Masta Ace interview now online at TrafficMag.org

Check the link.

And of course don't forget to get your arse down to Fresh Jive on November 28th to catch Ace live with Edo G and a shit-load of dope support acts.

Masta Ace interview coming soon...

...I just today got an e-mail from the man himself with the answers to a few questions. The results should be up at TrafficMag.Org over the next few days and of course he is playing live with Edo G and support from Verbal Contact, East Park Reggae Collective, No Change, Alphabetix, J Bravo, Defenderz of Style and DJs T-Breaks, Sinical and Prolific at Fresh Jive @ Elbow Room, Leeds on Saturday November 28th.

In the meantime, check out the following video for Ace and Edo's new single "Little Young" - the tune and the video are both funny as hell.



NB: More videos, etc, at www.aetheduo.com

Competition time...

The end of this week has been a bit of a non-stop one.

I was out as follows:

- Wednesday night in a non-music-related capacity.
- Thursday night for Mikey Dizzle's birthday. The little lad is only 24, bless him... ah, the innocence of youth.
- Friday night for Crackhouse Recordings' "The Line Up" night at The Vault*; stunning set from Jack Flash and his band Extra Curricular, excellent show from Defenders of Style with Chenai and Bloxed; slightly disappointing performance from headliner Sonny Jim but overall a cracking night (no pun intended).

I had a full weekend ticket for Leeds Urban Festival but missed the headliners on Saturday due to exhaustion and a cumulative hangover from the previous three nights.

However, I did make it down for the after-party and competitions on Sunday. I placed second in the DJ competition judged by current UK DMC champ Jeppa, winning £150 worth of freebies from Sturban Clothing. First place went to Luke EP for his D&B set - you can check him out here.

There was also an MC competition judged by Double D Dagger which - there not being any other DJs around with Hip-Hop instrumentals in their bags - I was roped in to drop beats for.

Results were as follows:

1st - Lip (DS Fam/ Northern Hostility)
2nd Sage (Cut & Paste)
3rd Prys (Verbal Contact/ DS Fam/ Northern Hostility)
Joint 4th - Matter (Verbal Contact/ Northern Hostility) and Instance (Crackhouse Recordings/ Northern Hostility)

The standard in both competitions was high so congratulations to all who entered.


*soon to be relocating I gather but more on that soon.

A Return To Arms

So it's finally here...

I'm officially returning to writing - I've just e-mailed a set of interview questions through to none other than New York legend Masta Ace. Expect to see the full piece online at TrafficMag.org in advance of his sure-to-be-a-knock-out set with Edo G at Fresh Jive on November 28th, supported by Verbal Contact, Alphabetix, and I think also DS Fam and No Change.

However, for the benefit of various and sundry, I should stress that this is not the state of play as it was.

When I was first on the scene and started getting some minor profile, I went all out and ran myself ragged doing more interviews, more reviews and more radio shows that I could really do justice to. The quality undoubtedly suffered somewhat and I stopped enjoying the Hip-Hop scene, which was a crying shame.

That is, of course, why I backed off for so long. Now that I'm back, I want things to be different. Less is more... I aim to post more than once a month now but no more often than I need to and the same principle applies to the other work I do. I want every word I write, every scratch I drop, everything I do, to be at good as I can possibly make it.

That doesn't mean I mind anyone asking me for a review or an interview, as long as they realise that very often the answer may be "no".

That way, when it matters, I can say "yes" and mean it 100%.

Alphabetix Anonymous EP up for pre-order on Suspect Packages (plus - Verbal Contact)

Easy all, dope Yorkshire Hip-Hop release alert...

www.suspect-packages.com/artists/a-f/ALPHABETIX.php



I've been slightly involved with Alphabetix's label 30 Tonne Slug recently (watch out for a forthcoming interview at UKHH.com).

***UPDATE: Interview is online now right here***

30 Tonne Slug are also releasing "Literary Vices" by Verbal Contact (AKA Matter and Prys from Northern Hostility) in November.



It's a truly sick little seven-tracker, featuring production and cuts by Mike D (Subterrania) and guest spots from Mr Ris (Alphabetix) and Dialect (Senseless Records). I've had it on frequent rotation since getting an early promo version a couple of months back.

