Staff Writers

Review: Run the Jewels live in London

It’s no secret that we fucking love Run the Jewels and everything it stands for, and last night we caught them live in London for a show that sold out weeks ago.

The crowd was a healthy mix from every walk of life, proving just how many people Run the Jewels’ music is reaching. From classic-era heads who’ve been with El-P since Company Flow and Def Jux, to those just being introduced to the crew now – perhaps thanks to Killer Mike’s incredible commentary on the situation in Ferguson and beyond – the entire venue was charged with anticipation throughout the set from the warm-up deejay.

When El-P and Killer Mike took to the stage, the crowd went absolutely nuts, and the seasoned vets gave us exactly what we came for. That raw aggression we hear on wax translates perfectly to the live stage, with both rappers having enough energy to put artists half their age to shame.

All of the best tracks from their two already-certified-classic albums were included in the set, each one feeling as comforting and familiar as the kind of songs we’ve had as our favorites for years, which is all the more amazing when you step back and remember we’ve only been blessed with music from Run the Jewels since 2013.

Good live hip-hop shows are few and far between, but this was one that no doubt left a lasting impression on everyone who stepped out into the freezing cold London night when the show had ended, still buzzing about what they has just witnessed.

RTJ2 is out now on Mass Appeal. Read our review here, and our thoughts on the incredible upcoming Meow the Jewels project here.

Watch Oh No sample video games in the latest Rhythm Roulette

The new episode of Mass Appeal’s brilliant Rhythm Roulette series features one of our favorite producers, Oh No. Although sometimes lost under the huge shadow of his brother Madlib, Oh has proved himself to be one of the most consistent beat makers of the past decade, crafting incredible sounds for his own albums, and on classics by Mos Def, Guilty Simpson, Murs, Talib Kweli, MED and many others.

In a twist to the normal process, Oh No visits a video game store to make his three selections, where his hands fall upon Karate Champ, Nascar 99 and NWO/WCW Revenge, all for Nintendo 64 (remember that?).

Back in the lab, Oh No gives each game a play, and seems to have some trouble figuring the controls for the wrestling joint. He then starts working his magic, and before long we have a credible beat, sourcing a loop and various vocal stabs from the games.

Check the video below to hear the end result. All we need now is for his older brother to take up the Rhythm Roulette challenge.

Watch Raiders of the Lost Art, Part III

The latest installment of the PRhyme documentary series Raiders of the Lost Art is out now, with DJ Premier and Royce da 5’9″ inviting us further behind the scenes of their new collaborative project.

What impresses most this time is just how serious both artists are taking the social media and promotion, even going as far as personally setting up meetings with some of the most important companies in the world.

Younger artists know just how important it is to get their shit together across Twitter, Soundcloud and YouTube, but its refreshing to see a vet like Primo at the cutting edge too. Compare that to others from the classic era who seem to think its fine not to have an online presence, and it isn’t hard to figure out why they are fading fast into obscurity, while Premier is as popular as ever. We also get to see highlights from the photo shoot that gave us the dope album cover, again thanks to the perfectionism and entrepreneurial spirit of Primo.

Watch the video below, and buy the PRhyme album from December 9.

Album Review: Ghostface Killah’s 36 Seasons

While everyone else was talking about the Wu-Tang Clan reunion album, the most talented member of the group modestly announced that his latest solo record would be dropping exactly one week after A Better Tomorrow.

36 Seasons is Ghostface Killah’s eleventh album, and its another decent addition to an almost impeccable back catalog (the less said about Ghostdini: Wizard of Poetry in Emerald City the better).

Most GFK albums have some sort of loose story arc, but this one is billed as being a full-on concept album. In reality, the concept is pretty close to the same one on every other joint since his classic debut, Ironman, but this is no bad thing.

Similar to the 2013 Adrian Younge-assisted Twelve Reasons to Die, the music is something of a departure for Ghost, with different beats to what we are perhaps used to. Production is handled primarily by The Revelations, with some tracks nothing more than soulful interludes from the street drama happening in the narrative. Nice idea but hardly new, and after a while most of the beats start to sound the same. Intriguingly, Blood on the Streets is co-produced by The 45 King, marking a welcome return for one of the most iconic names in the game.

Surprisingly, and breaking tradition from other Wu solo albums, 36 Seasons doesn’t feature a single member of the Clan. Instead, AZ appears on five tracks, and veteran Kool G Rap features on three. The story behind how the album came about is unclear, but both are odd choices for this many features.

He may be one of the best to ever bless the mic, but G Rap’s heyday was a long time ago, and he’s lost the energy and flair of his many classics. AZ meanwhile has always been an underachiever at best, never quite living up to the promise of Illmatic. Both put in credible performances here, but we’ll take a Ghost and Rae collabo over AZ or G Rap all day long.

