Owen has uploaded a selection of the best Sing-A-Song tunes from that time called 'Nottingham's Finest 88-92' (although it probably should have been called 'Sing-A-Song's Finest' as there were many other decent Nottingham acts that are not included here because they weren't on this label).
Look out for the tracks by Twice the Trouble which features the K.I.D. (best known for his hit Hey, Hey, Can You Relate - possibly my all time favourite UK Hip Hop track).  Also check MSD's - It's Too Late, another classic from that era.

Over the coming months I'll be uploading some of the original 12"s along with many of the artists missed from this compilation, but for now this has got to be one of the best collections of Nottingham Hip Hop from this era. 

UPDATE - December 2012
When I wrote this post 2 years ago, I thought I was providing something that was pretty niche and only a handful of readers would properly appreciate.  I never thought it would become one of the most consistently popular posts or that this album would be downloaded hundreds of times.

Since then, I've also had conversations with Dominic Owen/DJ Quick, who has now uploaded a better copy of this album to his website.  I've therefore updated the download link so that you get the better version.
But Dominic hasn't stopped there.  He's also uploaded a number of classic photos from his personal archive that include many of the acts that feature on this album. This is a rare insight into a significant part of UK hip hop history.
If you're feeling this album then I'd really recommend that you take a look and enjoy the nostalgia - http://dominicowen.net/nottinghams-finest.

Download the LP here (320 mp3).

Check out my follow up post on Sing-A-Song here:
http://www.fearofawackplanetblog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/sing-song-part-ii.html

Akala Freestyle

I've never really given much attention to Akala as the early tunes that I heard didn't really make much of an impression on me.  However, as he's Ms Dynamite's little brother I should have known that some of her consciousness and intelligence would rub off.

Anyway, my friend sent me this link and I was pleasantly surprised, so thought I'd share it with you too.  Props to Assassin for the link :)

Cico - World Record Attempt

B-Boy Cico (who is known for his power moves) attempted to break the world record for the most 1990's (he needed 19 to do it).  Unfortunately his attempts failed, but his efforts were pretty impressive and this clip shows his best effort when he acheived 17 rotations.  So close, but yet so far....

Still, it wasn't all bad news for Cico as he also attempted another world record (although I can't remember what this move is called, so someone will have to tell me).  This time he was successful and in true Guiness World Records style there was someone there ready to give him his certificate (it kind of reminds me of when Roy Castle was gracing our TV screens on Record Breakers).

UK B-Boy Championships 2010 - The Final (HD)

It's taken me longer to post this than I expected, but here it is, the final battle from the 2010 UK B-Boy Championships.  Vagabonds (France) battle Top 9 (Russia) for the title.  It's a hot battle and both crews certainly went all out to get it, but there can only be one winner....Vagabonds! 

Vagabonds certainly deserved it, they just had the edge when it came to aggression, creativity and originality, and their routines were better.  Plus, its the first crew final in several years where the audience didn't boo the judges decision.

This clip is shot in 720p HD and is an exclusive to FoaWP, so please give credit if you post it on your blog etc.

Download Links (1.7Gb each):
Part 1
Part 2