D-Nice TV

This is one channel on YouTube that you've got to check out.  It's hosted by D-Nice (from Boogie Down Productions) who is now a photographer and film maker as well as a DJ. 

D-Nice has come correct with a great little series of short documentaries with old skool artists, such as Big Daddy Kane, Buckshot, Sadat X, Masta Ace, Dana Dane, Kwame, Lords of the Underground and many more.  But what makes these videos different is that each interview starts with the artist recalling a classic, well known and well recited  rhyme from their back catalogue which they then break down and explain. 
Each lyric is carefully chosen to give the viewer an insightful, and generally unheard, history lesson from their early days of Hip Hop.  You'll find Monie Love talking about Kane hitting on her, Ace talking about how he was never meant to be on The Symphony and Sadat breaks down his classic verse from Punks Jump Up.  I'll let you discover the rest.... although I've embeded a small selection below :)

http://www.youtube.com/user/dnicetv

It's also worth taking a look at his website too.  He's got some brilliant photos of some of Hip Hop's greatest artists (old and new) that have been taken in modern times, but done in a contempory style and much removed from the usual publicity shots we're used to seeing.  It's great to see D-Nice is still a player in the game with a positive contribution, peace to D-Nice.

http://d-nice.com/

Our 1st Milestone

Who's birthday is it, I hear you asking.... well, its ours!!!!  We launched Fear of a Wack Planet last October and to be honest, we didn't think very much would happen in the first year, but how wrong we were!!!  Visitors have been steadily growing each month as our readers spread the word, and we've far exceeded our early expectations.  We've also received direct praise and thanks from some of the artists and bloggers that we've shone a spotlight on, which is also great news.

Now that things have truly taken off, we can hopefully focus on bringing you lots more gems over the next 12 months to keep you coming back for more and more of that fresh, but retro, hip hop flavour.  We have a number of ideas and plans (although I'm not going to expand on them just yet), but it's safe to say that providing you with insightful reviews of rarer material is high on our agenda.

Speaking of which, if anybody knows a decent video hosting site that will allow us to upload an hour or more of footage in one go then please let me know asap.  I really don't want to have to carve up some of our material into bitesize chunks just because Poo Tube can't handle anything longer than 15 minutes, grrr.

Anyway, we'd like to say A BIG THANK YOU to all of our visitors from all over the world who continue to show an interest in this blog and support what we do.  One love.

Mike Check & Randy Mack

Roxy Interview

Any serious b-boy or b-girl in the UK will know that this weekend (Oct 15th & 16th) is the UK B-Boy Championships 2011 at Brixton Academy in London.  Last year, the UK crew Soul Mavericks represented hard for the UK and reached the semi finals, and anyone who was there or saw the DVD will know that their b-girl Roxy was not to be taken for granted. 

The Soul Mavericks are representing us again this year and will be hoping to improve on last year's commendable performance.  But in the meantime, you might want to check out this short interview with Roxy, the UK's premier b-girl.

http://toomuchflavour.co.uk/site2/uk-bboy-championships-2011-interview-with-b-girl-roxy-soul-mavericks-plague/

Enter The Battle

For all of our UK readers, you need to be aware of this event next weekend (22nd Oct).  Enter the Battle is the UK's premier mixed discipline urban sports event featuring breaking, street dance, graffiti and an outdoor hip hop sound system with performances from Elements, Critical Beatdown & Suspekt.  Alongside these events are Extreme Martial Arts, BMX, Slackline, Freestyle Football and much, much more.

Following on from last years huge event at the O2 in London which was broadcast on Sky TV, this year see's the event move to a new venue in the Midlands.

For more information, check out http://www.enterthebattle.co.uk/ or check out their Facebook page for clips of the special guests and footage of last years show.

Darwin Vs. Redman

I chanced across this interesting individual during a late night browse, (yes i know there's porn out there), and thought he had a very interesting take on how the decaying urban environment, anthropology and evolution affected hip hop in particular. Leading many unfamiliar with the genre to remark only on the overt aggression, missing perhaps a more subtle phenomena at hand.

