2 videos from Skepta off his debut album Greatest Hits: “In A Corner” features Trigga, Spyda and Roll Deep’s Flowdan. “Sweet Mother” was a hit last Spring (especially around Mother’s Day) but it’s worthy of a rewind here:

Skepta – “In A Corner” With Trigga, Spyda and Roll Deep’s Flowdan

Skepta – “Sweet Mother”

([More →])

Pull up Selecta, let’s hear those tunes one more time! Here are my selections for the Top 10 Tunes and 15 Albums Released In 2007… Tune in again tomorrow for a REWIND of the Biggest Tunes Published On ([HearingTest]) in ‘07! ([More →])

Not new, but still Deep… Roll Deep with “Heat Up” from early 2007:

And another vid from earlier this year – Skepta leads the pack of MCs with “Duppy”:

This banga features Skepta, JME, Jammer, Footsie, Bearman, Bossman Birdie, MC Creed, Devilman….

To me, the star of “Duppy” is Creed. He rolls with the Garage Allstars. You can hear his Dddddid it again in the “Vulture Remix”:

The original tune is more grime-y…

Skepta’s new video for “Over The Top” looks like something him and JME made in iMovie. In other words, a pretty good home-studio-made music video. Straight from the streets onto the superhighway:

Skepta – “Over The Top”

Allegedly that’s Skepta pullin the Evel Knievels!
Skepta’s debut album, Greatest Hits is out now, next up is Microphone Champion in 2008?

Skepta Links

Skepta music $pace

There’s a lot of anticipation in the air surrounding the new album from the notorious Wu-Tang Clan. To help ease some of the tensions that have been building, Semtex dropped FOUR tunes off 8 Diagrams during his BBC 1Xtra Radio show last Sunday! Semtex brings a hot mix of hip hop tunes to the UK airwaves and the globe’s internet streams on a weekly basis via BBC Radio 1Xtra. Lucky for us, the show is available until Saturday night/Sunday morning when the new show airs and gets archived. The show also features the brand new Snoop Dog tune (with D-oh-dubble-G singing!) “Sensual Seduction,” plus tracks from Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne, new Jay-Z, Kid Sister ft. Kanye West, Chingy, Skepta, Asher D, Ghetto, Trigger and Kano! ([More →])

This week there have been a number of good interviews and articles posted online from stellar writers immersed in the UK music scene. Rather than rehash what’s already been said, I’ve decided to resurrect the Rewind! (Rewind! is simply a roundup of links to what’s good, what’s new, wha gwaan on the web, and it used to be a regular feature here on HearingTest.) This particular Rewind! features links to some great articles written by a few music journalists that I enjoy reading: there’s a T2 interview, a Durrty Goodz interview, Grimewatch, proof that Grime’s Not Dead, plus video of Skepta in the BBC radio studios with Mary Anne Hobbs, Wiley clashing Ghetto, and a dubstep documentary! ([More →])

RWD Mag reports today that Wiley is about to release 2 more singles off of Playtime Is Over from Wiley and Big Dada: “No Qualms” and “Baby Girl”… ([More →])

Just when you start to wear out one grime album from playing it too much, another wicked album hits the streets. My fave this year has definitely been Wiley’s Playtime Is Over, released on Big Dada, and I’m definitely not tired of the album yet. However, I have been wishing that there were another eski-album close to this caliber to add to the rotation. I wasn’t the only one thinking this, because here comes another excellent grime record. UK DJ and grime-afficionado Logan Sama has compiled a “Best Of” collection from the Tunnel Vision mixtape series onto a 2 disc set. The album is called EskiBoy the best of TUNNEL VISION compiled by Logan Sama and it features the best tracks from volumes 1-5 of the Tunnel Vision mixtape series. The double disc album will be available on September 17th – the same day that Skepta’s full-length album comes out, coincidentally. So the 17th is the BIG DAY, when we get TWO excellent eski-beat records in one day! ([More →])

