On our search for some good quality Hip Hop, we got our hands on this banger of a track from Ghost67 featuring Celph Titled.
The track opens with some hard back to back bars from Ghost and really demonstrates his lyrical ability. Celph Titled jumps in and really smashes this track out the park. The constant flow and bounce to the track is infectious and encapsulating.
We loved the instrumental to this track, it had a really nice sound and subtlety which complimented the vocals exquisitely. The Hook was punchy and you find it stuck in your head once the track ends.
We cant get enough of this track and love how there is a real gritty emcee out there getting us excited about the UK scene.
Rating : 5/5 – its got to be another full marks here, the beats and lyrical complexity alone would warrant the 5 star rating but the feature of Celph really upped the ante.
Ok so we hadn't taken a look at a new offering recently and decided we should inspect the latest release from Late as he brings the hip hop world the latest installment in his ever increasing discography.
Right from the off Late steps up with the swagger of a seasoned vet and is quick to remind the listener that he is a long time deep in this hip hop business and when it comes to being a long serving member of the hip hop game late has a proven ability to bring a certain wisdom to his work.
Throughout the 12 tracks it is refreshing to see a large amount of solo work from Late, and doesn't need to hide behind guests on every track, however when he does introduce the likes ofIron Braydz, TBear, Supar Novar, K9, Genesis Elijah, Creamo, the integration works nicely and they bring new dimensions to the verse work.The carefully placed introduction of Jai boo at points in the album definitely brought a refreshing and at times more emotional feel to the table and worked nicely.
If we had one grumble we perhaps thought that there wasn't enough variety to the production as a whole, and while the beats were bouncy and sinister in places, we felt that we would have liked to have seen the album take different directions at certain points to refresh the palette so to speak.
The artist producer relationship between Late and Tricksta is definitely clear for all to see right from the off and the pair make a perfect partnership in showing what Wolftown is all about when it comes to hip hop.
All in all we thought it was another steady addition to Late's rapidly increasing C.V, but we would have liked to have seen it take on a little more variety in places. For all fans of Late this is an album you should add to your collection and grab it now while it is available on FREE download .
Ok so usually when u hear that someone is knocking out a FREE set of tracks for your listening pleasure amid the first reactions of being grateful and pleased that it’s free, you also begin to think about the first time you were told “If it seems too good to be true it probably is” …. however this doesn’t apply here.
This 9 track banger is absolute FIRE and contains something for absolutely everyone, the only way you are not going to feel this is if you have no love of Hip Hop whatsoever.
This is a complete encapsulation of everything Hip Hop should be, the best in the business doing their thing with Stealf at the wheel driving some thumping beats adding his unique twist on such classics.
It is a composition of tracks of which everyone will have a favorite and is the perfect companion for anyone who has a musical device to turn up loud !!
With all the heavy hitters of the hip hop world on “The Mixing Bowl” it seems a given that this was going to work, but there is a sense of responsibility with such material and a great pressure to do each track justice when you have such names as Game, Joe Budden, Jim Jones, Lil Wayne, Kayne West and Jay Z to name but a few, featured on this epic compilation of Stealf remixes.
Our personal favorites out of this bunch have to be “The Announcing of a classic” – Jay-Z and Kanye West and “Hello West Coast” – Game, Dr. Dre & Ice Cube, these tracks will take you back to the good old days of Hip Hop and will show you how a remix can revive the memories of classic tracks, with a modern twist that makes you want to bump out these beats all over again.
“The Mixing Bowl” is an absolute banger that you need to have on your tracklist, we cant get enough of this and it seems to go harder every time you listen to it…… this a 10/10 composition of the best by the best …. hats off to Stealf he has done it again.
“The Mixing Bowl” Track List.
All I Need – Jay Z Weatherman – Jim Jones, Lil Wayne & Stack Bundles The Future – Joe Budden & Game Pure Criminology – Raekwon & Ghostface 2 Words – Mos Def, Kanye West & Freeway It’s All About Hawaii – Biggie, P. Diddy & Lil Kim The Announcing Of A Classic – Jay Z & Kanye West Hello West Coast – Game, Dr. Dre & Ice Cube King Of Kings – Havoc & Raekwon
At Finebeats we love nothing more than coming across an artist that we hadn’t had any dealing with before and coming to realise that they are indeed a bit special. We recently took a look at “Thud Thud So Good Good” an offering from Lancashire’s own Roskrypz.