The poetry album aside, Ghostface has yet to make a bad album, but hasn’t made a truly great one since Apollo Kids. 36 Seasons won’t go down as one of his best, but an average GFK album is still miles ahead of most other artists, and its definitely a lot better than the long-awaited but lackluster new Wu joint.

36 Seasons is out everywhere, December 9.

Christmas, all rapped up.

Christmas is coming fast, and if you are anything like us, you’ll leave the present buying until the very last minute. At that point you’ll panic buy, and your loved ones will get the same old shit you got them last year. Again.

For those that like to get in nice and early, here’s some present ideas for the classic hip-hop fan in your life. And by that we mean you, because these are the things you should be asking Santa for this year. You’re welcome.

Check the Technique 2: More Liner Notes for Hip-hop Junkies, by Brian Coleman

The first Check the Technique book from hip-hop writer Brian Coleman was certified classic, bringing us the story behind some of the best albums in the history of rap. The follow up is just as good, with in-depth analysis and interviews covering the creation of 24 milestone albums, including Lord Finesse’s Funky Technician, DJ Polo & Kool G Rap’s Wanted: Dead or Alive, The Beatnuts’ Intoxicated Demons, Ice Cube’s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted, KMD’s Black Bastards and 3rd Bass’ The Cactus Album. It is well written and nicely put together, and if you buy from Rap and Soul Mail Order, you even get a special Smif-N-Wessun 7″ thrown in too.

Order from Rap and Soul Mail Order in Europe, or Get on Down in the US.

Dust & Grooves: Adventures in Record Collecting (Second Edition), by Eilon Paz

With vinyl sales back on the rise, interest is getting bigger. True hip-hop heads never actually stopped buying records of course, and we like nothing more than snooping through the vinyl collections of our favorite artist via shows like Crate Diggers. Dust & Grooves is a coffee-table book exploring the collections of hip-hop artists and beyond, with interviews covering how each library has grown, and its best gems. The updated Second Edition features new contributions, including a chance to see what Questlove has in his many crates. It’s by no means cheap, but is beautifully illustrated and presented.

Buy from the Dust & Grooves website.

Limited Edition J Dilla figure

Dilla Dawg was one of the greatest to ever do it, and a personal favorite of ours. Ma Dukes has been overseeing the release of several special products recently, and this one is nicely timed for the Holiday Season (although it may not arrive until the New Year!). The figure comes complete with Detroit cap and Stussy tee, and miniature Dilla is even holding his beloved sampler. There have only been 2,000 made, and they are already selling like hot ~~cakes~~ donuts.

Pre-order yours from Rappcats.

Album Review: Royce da 5’9″ and DJ Premier’s PRhyme

DJ Premier and Royce da 5’9″ have been steady working together since 2002’s Rock City, an album that featured the certified banger Boom. There have been hits and misses since, but when they announced a few months back that a full length collabo was in the works, it got everyone’s attention. After weeks of teasers and videos, the PRhyme album is now finally here, and its dope.

What hits you straight away is the production, and how Premier has managed to adapt to rappers with a style not typical of the artists he tends to work with. He’s produced for a range of different artists before of course, from west coast groups like Compton’s Most Wanted, to southern acts like Bun B and Ludacris, but the beats for those still had that classic Primo sound. What impresses most here is how easily the music changes to suit an eclectic mix of unique artists that includes Mac Miller (on Dat Sound Good), and Killer Mike and Schoolboy Q (on Underground Kings).

In fact, the entire album is a bit of a change of pace for Premier. There are still classic bangers, like U Looz and Courtesy, but also rich compositions that you wouldn’t necessarily know were Primo beats if you heard them out of context. It’s a refreshing new direction for a producer who, while unquestionably one of the greatest of all time, does tend to get stuck in their own signature sound. This is new-era DJ Premier, holding his own amongst the modern beat makers, with a little help along the way from Adrian Younge.

As for Royce, he’s stepped his game up, with the same sense of purpose and aggression we saw glimpses of on 2011’s solo album Success is Certain, and on his Bad Meets Evil side project with Eminem.

Other standouts include the Common-featuring Wishin, and To Me, To You, where PRhyme team up with the over-hyped but always-impressive Jay Electronica.

There’s a moment on U Looz when Royce points out how stupid it would be to suggest that by joining forces with DJ Premier, he’s trying to be the new Guru. The Gang Starr days are long gone for sure, but PRhyme is shaping up to be a group that over time could well end up achieving similar levels of critical acclaim.