MORE FIRE!!! Boh! This mix is hot! MORE FIRE, MORE BASS is by one of my favOrite producers, Matt Shadetek. I actually heard part of this mix when it originally aired on Mary Anne Hobbs’ show on BBC Radio 1 on March 16th. I was packing my bags to go snowboarding while the sounds coming out of my speakers were inspiring feelings of sailing down slopes of deep powder. Coz that’s what this mix is like, it’s deep and sludgey, with clean sweeps that sail over the heavy basslines. This mix clocks in at a mere 30 minutes of sonic rapture but contains a lot of original music by Shadetek and NYC neighbors 77Klash and Jah Dan. Don’t worry, I’m not teasing you with fond memories. Matt launched the mp3 on his blog today, where you can download it for yourself. I can even vouch for it being a pretty quick download, despite how clean it sounds. These boys know their bitrate technology and it was originally intended for radio play and streaming anyhow.

TRACKLIST

01. Can’t Breathe – Tanya Stephens (Matt Shadetek Remix) [Unreleased)
02. Untitled - Matt Shadetek (Unreleased)
03. Bumbaclat Badman - Chronik feat. Skepta, Wiley & Esco (Slew Dem Records)
04. Skynet Riddim - Matt Shadetek (Sound-Ink)
05. Walk It Out Remix - DJ Unk feat. Andre 3000 & Jim Jones (Koch Records)
06. Do It - Jon E Cash (Black Ops)
07. Go Home - Timeblind (Unreleased)
08. Gigantic Wings - Drop The Lime (Unreleased)
09. Vans - The Pack (Jive)
10. Reign Riddim - Matt Shadetek (Sound-Ink)
11. Reign - Team Shadetek feat. Skepta (Sound-Ink)
12. Gave You All My Dub - Matt Shadetek feat. Jahdan (Unreleased)
13. Separating - Team Shadetek feat. Jammer (Sound-Ink)
14. Cassava Riddim - Matt Shadetek (Unreleased)
15. She Told Me - Noble Society feat. 77Klash
16. Untitled - Timeblind (Unreleased)
17. Japan - Plastician (Terrorhythm)
18. Try Harder - Drop The Lime (Broklyn Beats)
19. Daylight - Team Shadetek (Sound-Ink)

Yep, all that in a seamless 30 minute mix (no breaks in between trax). Head over to Glaciers of Shade, the home of Team Shadetek.

If you like what you hear, please buy the latest release from Shadetek/77Klash/JahDan - the excellent Brooklyn Anthem featuring Courtney Melody from his classic "Bad Boy" hit. Released by Sound Ink and available on BLEEP. Team Shadetek also have a release on WARP Records called Burnerism among others.

Brooklyn Anthem:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/X1BzRw5Vnv0]

For more information about this song and its artists, please click over to Dangerous Bad Boy.

Links

Boomkat
ShockOut
BLEEP
discogs

Lots of Eski-boy goodies today! First of all, check the video for “50/50″ off the upcoming Playtime Is Over album:

50/50 Vid

Oh its just so UK dance! I love it!

The album gets dropped worldwide on June 4th, but you can get the (320kbps) mp3s of “50/50″ and “Bow E3″ from BLEEP right now. You will however have to wait to attend the album release party with Boy Better Know crew (JME, Skepta), Loefah and Illa Man all supporting the Grandfather of Grime! That will be at Cargo in London on a Thursday – June 21st. Thursday has always been my favorite day of the week. Nothing but good things happen on Thursdays. Wiley will be performing live, and for only 10 Quid you can’t afford to miss it!

If you want more Wiley, you can get your fix with the Independent Music Magazine today, he’s the adorable cover boy, same with RWD Mag, The Wire, Echoes. Next week he graces the cover of Plan B and One Week To Live. Big Smoke covers him at the end of the month. Whoo boy, good thing his face is so pleasant to look at. That’s a lot of music magazine covers to be staring out from!

Independent said this about the upcoming album:

“Playtime is Over is so important, not just to him, but to the future legacy of grime, and what it might mean in 10 years time.. Brilliantly grime, fuelled with anthems and sing-alongs and deserves to go down as his greatest work to date.”

Playtime Is Over is released on June 4th by Big Dada. You can listen to the single “Bow E3″ on their homepage.