From the very first second of the first track you will notice that this album is not your typical UK Hip Hop album, nor is it a typical Hip Hop album full stop. We the same as every Hip Hop head out there loves to hear some real street grit in our Hip Hop and love to hear some dirty raw lyrics, but in general this is a sound you wont hear from this album …. and it is refreshing and gives it it’s own unique style, packaged in an 18 track bulldozer which will invade your ears with an infectious style.
The best thing is that over all Roskrypz knows what he is and more importantly knows what he isn’t, he has a style which is unique and endearing and has very little need to deviate from this.
The album itself starts in emphatic fashion with Roskrypz demonstrating some immaculate flows and intricate wordplay, over well presented and catchy beats. The opening of the album sets a pace which is maintained throughout and very rarely falters, but the thing we really enjoyed was the comical element that Roskrypz brings to his work. We too often find that artists can only work in a certain “mode”, and that you will find some artists who attack tracks from a more technical angle and others who focus solely on being a comical artist, but rarely you find an artist that can combine such qualities and leave you nodding along to a mesmerizing flow while laughing out loud.
Roskrypz is an artist that clearly doesn’t take himself too seriously, but understands the fundamentals of what makes great easy listening hip hop. A great example of this is displayed in one of our favorite tracks “prop the bar up”, in our opinion this was a stroke of genius, a mix between a good old fashioned pub knees up and hip hop technicality , a mixture which on paper should never work, but we couldn’t get enough of it and had us nodding away with a massive grin on our face.
If we had one criticism of this album we would probably have to say that we didn’t feel there was enough variety to the style or flows which did leave a few tracks feeling slightly anonymous amongst the 18 track lyrical marathon, but this is barely a fault as the style that you hear non stop is beautifully crafted and presented with exceptional knowledge and understanding of what Hip Hop needs to hear.
Overall we really enjoyed this album and its definitely one for the ipod when you want to inject some flawless flows and a little comedy into your musical experience. We would definitely recommend “Thud Thud So Good Good” for anybody who is prepared to disregard the rule book on how hip hop should sound and open their mind to the concept of well structured, highly lyrical well presented flows over banging beats and the catchiest of hooks, that will leave you joining in before you even realize.
Verdict: Overall enjoyed it from the start to finish, would have liked to have heard a bit more variety in terms of flow and style, but had more than enough substance to keep you locked and we really cant forget to mention that it has got one of the best accompanied artworks that we have seen this year.
Rate 8/10
Big thumbs up to Roskrypz for this one, and we cant wait to hear what he brings next, we are definitely amongst his new fans, and will be catching up with the man himself soon.
We finally got it !!! We bugged Stealf constantly until he gave in and gave us a copy of his upcoming album “I am Stealf” for its first EXCLUSIVE review. There is alot to get through here so we are going to jump straight in and get down to business with this Album.
Last night (Thursday 31st March 2011) saw the return of the Queensbridge poet to the UK along with the son of the Legendary Bob Marley a certain Damian Marley.
Those who had got themselves hyped for a raw electric gig from the off may have found themselves somewhat disappointed with the early proceedings as Erykah Badu kicked off the event with a performance which could have been described as perhaps pleasant or entertaining but for us didn’t really set the mood for the Hip Hop / Reggae fest that we had come to bounce to.
Following this perhaps subdued performance David Rodigan made an admirable attempt at getting the crowd hyped but for us still slightly fell short of the mark and were left wondering if the main event was actually going to live up to the high expectations of which proceeded it.
Following Rodigan’s lively and as always slightly eccentric performance things stepped up a considerabel notch as Dj Green Lantern who had been lurking around in the background took Wembley Arena by the scruff of the neck and shook it into life. A few old school bangers and some choice words later and the crowd were jumping like the floor was hot and getting ready to receive two giants in their respective fields.
The atmosphere was starting to resemble something close to electric by this point and as soon as Nas and Jr Gong entered the stage the crowd exploded into life and you knew that despite the slow start things were definitely on track to be a great night. The two collaborated with ease throughout the early performance and every part of their performance was received with a fantastic crowd reaction.
Towards the middle of the evening Nas vanished from the stage leaving Damian Marley to hold the attention of Wembley Arena alone, a task of which he was more than capable of with the majority of the crowd hanging off of every word that he expertly delivered.
After a reggae indulgence Nas returned as he was before unchanged apart from sporting his trademark oversized Gold rope chain with the Pharaoh’s head attached, which symbolized that he was here to get down to some traditional hip hop business and didn’t dissapoint. Giving Jr Gong a breather he took the roof off Wembley stadium with some true Nas classics including “Hate me now”, “got ur self a gun” and “one mic” .
