It's A London Thing

Superlatives are often over used, become redundant and thrown out there like nobody's business. But when it comes to UK acts all should be savored and showered upon two of the greatest Rappers this country has ever produced - Rodney P & Bionic. The duo became the mainstay of London Posse and created the greatest UK rap record to date, bar none, if you don't know about 'Gangster Chronicles' then in my book you're simply not serious.


A classic album in every respect, the art work is probably my favorite of any UK release, well maybe it gets tipped by Klashnekoff's 'The Sagas...' and the 'Murda In Parrowdice' 12", but album art work is another story for another day.

So why is 'Gangster Chronicles' the greatest British Rap album of all time? Firstly the album set the foundations for the style that truly would dominate the scene today, a move away from the yankeefied voices of the mid 80s of the early rappers struggling to forge their own identity, towards the reggae soaked London patois so regularly used today in a diverse array of MC driven street music. It's a natural progression though, especially for the likes of Rodney P and Bionic, due to the city's relationship with Jamaica and the personal heritage of many UK artists with the island, it was only a matter of time before the slang would morph into a truly distinct London voice. With such a long line of artists working on Soundsystems, the dominance of the Soundsystem culture has morphed into all elements of UK street music from Drum & Bass to Hip Hop the trail always leads to the Soundsystem.

'Gangster Chronicles' not only sparked a change in style, it was also a pinnacle time for many prominent members of the London Hp Hop community. Regular readers will know I have a penchant for posting classic Westwood material, 'Gangster Chronicles' for me is a classic Westwood moment. Very little people recognize the impact Westwood has had over the years on the scene, its often overshadowed by those who only acknowledge the here and now. In 1988 Westwood released the heavyweight single 'Money Mad' on his Justice label before the Posse moved to Island Records' imprint Mango. I first came across Justice when I bought the very first Westwood compilation album, scrawling the sleeve notes I noted the label, delved a little deeper and its heritage is steeped in UK Hip Hop history. Check out this clip of Westwood and London Posse, a feature for BBC Open Space in 1987. See if you can spot the cameo of a certain Trevor Nelson.


London Posse's 'Gangster Chronicles is a certified classic, I could go on and on and develop this post in to a whos who of UK Hip Hop, the history the sound and the development, I won't. Perhaps I cut this post a little short, and what started as a review of the album developed into something else...

London Posse classic - 'Money Mad'


'Hows Life in London'


Cop 'Gangster Chronicles' Here

SHOUT OUT TO SLINGSHOT FOR THE HEADS UP ON THE FOOTAGE!

"If Your Names Not Down, You're Not Coming In!"

Manchester

Just got back from Manchester in time for Match Of The Day. Saw Robinho score his first hat-trick in English football, the first of many I hope, not a bad game today, could have won by 5 or 6! After re-watching the City game I've just flicked over to BBC2 and Oasis' Electric Proms gig is on the box. I used to have a near-obsession with Oasis as a kid.

The reasons for - I was born in Manchester. In an attempt to form any sort of identity in Southern Suburbia, I clutched hold to as many Manchester specific moments of Northern nostalgia as physically and mentally possible for a pre-pubescent boy, who knew a lot about nothing and nothing about everything. This all added to the spice of the North-South divide heightened by the Oasis Blur beef. The Gallagher's are City fans this has added greatly to the mix, me being a Southern Blue and all that. They are also from Burnage, some of my close family live there; around the corner from Sifter's Record Shop (one of the greatest record shops in the world), the famous Chalky White's barbers with its incredible array of pornos, baseball caps and more than one Chris the barber. Pars Wood Shops along with my Gran's house have featured in numerous Oasis clips and maybe a video, although I can't think of which one.

One of my favorite Oasis tracks:


And before I go - ** Some Blog News ** - I've got a few interesting posts in mind, starting to seriously think about some nice little features I want to write, got a lot to do, new job starts next week but before then I'm going to pull out the quill and pad, the pen and paper, the biro and beer-mat and start a new era of new blogs. Oh and more content a long the lines of items and such forth... You know the usual online gems that tickle my fancy and hopefully yours. Chiao.

Mr. Hudson

I'm so pleased for Mr. H, he's rolling with the Good Music camp, been a champion of his and the Library's cause for quite some time, a humble, super talented guy. First came across him when he bigged up Itch FM in an interview several years ago and followed him ever since. He came to the Dizzee No.1 party at Bungalow 8 and the Camden show in the summer, and finally got to meet him after several myspace exchanges a few years ago. The Deal Real guys have worked extremely hard, and let's hope their relationship with Good Music and Kanye's team prospers. It seems Good Music and that whole collective have a real ear for what we are doing in the UK, John Legend and Estelle, Kanye and Hudson, its a beautiful thing.


