rescuing musical virtue in distress.
We truly live in a multi-media age. Music has often looked to video to enhance, explain and explores larger meaning or perhaps to just act as a shining beacon to draw in the curious casual listener. Today though the network between audio and visual and everything beyond seems to be a wonderfully expanded affair. Sound... Continue Reading →
The on-going pandemic has led to many different reactions from people trapped and traumatised by such unprecedented times. Anger fear, compassion, a renewed sense of unity, even laughter as a survival mechanism and everything in between. And music artists are no different but they do have a more public platform through which to express themselves.... Continue Reading →
Short, sweet and to the point. But that has always been the charm of rap music. It knows what it wants to say and it gets straight on with it, and you can’t accuse Sen Lombardi of outstaying his welcome. Repetitive to the point of hypnotic, minimal to a point that it seems to eventually... Continue Reading →
A lot of modern rap and hip-hop, and the music which has sprung from these forms, seems to be powered by a glitchy, skittering trap percussion. An engine room bookended by depth-charge bass beats and skittering, chiming chirps. Last Night manages to put a new spin on such a rhythmic approach, with the percussive beats... Continue Reading →
City Inside The Desert is, in many ways, a love letter to Phoenix, Arizona. But it is also one based in reality. Rather than mythologise and pander to the cities image, Rocadopolis takes an honest look at his home town's beating heart, pulling no punches whilst clearly proud to be from that place. And it... Continue Reading →
Music and video games have always had a close relationship. Some musicians make a healthy living providing the scores to blockbuster games and most gamers spend their game-time immersed in the sonic textures and musical washes that act as the backdrop to their adventures and exploration, melee and the mayhem. But it is surprising, given... Continue Reading →
This is a lesson about just how music works. First of all you are confronted by a song about female gold diggers which has very few lyrics in the verses and lots of the title/chorus being repeated over and over again.Then you realise that the video looks like it has been made by the same... Continue Reading →
It doesn’t pay to hold your thoughts in, to let them stew and bubble away inside getting ever darker and more confused. Letting your deepest feelings out and clearing the air is always a healthy option and if you are a songwriter, those thoughts invariably find their way into song. Merrick Road, the debut single... Continue Reading →
Driven by a combination of an inquiring mind and a desire not to fall back into the dark days which have shrouded his own past, CEO Chino Marley delivers us an intriguing album. All throughout Dripology, Vol. 1 you can hear him taking hip-hop, rap, R&B, trap and even more mainstream pop sensibilities, apart and... Continue Reading →
Rap, and the hip-hop form which it grew from, has always been music with a well-developed consciousness, the perfect vehicle for raising concerns, for shouting from the rooftops about the fears and frustrations of those caught in a certain place or locked into a certain life style. Here, that consciousness takes on the form of... Continue Reading →
It’s the curse of our modern lifestyle. You find the one that you want to spend the rest of your life with but then gradually gravitate towards spending so much time indulging your own passions and pastimes that you neglect the one thing that should be most important in your life. We all need space but... Continue Reading →
It is always hard to find new places for music to go. That’s true of any genre but perhaps more so in the case of rap and hip-hop which often seems constricted by rules and regulations of its own making, shackled down by their own sonic chains. And whereas many try to find a new... Continue Reading →
The best music always has something to say. And it is worth remembering that all movements that matter, from rock’n’roll to hip-hop, from punk to grime, have been born out of dissatisfaction, restlessness and outrage. Throw into that mix Rockie Brown, who has never been shy in coming forward, has never been one to hold... Continue Reading →
I guess the reason that so many rappers throw so much clutter into their songs, multiple layers of electronic washes, unnecessary musical multi-tracking and all manner of sonic distractions, is to hide the fact that they just aren’t that good at handling the lyrics. Which is ironic for a musical form which is all about... Continue Reading →
If hip-hop and rap, and the myriad cross-pollination and hybrids that they spawned, were all about pushing boundaries and creating new musical worlds, it is now left to those in the underground and skirting the peripheries of those forms to be left holding the torch. As this once revolutionary genre settled in to a safe,... Continue Reading →