TRACKLIST FOR Playtime Is Over

01 50/50
02 Bow E3
03 Slippin’
04 Flyboy
05 Baby Girl
06 Gangsters
07 Stars
08 Letter 2 Dizzee
09 My Mistakes
10 No Qualms
11 Johnny Was a Bad Boy
12 Nothing About Me
13 Come Lay With Me
14 Getalong Gang
15 Eski-Boy
16 Playtime’s Over

Don’t think for a New York minute that this album is going to be released in digital format only. No, these are vinyl traditionalists. You can purchase the 2x LP, the black CD, or the mp3 bundle. Your choice. It’s here on the Big Dada page for Playtime Is Over along with a great bio.

He also had a short performance on Channel 4, which you can watch here.

LINKS

Wiley’s Space Listen & Learn
BLEEP – Listen/Buy
Boomkat – Listen/Buy
BBC Review – Listen to ram
Wiki

Thanks James, Big Dada for the scoop! I haven’t been this excited about a new album in so long!!

You have most likely heard of Lady Sovereign. You may have also heard of Dizzee Rascal. In the US we would tend to call that style of music hip-hop, because here, that’s what we call any music with words rapped over it. In the UK they currently call this style grime. It has words rapped over music like hip hop does, but the music is more clubby than most american hip hop. Grime’s basslines are incredibly heavy and rolling, like synthesizer melodies made for subwoofers. The beats are a 2-step breakbeat and the overall tempo is between 130-140 bpm. The words are rapped aggressively fast, double time to the music. Grime, like hip hop, incorporates sampled elements from all over the place – piano bits, guitar riffs, glockenspiels, record scratching, etc. But unlike hip hop, grime was influenced by UK Garage, drum and bass, ragga, and jungle. These forms of music are very full and rich forms of electronica, whereas most hip hop tends to be a bit more sparse, often sounding like the original instrument that was sampled. More to the source, Grime is completely influenced by it’s first creator – Wiley, the Grandfather of Grime.
When Wiley first created this new sound in 2000, he was calling it “Eski-beat” and himself the “Eski-boy”. He was a mentor to Dizzee Rascal who was just a teen at the time, listening to Wiley, and trying out his own voice and hands on the machines. Both Wiley and Dizzee presented this new sound to mainstream record labels at the same time, and both had an album released by XL Records in 2003, Wiley’s Tredding On Thin Ice and Dizzee’s Boy In Da Corner. Boy In Da Corner received the Mercury Music Prize in the same year. In 2002 another grime hit, “Oi” by Lethal Bizzle debuted at #7 in the UK Singles charts. Lethal B’s next big hit, “Pow (Forward)” also known as “Forward Riddim” was released in 2005. It debuted at #11 in the UK Singles charts and #1 in the UK Dance chart.

Wiley – “Pies”

Grime still hasn’t made it really big in the mainstream though, then again, it’s only about 7 years old. As a music scene and genre, that isn’t very long at all. What that basically says is that one guy created a new style of music, and that created a movement that was noticed in less than 2 years. You could almost say that it peaked 3 years ago, but that wouldn’t be including what’s coming up this year and what’s to come in the next 10-20 years. When Alex Bok Bok asked Wiley about this in his recent interview, Wiley responded : “Nahh, it takes time, it takes ten, fifteen, twenty years to build a scene. Which is another reason why I retired, because I thought ‘you know what, I’m 28 – when it’s peaking I ain’t even going to be here’. I don’t want to be Grandmaster Flash. So nah, grime hasn’t had its day. It’s got ages. It’s been five or six years. So it’s got 14, and in 14 I’ll be… well I’ll be old. [lol]”

Retired? The founder of grime music is retiring in it’s 7th year? Well, anyone who puts out albums makes a lot of moey and retire at age 28, lucky them. Well, yes, and no.

