Video: Brad Strut - N16 Remix

I've got quite a passion for the Hip Hop of those dudes down under and Brad Strut's up there with the best of them.

This new joint is produced by Simplex and comes of his new album which also features the UK's own Beat Butcha. It seems Brad has stepped up his game quite a bit as well since his last LP Legend Official, everything's just that bit title on this ode to his home post code.

Top 5 NBA Name Drops

So for those that don't know the NBA play-offs are well and truely under way and Kobe and my boys are looking good to take it deep into the finals, provided they start playing like they did a few months back.

In honour of this I've compiled a little list of the best NBA related rhymes I could find. Just to quickly explain the arbitrary ranking system here, points are awarded for originality, accuracy and quotability. Then promptly disregarded based purely on which one I like best.

I've also kept it quite current so I don't want to hear any cries about why i left out some unheardmix tape rhyme of Bushwick Bill comparing himself to Muggsy Bogues, OK?

1. "Money long like arms on Alonso Morning" - Dice Raw on The Roots' Here I come
This is made 100 time better by the fact that it comes in the middle of a verse of some of the most random boasts imaginable. The next line is, "Vampire chicks suck from dust till dawnin," brilliant nonsense.

2. "Ni***z will pull heat longer than Shaq's shoes" - Black Milk on Losing Out
I'd like to point out that when it comes to rappers dropping Shaq's name into a verse they're always very clear never to do so by comparing their mic murdering ability to his.

3. "I ordered the Kobe beef like Shaquiel O'Neal" - Kanye West on Back like That (Remix)
Another appearence for the big deiesel here. Only Yeezy can really pull off a line that seems this obvious and then round it off with "When we walked in the whole room got stil/I Dunno how to put this but I'm kind of a big deal." Post-South Park Kanye would be appauled.

4. "When i come back like Jordan, wearing the 45" - Jay-Z on Encore
Ok normally Jordan is about the laziest basketball reference point you could ask for but this is so far off the mark it's painful. Having retired for 5 minutes Jay did come back and his comback album, Kingdom Come, was far less spectacular than his Heirness's return to his former team in 1995, where he was the difference maker in getting them to the conference championships. Instead Jay's was al imp bloated set of selfindulgent toss, with the exception of the title track, which was a certified banger.

5. "So we rock it like Tracy Macgrady" - The Game on Too Much

It'd be disrespecting The Game to do a top five of name dropping and not include him even if this lines pretty played out.

Now, the only thing I'm left asking is, "Where's all the British rappers referencing basketball flopster and 'only gay in the NBA', John Amaechi?"

Image courtesy of  Shaun Wong

Where i've been at...

Ok, so it's probably not a surprise to anyone who's been checking this that I've not been blogging even half as much as I'd like these last few months. The simple fact is that my course (I'm a student by the way) and other commitments have meant that I've been pretty busy.

I do intend to keep on coming back to this blog and writing as much as possible but it's not been possible in the recent months to post as much as i did in the first few and I've never been as prolific as Certified Banger.

But I've not forgotten to plug a bit of Hip Hop wherever I've been over the last few months indeed I've managed to work it into a couple of unlikely places and I'm hoping to have a couple of interviews up other places soon too.

I'll try not to leave it so long next time.

I f*cking hate rappers!

If you've ever though, "What the hell are you on about?" when you listened to a rapper in an interview, felt cheated by long track listings which are low on quality or wondered why the new section of rap cats don't show enough respect to the old school, then chances are you'll want to get your hands on one of QN5's "I f*cking hate rappers!" t-shirts.

To promote their cause PackFM and the boys have put together this video of a whole host of hip hop's great and the good coming off like BBC2's Grumpy old men.

Karl Hinds returns

Probably best known for his take on Big L's Ebonics, where he flipped the UK slanguage dictionary with supreme style, Karl has been missing in action for around three years now. That's all changed though as he steps back in the booth to spit once again.

If you came to British Hip hop like i did when Blak Twang was blowing up then Hinds was one of the dependable go-to guys of the scene who you always knew was going kill the tune whenever he stepped on it. So it's with a big smile that I'd like to welcome him back.

Over at his MySpace he's got three new tracks up for your perusal all with a proper club vibe. Here's hoping he makes it back on the live scene and over the sunny Cardiff.

Props to Bare Beats for the heads-up.

Mudmowth - Skullcrackology Video

Lyrical terrorist Mudmowth has a new video out to promote his much lauded Circus in the cemetery EP. It's looking pretty nice to, with the dudes at Associated Minds continuing to punch above their weight in the productions quality stakes.


Mudmowth - 'Skullcrackology' in HD from Associated Minds on Vimeo.

Linkage 9: Wordsmith, Q-Tip and The Punisher

Underrated UK emcee Wordsmith is set to release his long awaited album In pursuit of Harmony on 2 March and has a song floating round the internets for the purpose of promoting that called They don't seem to care.

It's a nice piece of quality UK fare and has me for one excited in anticipation of his new album. Link courtesy of Pepa.

On the other side of the Atlantic meanwhile Q-Tip has been breaking down his recent label woes and how he expects to survive beyond them. Link courtesy of Spine Magazine

All Hip Hop is also reporting that everyone's favourite dead, obese, wife beating, Pueto Rican, rap god, Big Pun, is to get the silver screen treatment in a documentary about his life.