You can check a couple of free samples out on the Certified Banger blog (here) if you feel so inclined. I'd advise you to get on it...

Back on it (2009 Version)

I'm kind of, sort of, back on the Hip-Hop thing.

More details to follow but broadly speaking, I'm working on my own recorded material at Subterrania Studios and making some promotional moves in support of local label 30 Tonne Slug.

If you're all very, very lucky I may get back to the point of posting more often than once every six months.

Some stuff I'm up to

Easy all

Still really enjoying doing much less Hip-Hop but here are a few things I am involved with at the moment:

Gorilla Tactics

I've been working with this two-man MC crew (recording cuts) via t'interweb for a while now and finally met Profanity and Lego in person (along with DJ Versatile) last Friday at a Spee 69 gig in York. I'm bringing them over to Leeds Friday of next week (22nd May) to appear on LSRFM.com's How We Do show which runs from 8pm.

Incidentally Spee put on a great show and he's got a track coming with Guilty Simpson - former Dilla collaborator, big things! I may well be doing some work with him in the near future if I get the chance.

Gorilla Tactics - www.myspace.com/legoprofanity
Spee 69 - http://www.myspace.com/spee69

Guest House (from Blessed House)

I'm going to be recording cuts with G.House for his new solo album over the next while. More details to follow.

www.myspace.com/guesthousebhouse

I also might knock out a new mix for online distribution soon so keep your eyes peeled for updates.

A Renaissance of Sorts

My steady drift away from the Leeds Hip-Hop Scene continues apace.

For those of you who are not yet aware, I've now formally agreed that I won't be doing any more shows for HHBRadio.com and will also officially cease writing for Traffic magazine, britishhiphop.co.uk, Leeds Hip-Hop and indeed any other outside sites or magazines in the immediate future.

I feel this is a positive move on my part as I've pretty much exhausted what I have to say on the subject of the local scene. I also currently need to focus on other areas - work, personal life and believe it or not I'm currently studying Mandarin Chinese. It's the right time and the right decision to let what was for a long time the centre of my life become less so.

This does still leave the question of what writing I will be doing. I'm thinking of continuing in some form but probably not with the same attention paid to music. The idea of starting a new blog elsewhere has crossed my mind - just to provide a clear cut-off from Straight Out Leodis which, despite the frequent diversions, has Hip-Hop at its heart.

In the meantime, I'm pleased to report that I'm finding myself able to enjoy music in a much more relaxed and satisfying way. With the pressure of to immediately analyse, describe and act upon a tune, I can listen in a different way.

If anyone's interested, I currently have the following on steady rotation:

Zed Bias - "Sound Of The Pirates" Mix CD

Zed Bias is now often cited as one of the fore-runners of the DubStep scene but this CD from 2000 predates all that. It's a mix of more or less entirely UK Garage, with varied tune selection and the mixing spot on throughout. This would be my number one response to anyone who make the wholly unfounded claim that Garage in its many forms is entirely or predominantly cheesy and unsubtle.

www.myspace.com/zedbias

DJ Revolution presents Malcolm and Martin - "Movement Music" Free Download Mix

This can be yours for free by hitting up Rev's Myspace blog here.

The mix is an interesting combination of turntablist re-chopping of classic breaks by Rev with freestyles and full tracks from new-on-the-scene MC duo Malcolm & Martin. As their chosen name (think "...X" and "...Luther King Jr" if you didn't get the reference straight away) might suggest, this is intelligent and politically motivated rap, but done with a degree of confidence and individuality which belies the looming "backpacker" stereotype.

I particular recommend the track "Lunchroom Cypher" which will be on their forthcoming album "Life doesnt frighten me...".

www.myspace.com/malcolm&mlkmusic
www.myspace.com/djrevolution

Queen's English - "Full Limit"

I still seem to be on the promo list for every damn UK head with a CD to promote and while most of it fails to excite me, the reams of good press quotes seem reasonably justified in the case of QE. This single promo track I've been sent is Hip-Hop from the UK rather than UK Hip-Hop (in fact the production is Swedish!) and all the better for that.

www.myspace.com/queensenglish