PRhyme is set for release December 9.

Album Review: Wu-Tang Clan’s A Better Tomorrow

Hype is one thing, but deep down we all knew that the long-awaited Wu-Tang Clan album was never going to be classic. Now that A Better Tomorrow is finally here, its even more of a disappointment than we feared.

It’s not terrible, and still better than 8 Diagrams, but hardly vintage Wu. We didn’t expect them to make the same kind of album they did 20 years ago; hip-hop has moved on since then, and with the average age of a clansman now around 45, so have they. We did expect it to be a better tomorrow than this though, especially having had to wait so long, and after so much in-fighting to get it done.

The biggest problem is a lack of enthusiasm, with none of the group member’s hearts seemingly in it. Even verses from the four best rappers in the group – Ghostface Killer, Raekwon, GZA and Inspectah Deck – sound phoned in, with lyrics that do nothing more than go through the motions.

It would be naive to think that all of the members were in the same room at the same time when they recorded, but its this lack of coherence, both emotionally and geographically, that stops A Better Tomorrow from sounding like a genuine group album. The only rapper that still sounds fresh and energized is Method Man, but its hard for one man to keep the excitement levels up when everyone else around him is flat.

Ironically, considering how passionate he seemed to be about making the album happen, the best beats are those not produced by RZA, with standouts including 40th Street Black/We Will Fight and Keep Watch (both produced by Mathematics), and the Adrian Younge produced Crushed Egos. RZA does put in some good beat work, especially on Hold the Heater, but there’s a sense of laziness and self-indulgence in sampling/riffing on Dusty Springfield’s Son of a Preacher Man on Preacher’s Daughter.

Not the return to glory we’d hoped for then, but not quite a complete trainwreck. There’s some life left in the Wu, and the likes of Ghostface will no doubt keep on making good music forever, but its difficult to predict just how much further these legends of the game can make it as a team.

A Better Tomorrow is out December 2 on Warner Bros.

Watch Raiders of the Lost Art: Part 2

The second installment of Raiders of the Lost Art is now available. This time the focus is on DJ Premier, with footage of the master at work in the studio. We don’t get to see too much though, as Preem makes it clear he doesnt like to let people know a whole lot about how he works that magic behind the boards.

Adrian Younge also makes an appearance, explaining his involvement with the PRhyme project, and how working with the duo has helped him see his own previous work in a whole new light. See below for the full clip (pun intended).

PRhyme is out next month, and available for pre-order from iTunes in some regions now.

Review: Joey Bada$$ live in London

Lets be really honest for a moment. Most live hip-hop shows are disappointing. Late arrival from the artist, too much crowd hyping and not enough rapping, bad mic quality, short set lengths. We’ve experienced them all, even from some of our favorite acts.

We still had high hopes for the Joey Bada$$ tour, and on the whole it didn’t disappoint when we caught one of the shows in London. The set-up was classic no frills hip-hop: Joey on the mic, with a deejay out back. No more flash or flair required. For a rapper like Bada$$, still just 19 but making the kind of hip-hop that throws back to the classic era, its an environment that suits him well. When the deejay also happens to be Statik Selektah, its even better.

It turns out Joey knows how to rock a crowd too. Full of energy but without the unnecessary and over-the-top swagger of other acts, he lets his music do the talking, giving us proper versions of his biggest tracks.

Obvious standouts included Waves, truthfully one of the finest hip-hop tracks of all time (yeah, we said it), and the DJ Premier produced Unorthodox. There was also the obligatory heartfelt tribute to fallen Pro Era member Capital Steez, reminding us all just how tragic it is to lose a talented rapper at only 19 years of age.

With a decent live show, teaser trailers and documentaries, the hype over Joey’s debut album B4.Da.$$ just keeps on getting stronger. It drops January 20, 2015.

Go behind the scenes with Joey Bada$$ on tour

It’s been a good week for Joey Bada$$ fans. First up was a new cryptic teaser trailer that finally gave us a solid release date for B4.DA.$$. The highly anticipated debut album will drop January 20, 2015, and although full details are yet to be released, its expected to include singles Big Dusty and Christ Conscious, and feature production from DJ Premier, J Dilla and Statik Selektah amongst others.

A new video has also now emerged, documenting Joey as he travels around Europe on the latest leg of his tour. He talks about why he loves performing more than being in the studio, how to give the fans what they want, and the inspiration he’s taken from seeing Jay-Z and other major artists on stage.

We’ve been itching to hear B4.DA.$$ for months and months, and its nice to hear the young Mr Badas$$ stay humble and grounded as he prepares for what will surely at last be his breakout year.

Watch the mini documentary below, and the album teaser further down.