Monday, June 19, 2006
Where's Brooklyn At? #4
Oh you want more?
In what is fastly becoming a Masta Ace appreciation series WBA?#4 tips it's hat to the label co-run by MA; M3 Records
Launched with the modern classic "A Long Hot Summer", M3 Records now houses the likes of Wordsworth, Stricklin, Punchline and DJ A.Vee.
You'll be pleased to learn that Masta Ace, Wordsworth and A.Vee are touring Europe once again in July/August this year. Anyone who caught last year's tour (myself included!) will know these shows will be essential not to miss.
M3 Records have kindly linked up with SaveHipHop.net to stream some video niceness of MA and Words lamping live and direct at The Cop Shop. Featured songs include "Beautiful", "The Ways" & "Good Ole Love". You will also find a freestyle and interview on there too.
Don't forget to check the M3 website for those Euro-tour dates.
Peace.
Friday, June 16, 2006
The Heavy Bronx Experiance #2
We return to the Bronx baby!
When someone mentions Tim Dog, you immediately think of the anthem "Fuck Compton" and his associaton with the Ultramagentic MC's. However, did you know that Tim was originally a protege of Scott La Rock from Boogie Down Productions? After Scott's untimely death, the Dog got put onto Ced Gee who had been associated with some of the production work on BDP's 'Criminal Minded' lp.
Ced offered Tim a guest emcee spot on Ultra's 'A Chorus Line' posse cut, which then led to a solo record deal in 1991. His debut lp 'Penicilin On Wax" spawned three underground smashes 'Step To Me', "Bronx Nigga (remix)", as well as his Compton-diss classic.
Tim re-surfaced in 1993 with a 2nd lp 'Do Or Die', returning to his BDP roots on it's lead single 'I Get Wrecked (feat KRS-One)'. The lp flopped and Tim struggled to maintain his presence on hip hop's radar.
Connecting with a selection of UK labels in the mid-90's, he released another west coast diss "Bitch With A Perm", as well as collab with Apache Indian on 'Make Way For The Indian'. However, both did very little in resurrecting Tim's flagging career.
At this time the Ultramagntics had split up, Tim hooked up with former member Kool Keith under the offshoot name 'Ultra' and dropped a surprise classic 'Big Time'. The lp eventually did more for Keith than Tim, with KK dropping further classic long players like 'Dr Octagon', 'Sex Style' and 'Black Elvis Lost In Space'.
Tim's next lp 'Immortal' never got an official release, but has been available widely on the net for the last couple of years.
Fast forward to 2006 and a new lp is ready to rumble. 'The BX Warrior' was released last month to a warm reception and not just because of the fact it showcases a couple of Ultramagnetic re-union tracks. Tim has been touring Europe this month promoting the new material, so make sure you try and catch him while he's still over here. Word on the street is that this lp will be followed up with a full Ultramagnetic comeback album, with the working title of 'Back To The Future'
We wait for that with baited anticipation. In the meantime enjoy a selection of Tim Dog gems on CHHV. Make sure you also peep his official website, which features his current tour dates as well as some tasty free mp3 downloads!
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Where's Brooklyn At? #3
HIP HOP KEMP IS IN THE HOUSE!
Headnod Records
Now heading towards its 5th anniversary this year, Hip Hop Kemp is the craziest hip hop festival in Europe. Held in the Czech Republic it has gained a rep over the past 4 years for throwing down a unique blend of US and European Hip Hop, live and direct.
This year's fest is being held between the 18th-20th August with a line-up including Non Phixion, Little Brother, Guru, MED and Klashnekoff alongside the cream of the underground euro-scene.
Headnod records now have tickets in stock for £18.99 and they are advising everyone to book early to avoid disappointment.
To give you a feel for the 'Kemp', CHHV fav Masta Ace completely ripped it up at Hip Hop Kemp 2005, and we now present extremely rare (and good quality) footage of MA's set at Hip Hop Kemp '05.
Bewarned - it's a long download (big quality file - over 2 hours d/l time)- but it's worth it.
Now heading towards its 5th anniversary this year, Hip Hop Kemp is the craziest hip hop festival in Europe. Held in the Czech Republic it has gained a rep over the past 4 years for throwing down a unique blend of US and European Hip Hop, live and direct.
This year's fest is being held between the 18th-20th August with a line-up including Non Phixion, Little Brother, Guru, MED and Klashnekoff alongside the cream of the underground euro-scene.
Headnod records now have tickets in stock for £18.99 and they are advising everyone to book early to avoid disappointment.
To give you a feel for the 'Kemp', CHHV fav Masta Ace completely ripped it up at Hip Hop Kemp 2005, and we now present extremely rare (and good quality) footage of MA's set at Hip Hop Kemp '05.
Bewarned - it's a long download (big quality file - over 2 hours d/l time)- but it's worth it.
Monday, June 05, 2006
The Heavy Bronx Experiance #1
Well we've recently given props to Brooklyn, The West Coast & The UK on CHHV, now we head back to The East Coast and focus on The Bronx.
Famed for it's Zoo, River and the Yankee Stadium, the Bronx also became a hip hop stonghold in the 1980's thanks to the notorious 'bridge' wars between Boogie Down Productions from South Bronx and the Juice Crew headed up by Queensbridge's Marley Marl and MC Shan.
BDP's debut lp "Criminal Minded" was co-produced by another bronx bomber known as Ced Gee. His studio and emcee skills were also showcased alongside Kool Keith, Moe Love & TR Love aka the Ultramagnetic MC's.
The Ultramagnetics combined an 'intergalatic' concept of rhyming alongside a brand of soul/funk breaks, much sharper than seen before. This set them apart from the competition and it wasn't long before their debut lp "Critical Beatdown" was certified a modern day classic.
Due to label hopping, internal friction and marketing problems, Ultra never really made it into the mainstream. The flipside of this is that they acheived cult status within the hip hop underground. This was typified by the enormous amount of bootleg material that was released following their break-up up in the early 90's. Kool Keith exploited this following and became a cult recording artist in his own right during the 1990's after a succesful sequence of solo lp's.
THBE#1 features two classics from the Ultra era - "Poppa Large" arguebly Kool Keith's greatest work, aided and abetted by the Beatminerz on remix duty. We also present their comeback single "Raise It Up", taken from their last studio lp The Four Horsemen in 1993, and it features Godfather Don on guest emcee duty.
Enjoy!