After the Nas fest the two brought the collaboration back together with seamless ease and had the crowd in a frenzy with a hard hitting energetic finish that kept even the weariest of bodies amongst the crowd jumping up and down in unison.
As the night drew to a close amongst a sea of lighters and mobile phones, Damian Marley asked the question of which many had been waiting for, “Who in here loves Bob Marley ?”, the crowd responded with a deafening roar and were once again bouncing in a frenzy as Jr Gong and the entire population of Wembley Arena broke into a rendition of Bob Marley’s “Could You Be Loved”.
To sum the night up, we felt that the early support acts didn’t really set the tone that we perhaps wanted to see but did contribute enough to the atmosphere to allow a well received entrance for the main performance. Nas and Damian Marley delivered an evening to remember and definitely got the desired effect and energy levels from an excitable Wembley crowd. Dj Lantern and the backing vocals coupled with a fantastic band were brilliant throughout to cap a great evening of Hip Hop/Reggae fused collaboration at its very best.
- Stealf (Ft. Jadakiss, Konny Kon & Deeze) – The Games at a Standstill.
The Hip Hop world is constantly subjected to the irritations that we call leaks, and when you are big news in the industry keeping such hot tracks under wraps is pretty difficult at the best of times as Stealf has just discovered with his latest offerings.
So, undeterred by such activities Finebeats.com has linked up with the pride of UK Production again to officially review these two highly anticipated tracks, safe in the knowledge that being unfinished editions they are going to be like a fine wine and only get better from this point on…….
Stealf (Ft. Jadakiss, Konny Kon & Deeze) – The Games at a Standstill
The first track we listened to was “The Games at a Standstill”, and we were pretty excited to be reviewing this track earlier than anticipated, hoping that the leak of an un-mastered version wouldn’t show any fatal flaws… We shouldn’t have worried! … The track enters with an acapella speech to set off the mood and create an inspirational feel as the beat subtly builds up from behind the vocals and you are sucked straight into the first verse.
Deeze sets it off with his distinctive gruff flow and breezes through some easy listening bars over the minimalistic, ever evolving beat that builds and builds before stripping right back to compliment the second verse…
At this point, Konny Kon jumps in and ups the ante slightly with a more hyped and provocative style, bouncing off the beat nicely and setting it up for Jadakiss to jump in on the action with a no less than typical old school US flow, which reminded us of somewhat of the Old School Canibus freestyle rhythms, with a flawless punchy style. Overall we thought this track set the mood up nicely and can’t wait to hear it finished up on the album.
Stealf (Ft. Joell Ortiz & Parv) – Stop Being Greedy
This was the second track we listened to… and the third… and the fourth!!!! Once we had listened we just couldn’t get enough of this track.
The track begins with a gentle guitar riff and Parv introducing himself and Ortiz while promising a lyrical experience…… he doesn’t lie!
The beat drops straight into the hook as the kick drum punches a hole through your chest and the distorted guitar works the stomach! You literally will ‘feel’ this track on a good sub!
After an upbeat hook that nicely sets the mood of the oncoming track, Joell Ortiz jumps in with a monster of a verse which is not only expertly delivered but thought provoking, comical and raw, which when combined with the metaphorical and flawless nature of his natural style , will have you with your jaws to the floor. After another dose of a well thought out and delivered hook, Parv jumps in and proves that the UK can hold their own in the company of such U.S talent and delivers two well presented and encapsulating verses to wrap up an absolute banger of a track.
The instruments bounce nicely off each other and keep you moving while complimenting the vocals well. This is obviously not a final master as the snare still sounds a bit lonely and there are some jagged edges yet to be smoothed over but this is quickly and easily forgotten as Stealf’s song writing ability shines through and the lyricism pulls you in and keeps you firmly hooked!
Two thumbs way way up for this one… we can’t get enough of it. Our only regret is that we have to wait for the final album version before we add it as our featured track!
Overall
Overall we take our hats off to Stealf for his vision and some awesome production work, but we might have to moan at Stealf for now leaving us hanging for the release of the album, of which we simply cannot wait to get our hands on!
Once again Stealf has stood up tall and sent a loud banging message to the UK that he is here to stay and that he will continue to smash the scene, capturing some of the hottest names in Hip Hop as the Stealf snowball gathers momentum on its path to smashing into the industry at full force.
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