Wiley is retiring. Not from music overall, but definitely from the gime scene. Grime is a super competetive and dangerous scene. There is a lot of pressure to keep producing rapid fire hits. If one guy puts out a song, you have to put out a better one, and it keeps going like that. The parties in London that used to play and promote this music (still called “raves” even though the focus is not on techno, house, or ecstasy) have basically closed up because of violence. Too many kids got stabbed at various shows, so the scene has mostly moved out of London. But the heart of the music is in London, and there seems to be a trend of grime producers losing that heart when they leave. Wiley is staying in London, but now he has 2 adorable daughters to think of. He can’t be dodging bullets and knives, and he doesn’t want his daughters to go through that either. That doesn’t mean Wiley is getting old though! He’s only 28, and he is super excited about the kids who comprise the next generation of grime producers and mc’s. When i say kids, i am referring to the fact that most up and coming grime artists are between 15-20 years old. i really do mean kids. And this is who Wiley is working with, the youth of tomorrow, no sign of slowing down and getting old.

As for the money that follows fame, Wiley sees it more as a corruption of the art. In his own words, from the interview with Alex Bok Bok again : “…you make your best music is when you’ve got no money.” And a moment later : “…you should take low money up front. It’s not bad. A Sony label would just throw money at them and they think ‘we’re in business’, but in actual fact they’re not. Low money is the best thing you can take, I promise you. I don’t know why I didn’t go for it before, just say ‘you know what I don’t want 100 grand, just give me 20 and I’m just going to make that album, and do the work, and fulfil the terms’. Because otherwise if I’ve got 100 grand or 200 I’ll just be so happy that you might not see me for a few years. So low money is a good thing.” And referring to how he sold records out of his car in London, before landing any record deals, he told Alex : “Loads, over 50,000. For those whole two years I just had loose change in my pockets the whole time. That was the best time of my life, where I earned all my own money. And then I got a record deal, and I just had too much money. I was too young! I didn’t know what to do with all that money! I’ll be honest with you, I really didn’t. And I didn’t really have a figure telling me what to do with it. I had people in my ear saying ‘buy property! (oh and lend me five hundred)’.”

It’s a great interview, with loads more info and perspective, you should check it out on the lower end spasm blog at dot-alt.blogspot.com. I don’t want to print to much of it here, coz it’s Alex’s interview and you should definitely give his blog the hits. I just wanted to give you a little insight into Wiley’s mentality and tempt you to go read the rest.

Realistically, Wiley is going to escape the rat race, keep making music, support the youth, and watch what other grime artists are doing. Up until know, everyone has been watching Wiley for what’s happening in grime. This will reverse that focus.

WILEY – “Wot Do You Call It?”

So, what is happening in grime, i hear you asking. enough of this history lesson, what can we expect in 2007? A lot! 2007 will see full grime albums from Wiley, Dizzee, Lethal Bizzle, Skepta, Roll Deep, Kano, and more. This will probably be grime’s peak in the mainstream thus far. And if you hadn’t heard of grime yet, you heard it here first! This is your chance to be on top of the trend early!

Roll Deep’s album, Rules and Regulations, was released yesterday and already has impressive reviews. The entire album can be heard on Roll Deep’s official myspace page. You can also read more about them and the album in my previous post Grime Explosion. One review for the album is in the Independent, and Boomkat gives you a review, previews, and you can order the album from them! Roll Deep Crew will be playing at the Love Music Hate Racism schools trip on April 20 in London.

Wiley is finished with his last album as MC and producer, Playtime’s Over and it is in Big Dada’s hands now. Big Dada calls it “his best work to date by a long way and is very much the album we hoped for.” i knew this one was gonna be a banger! you can hear a preview of “50/50″, the first single on the album, by going to Big Dada’s website and turn the music on. The album is still set to release on June 4th. The song 50/50 describes how cool and punk rock Big Dada is, and how it fits with Wiley’s philosophy on money and record deals. For more info on Wiley and the upcoming album, see my previous post, Wiley’s Last Solo Album. His single “Pies” is still the best, top notch best, example of grime music.

Dizzee’s upcoming album, Math’s and English will be released on July 2nd, and features collaborations between him and Lily Allen, and him with Joss Stone. I also already reported on Dizzee’s involvement in the Arctic Monkey’s new release, “Brainstorm”. Wikipedia has a small sample of “I Luv U”, from his album Boy In Da Corner. You can hear more on Dizzee’s myspace page. The tunes on this myspace are not very grimey, they’re closer to regular hip hop.