His name is Baba Brinkman (presumably not his birth name) and this performance was taken from the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Now providing the words decaying, urban environment, anthropology and evolution placed proximately together haven't seen you surf over to Babes in Boots, then you may be intrigued to view the following:

Canadian Academia in the house!!!!

Blogwatch - September 2011

Chris Marco - Dubplates
September got off to a great start with Chris Marco releasing his Dubplates - Volume 3.  For anyone who isn't familiar with these, they're a mashup of reggae instrumentals and hip hop accapella's, all mixed exceptionally well by Chris Marco.  And what makes this even better is, it's a free download! 
I'm not normally a fan of this type of mix (mostly because they're not usually executed particularly well), but this stuff is top notch and could easily be legitimate, alternative, remixes from the original 12".  Featuring classic tunes from Masta Ace, Special Ed & Buckshot, MC Lyte, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Mos Def and plenty more.

And if you like this, then check out volumes 1 and 2 that are still available for download.  Volume 1 is a King Tubby vs Wu-Tang mashup, and Volume 2 is a Bob Marley vs Jay-Z mashup.

http://chrismacro.com/vol3-available-now


Kool Keith Interview

Yup, the legend that is Kool Keith gives an insightful interview into how it all began for him, starting out with Ultramagnetic and he also breaks down many of his solo albums since. Check out the full interview along with a Flac download of the The Four Horsemen album over at Olas Un Bekons blog:

http://www.olasunbekons.com/2011/09/ultramagnetic-mcs-four-horsemen-1993.html


6th Annual Zulu Nation anniversary mixtape
I don't know what year this is from, but it's certainly going to take you a long way back in time. It features Cosmic Force, Sha Rock, Lisa Lee and the L-Brothers and lasts for about 30 minutes. It's a rip from an old tape, but for me that just adds to the authenticity of the sound, it sounds just like it used to when I was a kid!

http://old-school-hiphop-tapes.blogspot.com/2011/08/6th-annual-zulu-nation-anniversary-with.html


N.W.A. - Live from 1989
My boy Jsta has just uploaded a nice little rarity on his West Coast/Ruthless Records blog. Jsta is proving that he is still the king of the G Funk by uploading this rare concert recorded in 1989. He rightly points out that N.W.A. were banned from performing in most places, so any live recordings of their early material are very rare.

Even if N.W.A. isn't your thing, it's worth checking out his blog as you won't find a better source for old skool West Coast hip hop. He's also extremely picky (in a nice way!) about audio quality, so his rips are always top notch.

http://phuk-tha-muthaphukkin-police.blogspot.com/2008/11/nwa-live-in-anaheim-california-live.html


New Masta Ace LP
Masta Ace has announced that he's completed his collaboration album with MF Doom and it's set for a November release date. The project is titled MA Doom: Son of Yvonne (which unsurprisingly follows in the same naming style as MF Doom's previous collaboration titles). The format of the album will be MF Doom on production using beats that he previously released on his Special Herbs series, and Masta Ace providing vocals. This raises an eyebrow as to what Doom's involvement has actually been? Is this more of a mixtape or mash up than a true collaboration? I don't know, but I'm always happy to hear new material from Ace, so let's hope this doesn't disappoint.

When asked whether there will be any guest appearances on the album, Ace replied "only one, Big Daddy Kane, that's it". Is this a sign that Kane is upping his profile in preparation for a release date for his new album The Last Supper (his first album in 13 years!)?



Artful Dodger Presents - Get The Message
Style Warrior has shared this great little graffiti documentary from one of the UK's graffiti legends, Artful Dodger (aka A. DEE).  What makes this documentary a little different, is that it's not about showcasing Dodger's artwork, or a range of different pieces from around the UK.  Instead, Dodger explores graffiti culture as a whole.
The documentary lasts about 2 hours and contains many memorable clips from the past, such as appearances on Hart Beat, newspaper clippings, interviews etc.  I'm not sure when this film was produced, but I'd make an educated  guess at around 1995-1996.

http://stylewarrioruk.wordpress.com/2011/09/30/artful-dodger-presents-get-the-message/