Music and hip-hop

Underling - Underling

4 Sep 2008

Based in Dunfermline, Underling pull off the hitherto impossible trick of making the Kingdom of Fife sound like a district of Brooklyn. Their music is played live, a light but spirited bed of intently grooving jazz, through which Aron Moorhouse’s raps…

Gym Class Heroes

4 Sep 2008

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

21 Aug 2008

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

14 Aug 2008

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

14 Aug 2008

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

7 Aug 2008

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

7 Aug 2008

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

31 Jul 2008

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

17 Jul 2008

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

17 Jul 2008

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

17 Jul 2008

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

3 Jul 2008

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’…

Estelle @ ABC Glasgow

Seen on Monday 9 June

12 Jun 2008

Anybody who witnessed, no, anybody who experienced the vivacity of Estelle in Glasgow last night will not be surprised to discover that the American-produced British success story of 2008 is not new to the circuit. In fact, as she explains following…

Atmosphere

5 Jun 2008

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

5 Jun 2008

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

22 May 2008

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

22 May 2008

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

8 May 2008

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

10 Apr 2008

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

27 Mar 2008

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

27 Mar 2008

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

13 Mar 2008

‘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

13 Mar 2008

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

13 Mar 2008

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

28 Feb 2008

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

14 Feb 2008

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.

Aesop Rock

31 Jan 2008

INDIE HIP HOP Five albums deep, and with a cable access TV slot and Nike Original Run project under his belt (because even slacker heads need to exercise), Aesop Rock’s murky stew of hip hop, rock and post-apocalyptic commentary still proves a…

Lupe Fiasco - The Cool

31 Jan 2008

(Atlantic) HIP HOP The fondness for branding artists the ‘new’ someone means they have little or no time to establish themselves as themselves. So, with this in mind, young Master Fiasco is neither the new Kanye West or Jay-Z, though the Chicagoan…

Wu Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams

13 Dec 2007

HIP HOP (Bodog Music) The prevalence of solo efforts from the numerous members of the Wu-Tang Clan makes their joint efforts less of an event than they should be. The band’s last two outings have been worryingly inconsistent affairs and this, the…

Jay-Z - American Gangster

29 Nov 2007

HIP HOP American Gangster (Roc-a-Fella) Retirement plans seem like a long way off as the Jigga Man produces his second album in a little less than 12 months. If Kingdom Come was all bluster and no substance, then Jay-Z redeems himself with this…

Example - Word smart

15 Nov 2007

Even for seasoned trend-spotters and taste makers like those here at The List it isn’t easy to predict which artists will strike a chord with the masses, who will stall before take-off and who will crash and burn. Having conquered press and public…

DJ Vadim

15 Nov 2007

HIP HOP The Sound Catcher Extras (BBE) When The Sound Catcher came out last year, some reviewers believed that DJ Vadim, the original White Russian, was not interested in inventing sub-genres, but simply putting his stamp on the music he was in…

Prefuse 73

18 Oct 2007

HIP HOP Preparations (Warp) The beats! Its all about the beats! The essence of hip hop is the rhythms and the rhymes and this album proves that those boundaries are there to be tweaked, twisted and trampled. One Word Extinguisher, the 2003 album…

European coup for 50 Cent

28 Sep 2007

Rapper 50 Cent appears to have regained some semblance of dignity after his disastrous chart war with rival Kanye West, and has taken the top spot in Europe. The two became embroiled in battle when it was discovered they were releasing their new…

Kanye West

20 Sep 2007

HIP HOP Graduation (Def Jam) The battle between Kanye West and 50 Cent for the album chart top spot was a sensational mismatch. 50 is a man adrift, trundling out clichés, devoid of the soul that made his early work so annoyingly catchy. West on…

DJ IQ

20 Sep 2007

HIP HOP Live from the Sofa (Man Can) Don’t worry, the Sofa isn’t some tragically hip underground club you’ve never heard of – it’s in the living room of DJ IQ, one of the UK’s most tenacious new beatsmiths. With the help of a whole bus-load of UK hip…

50 Cent postpones European tour

18 Sep 2007

Rapper 50 Cent has postponed his European tour, as he flounders in the chart battle with rival Kanye West. A spokeswoman refused to comment on whether this was due to 50 Cent’s declaration that, if outsold by West, he would retire from his solo…

Chart battle for Fiddy and Kanye West

14 Sep 2007

At the time of writing Kanye West was winning the chart battle with 50 Cent both home and abroad, after Fiddy’s overzealous bid for superiority. As both artists vowed to release their albums Graduation (West) and Curtis (50 Cent) on the same day, 50…

A-list stars support Darfur hip hop single

13 Sep 2007

London-based hip-hop duo Mattafix have enlisted the help of a host of A-listers - including George Clooney, Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson - to support a charity single for Darfur. The stars will feature in a series of introductions for the…

“Hip-Hop Cash Kings” revealed

17 Aug 2007

American magazine Forbes has revealed the top earners in the hip-hop world, but claims their success is not solely down to their music. The highest earners have extended their skills beyond rapping and into the worlds of fashion and music management.