BTW Consequence has THE best video blog in Hip Hop.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend: SETH GODIN

I AM TRULY INSPIRED BY SETH GODIN

While I struggle to find my niche, my strength, my quality, my art, I engage in the right areas, with the right people, doing the right things. I will develop my own niche in this industry, slowly but surely. I've had some fantastic advice this week, but none better than from this man, I don't know him but he's a genius. Check this below, it's helped me, maybe it'll help you.

"Maybe you can't make money doing what you love

The thing is, it's far easier than ever before to surface your ideas. Far easier to have someone notice your art or your writing or your photography. Which means that people who might have hidden their talents are now finding them noticed...

That blog you've built, the one with a lot of traffic... perhaps it can't be monetized.

That non-profit you work with, the one where you are able to change lives... perhaps turning it into a career will ruin it.

That passion you have for art... perhaps making your painting commercial enough to sell will squeeze the joy out of it.

When what you do is what you love, you're able to invest more effort and care and time. That means you're more likely to win, to gain share, to profit. On the other hand, poets don't get paid. Even worse, poets that try to get paid end up writing jingles and failing and hating it at the same time.

Today, there are more ways than ever to share your talents and hobbies in public. And if you're driven, talented and focused, you may discover that the market loves what you do. That people read your blog or click on your cartoons or listen to your mp3s. But, alas, that doesn't mean you can monetize it, quit your day job and spend all day writing songs.

The pitfalls:
1. In order to monetize your work, you'll probably corrupt it, taking out the magic in search of dollars
and
2. Attention doesn't always equal significant cash flow.

I think it makes sense to make your art your art, to give yourself over to it without regard for commerce.

Doing what you love is as important as ever, but if you're going to make a living at it, it helps to find a niche where money flows as a regular consequence of the success of your idea. Loving what you do is almost as important as doing what you love, especially if you need to make a living at it. Go find a job you can commit to, a career or a business you can fall in love with.

A friend who loved music, who wanted to spend his life doing it, got a job doing PR for a record label. He hated doing PR, realized that just because he was in the record business didn't mean he had anything at all to do with music. Instead of finding a job he could love, he ended up being in proximity to, but nowhere involved with, something he cared about. I wish he had become a committed school teacher instead, spending every minute of his spare time making music and sharing it online for free. Instead, he's a frazzled publicity hound working twice as many hours for less money and doing no music at all.

Maybe you can't make money doing what you love (at least what you love right now). But I bet you can figure out how to love what you do to make money (if you choose wisely).

Do your art. But don't wreck your art if it doesn't lend itself to paying the bills. That would be a tragedy.

(And the twist, because there is always a twist, is that as soon as you focus on your art and leave the money behind, you may just discover that this focus turns out to be the secret of actually breaking through and making money.)"

"I'm Having A Relapse"

Now many might find this a little disconcerting, it may even shatter my reputation but i've never been Eminem's biggest fan. I rate his technical ability highly and the way in which he has forged hit record after hit record is second to none. However for several reasons I've never really been engrossed by the MC who put Detroit on the map. Eminem's novelty value possibly undermines his greatest works and the bandwagon that rolled on through, sweeping up every teeny bopper, Hip-Pop lover and angry white boy forced me to cross the tracks. It may well have been musical pretense on my part forcing sniggers and hip hop snobbery, in fact, IT WAS MUSICAL SNOBBERY.

While the class room was banging Eminem, I was rocking EPMD. When push comes to shove I must admit he is an incredible lyricist, perhaps its the concepts that made me once doubt him. In reality though I've never liked what everyone else liked purely because everyone else liked it. I was always digging for something different, something possibly better. Away from all the secondary school hype and me being me; I can now fianlly concede that dude is truly a master wordsmith, a heavy hitter on the mic, as good as, if not better than, anyone else to do it... I'M GLAD HE'S BACK.

This one certainly snuck right under the radar, rumor has it the new album 'Relapse' will drop some time in '09.



Does anyone know who produced the beat? To me it sounds like a Timbo production, I'm feeling this, it's alot.

Classic Freestyle Compilation, Surely This Will Convert Any Doubter, Or Perhaps I'm Preaching To The Converted, Any Doubters Even Out There??

"Nothing But Rats & Mice Round Ere"