Lethal Bizzle’s upcoming album Back to Bizznizz will be released in June 2007 by V2 Records.

thanks for reading, i hope you enjoyed this. feel free to comment or mogmail me feedback or further info, i will try to incorporate it into my next installment.

What happened last weekend in Bow, or in the rest of UK for that matter? News from that neighborhood is exploding on Pitchfork this week with new releases from Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, Roll Deep, and Joker! i can’t even type fast enough to properly share all the details with you, but i will give it a go, because this sound is hot!

For starters, i have already posted news about Dizzee Rascal’s collaborations with the Arctic Monkeys, Joss Stone, and Lily Allen. Dizzee’s new album is set to drop the same day as Wiley’s latest, and maybe last, solo album. Wiley is the frontman for the self-produced crew of djs, producers, and mc’s known as Roll Deep, of which Dizzee used to ride with. Roll Deep announced yesterday that they will be releasing their Rules & Regulations Vol. 1 on their own label, Roll Deep Recordings. That story is here.

Today Pitchfork published their monthly feature, The Month In: Grime/Dubstep which, this month, exposes grime’s wide reaching influence from UK to NYC to SF. Here are some of the highlights :

Joker, with an album already out on the label, Earwax, and another one on the way on Terrorhythm soon, is bringing a unique video game sound to a genre that has been based largely on smooth rolling drum and synth sounds. He’s been surrounded by some of UK’s hottest and most talented beat producers and mcs, so expect this kid to rise quickly to the spotlight. Also, being so heavily influenced by the grime, dubstep and garage music that has been gaining popularity over the last 5 years, he’s steppin out with a unique interpretation of what other producers have done, sometimes to the point of scrapping the elements thought to be key to the sound. And it still works. He ends up with a new sound that is still very much grime music.

The feature also has lots of good background on the developments in the UK grime scene that has brought some artists into the spotlight, while hiding others away, sometimes by drama and changing allegiances within the music scene, some tangled with the law and lost a lot of time in the studio and served time instead.
But wait, it gets even better! I don’t fully understand why the article suddenly veers over to the US to discuss the budding grime, dubstep, ragga, and dancehall scene, but it mentions 2 crews organizing parties based on this slow, bass heavy sound, one in San Francisco and one in NYC. Reppin the SF side of things, Kid Kameleon not only perfectly sums up the diversity in the music styles, the djs and producers backgrounds, but also with the crowds attending events such as the ones organized by Surya Dub at Club 6 in downtown SF. When you get that far into the article, watch your toes because Kid Kameleon starts droppin names like a B52! Kid Kameleon and Dj Ripley have both participated in the underground soundsystem culture that has been strong in NYC and SF for the last 10 years, as well as making names for themselves around the world, touring with DrumCorps/Aaron Spectre, DJ C of the MashIt ragga jungle/breakcore record label, and Kid 606 of the ragga jungle/breakcore/techno/electronica record labels Tigerbeat6 and Shockout.

And i can’t forget to mention BBC radio, who has been open to these ghetto sounds for quite some time now, and has been very influential in streaming it to an international audience. BBC radio has stations dedicated to playing the current sounds of whats happening in UK studios and on its streets, and is playing a big role in the global interest. there are other stations like RinseFM that are more in touch with the producers, mcs, and djs that have hosted night after night after night of live performances and then immediately posting whole sets online for people everywhere to enjoy for free. But, ever since Barefiles.com disappeared, and some drama has ensued, it has become difficult for anyone outside of the UK to have access to what is current in the scene. So, BBC is the place to watch and listen, even if it’s more due to their staying power than actual credibility.

However, this week they had some very influential and credible artists in the studio, hosting shows, playing music, talking about what’s happening right now, and these shows are not to be missed. BBC archives each show for one week only, so don’t sleep on this!!

BBC 1xtra had Skepta and his mum on the DJ Target show on sunday for UK’s Mother’s Day. We even got to hear him perform his new song, “Sweet Mother”, live on air! That show is here.

On April 21, Roll Deep will be in the studio performing live on Tim Westwood’s show. That link is here.

i think there are actually a few others that i should be posting here, but i’ll have to dig them up. i’ll add them right here, check back tomorrow to see if i found anything.