Forgotten Treasure: Yo-Yo “Total Control” (1996)
Rapper and Ice Cube protégé Yo-Yo was in many ways a pioneer and unsung hero for female rappers in the industry. She has an extensive discography (including one full length unreleased album) but despite disappointing sales, she managed to release a forgotten classic with her album Total Control. This was …
Onra – Guest Session on NTS Radio (May 11th 2016)
The uber-talented French producer & DJ (and our good friend) was recently in the UK for a few dates including an appearance on Boiler Room where he smashed it with a live set of his producers using his usual set-up of two MPC’s + an effects unit. He also stepped …
Future Classic: Kaytranada “99,9%”
It no secret Kaytranada has made his impact on the music scene felt in recent years. Perhaps, the biggest of all the new era of producers to rise in the new age of Soundcloud, Basecamp and other DIY platforms. With the highly antipacted release of his debut album on XL Recordings, featuring …
24HOV Mixes – London Edition: CHRIS P CUTS
(Photo by Bruno Destombes) Recorded live in London in March 2016 at the Mixcloud HQ for the 15th edition of the 24 Hours of Vinyl project. Chris P Cuts has spun records everywhere and plays good music to good crowds. He’s worked live on stage with Roots Manuva, Jehst & Spoek …
Forgotten Treasure: Outlaw Four “Million Dollar Legs” (1980)
In the lost chapters of the hip-hop history books lie the small contributions to come out of the state of Connecticut. Microscopic when compared to its two neighboring States and members of the Tri-State area (New York and New Jersey) but as all diggers know, there are treasures everywhere! So here is …
The Classical Side of Dilla
Producer James Yancey aka J Dilla introduced many new perspectives into the beat scene. Much like Stravinsky, he studied the old esthetic, came with the new, and was ultimately recognized as a pantheonic figure. Although countless articles have beend ruff drafted about Dilla’s musical journey, I was intrigued by the …
LEXIS “90’s Rap Forgotten Treasures Vol.1”
Just a nice simple session with some of my favorite overlooked, slept-on 90’s rap gems! The early and mid-90’s Hip-Hop is an era loaded with anthems we’ve all heard a million times but there are also loads of forgotten albums, remixes, vinyl-only, CD-only and of course cassette-only versions… So here …
Future Classic: Ivan Ave “Helping Hands” (Produced by MNDSGN)
It must be the contrarian in me but while everyone was losing their mind over the new Kanye release and 90% of my damn newsfeed was Kardashian and Yeezy-related, all I wanted is to listen to the new album from Norway’s Ivan Ave which I ordered on cassette. Titled “Helping Hands”, the …
Future Classic: Anderson .Paak “Malibu”
Many of the most discerning music heads have been calling the Anderson .Paak (who also goes by Breezy Lovejoy) the next big thing. It seems the time has arrived for him to truly cross over and get that much deserved mainstream recognition. 2014 saw the release of his first studio …
Forgotten Treasure: Channel Live “In Your Area Freestyle” (Awesome 2 Radio)
A recent re-discovery of mine as I was walking on a beautiful Montreal winter morning. I was scanning through hundreds of old songs on the old Ipod and my ears perked up as soon as I heard the opening bars with that beautiful Upright Bass jazz sample. I used to this track …
Forgotten Treasure: Cru “Ooh Wee” (1999)
This post is really about three things: The year 1999 in rap music, Cru and their song Ooh Wee but more than anything, I wanted to share my thoughts on a very important man in the realm of rap music: the late, great Chris Lighty, who passed away under dubious …
Future Classic: Little Simz – Age 101: Drop X
via Little Simz: “Firstly I just want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me thus far. This year has been a special one. After releasing my debut album I wanted to round up the year nice, felt right to release another Drop solely for the people who …