As debut albums go, this is certainly great value for money, not just for the 35 tracks that are found on it but for the diversity of music and the who’s who of guest artists and contributors who feature here too. When left to his own devices his songs seem to tip their hats to... Continue Reading →
Music doesn’t have to always concentrate on the more serious aspects of life, sometimes it is enough to dwell on its simple pleasures. In fact, music is generally better when it sticks to such a brief, when it remains relatable and fun, it becomes something that the mainstream can revel in rather than aim at... Continue Reading →
Rap music is all too often the sound of aggression, revelling in a belligerent, devil-may-care attitude and a celebration of, for want of a better word, greed. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Who says so? Muhlatto says so, and Use Me is a song which offers a response to such "use and... Continue Reading →
Idle Time, the debut track from Dolo Don, offers some old-school soul vibes as it kicks into life, a wealth of cascading strings and a rising dynamic before cutting back into a starker, more contemporary delivery which matches the directness of his honest tone. He’s a pragmatist, keeping his head down, not being swayed by... Continue Reading →
There is something wonderfully circular about a hip-hop artist struggling to find their place in life both personally and artistically and then using that experience as the inspiration to write an album. They say that you should always write about what you know so an album inspired by the trials and tribulations of an artist... Continue Reading →
M.A.T.T follows the smoothest line and that’s for sure. Whereas many rappers come racing out of the starting blocks determined to let everyone know just how tough they are, how no-one is going to get in their way, how they will do anything to succeed, M.A.T.T instead has his thoughts elsewhere. Clearly, he’s a lover... Continue Reading →
If some rap artists seem happy to just re-invent the past and others try too hard to build new versions of the genre as a way of penning future musical chapters, Misfit seems to take an unexpected third route. Double Down is the sound of now but the sound of now being done differently. Differently... Continue Reading →
When you listen to Wayz latest release, Machine, it might seem to just be a stream of the usual braggadocio, just another rapper counting his money and waving success in everyone else's face. We’ve seen that all before. But Machine is actually far cleverer than that and deals with the idea that society and us,... Continue Reading →
Taking the sassier grooves of the R&B signature sound and running them through a hip-hop soundscape, Ajay Brown uses this musical springboard to push, not just the boundaries of his own music but perhaps urban music itself. Whilst Real Situations comes from an autobiographical place, discussing his own life and loves, stories and struggles, it... Continue Reading →
It might be a cliche to say that music is a form of therapy, but cliches exist for a reason and that reason is because, broadly speaking, they contain some truth. Wolf Mason knows this and his latest e.p, the engagingly titled I Can’t Sleep and Idk Why, is a collection of songs forged from... Continue Reading →
Rap music, perhaps more than any other genre, has always relied on rebel technologies. From those early sonic splicers rewiring decks to create their new sounds to the modern grassroots artist embracing affordable tech such as iPhones and home recording to move that spirit forward. What I’m saying is that it is all about the... Continue Reading →
If you have had your fill of the current tsunami of deluded, bedroom rappers who think that an empty, auto-tuned lyrical mumble and a free download of musical samples is all they need to get on in the world, then GhostWryter is going to hit you like a breeze of the freshest sonic air. Right... Continue Reading →
Well, this certainly wasn’t the place for me to put my very elementary Spanish to the test. Why? Because unlike many rap songs which opt for a very simple lyrical delivery, Loco Loquita is actually a smart set of lyrics. Very smart. Arising out of conversations about why performers who are prepared to take the... Continue Reading →
More people should take a leaf out of Take1’s book and adopt a similar positive attitude. Whilst a lot of rap and hip-hop seems to be about finding a quick fix to getting what you want out of life, On Ya Mark takes a more honest route and it is clear that he isn't scared... Continue Reading →
I’m always harking on about how important the opening track to an album is, I like the song to not only act as an introduction to the songs to follow but to also grab the listener and make them want to carry on listening. Track one on Dubliner Steo Wall’s debut album is a ruse,... Continue Reading →