Music, hip-hop

Gym Class Heroes

They may have had their big break on Fall Out Boy’s Decaydance Records label but Gym Class Heroes play up beat hip hop, earning their stripes playing mainly rock bills. Now frontman Travis McCoy has helped push the band into the big leagues with duets…

Root Manuva - Slime and Reason

Almost a decade after his debut album Brand New Second Hand appeared, Rodney Smith’s no longer at the head of a field of one. The popularisation of UK hip hop which he ushered in has since given way to garage and then grime, and while he’s stepped back…

Beans - Thorns

HIP HOP (Adored and Exploited) A welcome return from Beans, aka Mr Ballbeam, one quarter of Anti-Pop Consortium, but also a fully-fledged vocalist and beat master in his own right. He’s a self-proclaimed scene outsider who requires no association to…

The Grouch - Show You The World

HIP HOP (Legendary Music) The Grouch drops his first solo-project in five years, and it ain’t too bad either. A highly respected solo MC, beat-maker and founder member of The Living Legends, he is famed for his heartfelt approach to his lyrics; an…

Jon Phonics - Half Past

HIP HOP (Illsmith Productions) UK hip hop is hard work, but Jon Phonics looks like an exception to the rule. Half Past, his debut album, plays host to UK vocal talent. What’s interesting is that his approach to production seems to have got the best…

Tasty sub - Glasgow Sub Club honoured in Resident Advisor poll

Glasgow clubbing institution the Sub Club has been honoured with a place in respected dance magazine Resident Advisor’s Top 10 list. The Sub Club was placed inside the worldwide Top 10 in three out of four categories, including Atmosphere, Programming…

All day hip hop event

Banksy’s subversive street art sells for millions, Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre are basically musical royalty and films such as Step Up 2 continue to popularise break-dancing and battling. Hip hop and street culture couldn’t be having more of a moment. Funny…

5 Reasons to Go See - Jay-Z

He stuck it right up Noel Gallagherafter Noel made some rash remarks about Jay-Z being chosen to headline Glastonbury this year. In retaliation, Jay-Z ran an intro tape mocking Gallagher, then proceeded to lead the huge crowd through a sarcastic version…

The Roots - Hip hop's best live act

Originally ignored by rap audiences in the US, the band gained notoriety on the 1994 Lollapalooza tour where the alt.rock crowd took to them with gusto. They have slowly broken through and carved a niche for themselves. The eclecticism On paper The…

Tricky - Knowle West Boy

Fifteen years in and Tricky remains a fascinatingly contradictory figure. This debut for esteemed indie Domino sees him more eclectic than ever, with a raft of obscure guest vocalists adding to that vibe, and features both some of his most commercial…

Atmosphere - When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold

HIP HOP (Rhymesayers) The sixth studio album arrives from Slug and Ant, long time contributors of non-formula hip hop weirdness, but it ain’t going to please everyone with its more polished slant. There’s the live sounding funkster groove ‘Dreamer’…

Atmosphere

HIP HOP Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Tue 17 Jun No matter how tired commercial hip hop becomes there’s always a smattering of inspirational characters to breathe some life into the scene. Innovators like MF Doom, Madlib and Shape of Broad Minds keep us on…

Triple Darkness - The Heresy Presents: Anathema

HIP HOP (Higher Heights Records) UK hip hop suffers from the age-old problem of trying to compete with its US roots; a losing battle some might say, but Triple Darkness have been receiving a fair bit of hype of late, supporting Method Man and Redman…

Public Enemy

HIP HOP ABC, Glasgow, Tue 27 May Do you know the one about the ahead-of-his-time internet entrepreneur, the clock-obsessed reality TV star, and the boyish looking, alleged anti-Semite? No punch line here, just excerpts from the long and vivid history…

Jae P - Unsigned & Hungry Vol. 1

HIP HOP (Souljawn) Perhaps it’s the clamour to be heard or a yearning to be taken seriously, a hangover from the UK’s self-conscious beginnings, but British rappers frequently sound exasperated, predisposed to moan. Ghanian-born, London bred Glasgow…

Cadence Weapon and J-Live

HIP HOP Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Mon 19 May; The Ivy, Glasgow, Tue 20 May In the space of two albums, Rollie Pemberton (aka Cadence Weapon) has cut a compellingly maverick path across the hip hop landscape. His first record, Breaking Kayfabe, set…

Kyon & Dyems - Overnight

HIP HOP ELECTRONICA (Crystal Wish) Kyon & Dyems are enigmatic Edinburgh-based brothers who, on this quality showing, would put most major label hip hop acts to shame. This debut album, recorded on a budget, is nevertheless brimming with ideas…

Method Man, Redman and LuckyMe

HIP HOP Carling Academy, Glasgow, Sat 29 Mar - RESCHEDULED FOR SUNDAY 20 APRIL ‘Change’ seems to be a popular word at the moment; politically, environmentally, it’s all about moving into something new. As always, you can rely on hip hop to reflect the…

Guilty Simpson - Ode to The Ghetto

HIP HOP (Stones Throw Records) Byron Simpson aka Guilty Simpson is the real deal. He’s done his time within Detroit’s hip hop scene, mastering his art and waiting for his moment. Ode to the Ghetto is his first full-length project and what you have…

Guru

‘I’ve personally always been about trying to create new, relevant, hot music,’ states Guru in a considered tone that sits well with his rap canon, ‘and thanks to my partnership with the super-producer Solar I’m able to do that. Not everyone has a…

Robert Glasper

JAZZ The Lot, Edinburgh, Thu 27 Mar Blue Note recording artist Robert Glasper has made one of the more successful attempts to merge the influences of jazz with contemporary urban forms, and particularly hip hop. While such experiments often end up…

Cadence Weapon - Afterparty Babies

HIP HOP (Big Dada) It’s not entirely fair to say we need another smartass boy shooting his mouth off over gristly beats but here’s another, who, despite initial impressions has dealt us a hand of oddly affecting, raw and human stories. Cadence…

The Hot 8 Brass Band

It shouldn’t work, but it does. Live and direct from New Orleans, The Hot 8 Brass Band add funk and hip hop grooves to the familiar brass band sound. With funked up covers of the likes of ‘Sexual Healing’ overlaid with lyrical rapping they take the…

The Cool Kids

HIP HOP Ego, Edinburgh, Sun 17 Feb For the past few years hip hop in the states has been suffering. In 2007 album sales nose-dived and the ‘hip hop tycoon’ icon with clothing labels, butlers and perfumes finally crumbled under street level scrutiny.