Kanye West

16 Aug 2007

Jay-Z may be the top dog but Kanye West always the one with the charm and skills. He may have blotted his copy book with some truly stupid outbursts – his drunken stage invasion at the MTV Europe Music Awards for starters when Justice scooped Best Video…

Common

Finding Forever

9 Aug 2007

HIP HOP Billed all too regularly as the nearly man of hip hop, this isn’t technically true of Common. Seven albums in, he was, until 2005’s Be an underground doyen, releasing excellent albums such as Like Water for Chocolate, which were scholarly…

ESG

South Bronx Story 2

9 Aug 2007

HIP HOP While the past year has seen much blathering about the Nu Rave scene and its various spin offs, many have been quick to forget that dance rock first came into existence back when many current bands were still playing hopscotch. New York’s ESG…

The Beats

16 Jul 2007

Beats international Miles Johnson raps about hip hop with Example and Professor Green, two of the acts on The Beats, the label set up by Streets frontman Mike Skinner With the emergence of Mike Skinner and Dizzee Rascal, British hip hop is…

Records - Antimc

3 Jul 2007

LEFTFIELD HIP HOP As billed this solo outing from Radioinactive and Boom Bip associate Antimc is a freewheeling hodgepodge of avant-garde jazz sensibilities applied to punk, electro, experimental rock and hip hop. As such it can be angular, maddening…

Underling

18 Jun 2007

Homegrown hip hop is a growing phenomenon and Underling find themselves at the front of the pack. Splitting their time between Dunfermline and Edinburgh, the fivesome are renowned for eclectic live shows, and are currently putting the finishing touches…

Dizzee Rascal

21 May 2007

HIP HOP For many the turn of the new millennium was a bleak time for British music. A mixture of saccharine garage, imported nu metal and Travis had ripped the spine from the charts, leaving a charmless corpse and no respite in sight. Few though…

Nasty P

Album

7 May 2007

HIP HOP REVISITED Love or loathe them, it looks like the blend trend that combusted spontaneously in both indie and hip hop scenes two or three years ago is set to burn on unabated. Here, Edinburgh’s own Nasty P casts in his own tuppence worth. The…

Records - Nafees

Nafees

9 Apr 2007

HIP HOP Scottish hip hop is becoming an ever more tangible currency of late, and 21 year-old rapper Nafees is the latest addition to the pantheon. Part of the credit for this release, however - which rather confusingly bills itself as both a solo…

5 Reasons To Go See - The Sugarhill Gang

5 Reasons To Go See

27 Mar 2007

1 ‘I said a hip hop...’ Yep, that’s right. In 1979 the gang recorded ‘Rapper’s Delight’, the first (okay, second; but the first to hit the mainstream charts in America) rap single, and still one of the very best ever.

Roots, The

Game theory

6 Dec 2006

I remember as an impressionable young slip of a lad witnessing the abhorrent spectacle of two female rappers destroying their current hit to an unmoved huddle of Top of the Pops teenyboppers. Certainly I was appalled at the sight, and more so the sound.

Penpushers - album review

Penpushers

11 Nov 2006

HIP HOP Shadowy Scottish rap pioneers Penpushers have been skulking around the hip-hop hinterland for a while now, but this third album is possibly their most mainstream outing yet, thanks in part to the occasional lush female vocal courtesy of one…

Steg G & the Freestyle Master - CD review

Steg G & the Freestyle Master

17 Oct 2006

HIP HOP Regional hip hop is a natural progression from a style that was so specific to the streets of New York where Kool Herc originated it in the 70s. That said, it’s still a bit of a stretch to get your head around the concept of Glaswegian hip…

DAM - album review

DAM

10 Oct 2006

HIP HOP Being Palestinians residing inside Israel, and one of the first breakthrough acts to rap in Arabic, DAM’s are truly unique in the hip hop world. This might have been more curse than blessing - there was always the risk that their novel ouevre…

Autumn music special - Jay-Z

President Carter

18 Sep 2006

1. With more pseudonyms than Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Sawn Carter’s Jay-Z alias is an abbreviation of his neighbourhood nickname Jazzy, appropriated for his smart dress sense. His Reebok S Carter was the first line of non-athlete training shoe and remains…