DMC

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF DEEJAY

DOMINANCE WITH DJ CRAZE, Q-BERT,
MIXMASTER MIKE, SCRATCH PERVERTS,
ROC RAIDA, CUTMASTER SWIFT & MORE!
www.hhcdigital.net
HHC DIGITAL #004
HCCDIGITAL AD:Layout 1 14/8/09 18:18 Page 1

Friday 11th September

BATTLE FOR WORLD SUPREMACY &
WORLD TEAM BATTLE
Two of the most exhilarating turntable events on the planet!
6pm - 11.30pm Hosted by Inja & Billy Biznizz
Special live AV performance from Performance by

DJ Yoda
ʻ25th Anniversary Specialʼ
DJ I-Dee
featuring the Numark NS7 with Serato Itch software,
Jehst with
Micall Parknsun
& Jazz T
the state of the art in Digital DJ technology. (YNR Productions)

Saturday 12th September Performances by

DJ CHAMPIONSHIP DJ Q-Bert
WORLD FINAL (DMC World Champion)
Rane and Serato present
The worlds best DJs compete for the ultimate DJ accolade!
7pm - 11.30pm Hosted by Inja Rob Swift
(ILL INSANITY/X-ECUTIONERS)
showcasing ʻScratch Liveʼ
‘THE SUPER JAM’
Q-Bert, Rob Swift, DJ Switch, DJ Fly, Shiftee, I-Dee DJ Fly
(DMC World
+ the new world champions Champion 2008)

indigO2 at The O2 Ticket Price: Tickets available from:

www.dmcworld.com (01628 667 124)
The 02, Millennium Way, Greenwich, London, SE10 0AX. 2 Day Ticket £20 www.ticketmaster.co.uk (0844 2770700)
www.ticketweb.co.uk (08444 77 2000)
Nearest tube: North Greenwich – Zone 2 (Jubilee Line) 1 Day Ticket £15 www.theo2.co.uk/indigo2 (0844 844 0002)

HHC DIGITAL #004 2

CONTENTS AUGUST 2009 HHC DIGITAL#004
05. TRACKADEMICKS

08. THE UNKUT COLUMN

10. FRESH DAILY

13. SPEAK YA CLOUT www.hhcdigital.net

www.twitter.com/hhcdigital
15. WILL C
info@hhcdigital.net
18. FEAR OF THE RAP
EDITOR Phillip Mlynar
20. TWITTERISHLY: NAS
(001) 347 731 1288 | phillip@hhcdigital.net
21. DMC’S 25TH ANNIVERSARY:
CELEBRATING A QUARTER
DESIGNER April Hill | april@hhcdigital.net
CENTURY OF THE BEST IN WRITING Adam Anonymous, Cee Banger, Arsenio Billingham
DEEJAY CULTURE, FEATURING Corin Douieb, Robbie Ettelson, Jo Fuertes-Knight, Mike Lewis
DJ CRAZE, A-TRAK, Q-BERT, Chloe McCloskey, John W McKelvey, James McNally, Tom Nook
CUTMASTER SWIFT, ROC RAIDA, Chris Schonberger, Quincey Tones, Lucy Van Pelt, Richard Watson
THE SCRATCH PERVERTS, PHOTOGRAPHY DMC, A Garcia, Kristina Hill, Dorothy Hong
MIXMASTER MIKE, CASH MONEY, Mike Lewis, Alexander Richter
CHAD JACKSON, JAMES BROWN,
FRONT COVER The dusty DMC archives
PUBLIC ENEMY, RUN-DMC,
THE LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN ADVERTISING & SPONSORSHIP
DECKS AND MORE... advertising@hhcdigital.net
38. THE LISTENING: THE MONTHLY EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER AND HEAD OF
NEW MUSIC DIGEST
MICROWAVE OVEN PROGRAMMING Andy Cowan
PUBLISHED by Just One More in association with Infamous Ink Ltd.
43 HOME STYLE: YOUR UK RAP All material (c) Just One More 2009. All rights reserved. HHC Digital
may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or
ROUND-UP in part, without the express written permission of the publisher.
Hip-Hop Connection is a registered trademark of Infamous Ink Ltd. All rights reserved.
45. MARKETPLACE
DISCLAIMER While every effort is made to ensure the information in HHC
46. ON THE GO: DJ PREMIER Digital is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for

10.
which HHC Digital holds no responsibility. Contributors’ opinions do not
FRESH DAILY necessarily bear a relation to those of Just One More or Infamous Ink Ltd
or HHC Digital’s staff. The publishers disclaim any liability for those impressions. Now
catch us in the crib like Hilary Banks...

HHC DIGITAL #004 3

HHC DIGITAL #004 4
 TRACKADEMICKS
BOOM BAP
ORIGINAL SLAP...
“I think that Houston may be the only area that has more
emcees than the Bay!” laughs Trackademicks, in between
circling the block looking for a parking spot. Born on an island
off the coast of Oakland, the producer and emcee is being
asked to assemble his ultimate Bay Area posse cut. “I’m a fan
of the classics, so I’d have E-40, Mac Mall, San Quinn, Keak
PHOTOGRAPHY BY DOROTHY HONG

Da Sneak,” he continues, “but then there’s so many to name,

because if this was the ‘ultimate’ ultimate posse cut then it
would be 11 minutes long! I’d definitely get Hieroglyphics on
there too – Casual is someone who I’m really into – and I wish
Mac Dre was here because he’d be on that. I know that this is
all hypothetical, but I really think I’m gonna try and make this
track happen...”

HHC DIGITAL #004 5

 STILL AVAILABLE!
Don’t count against it: With collaboration credits that run minimal slap beats that you could easily imagine Too $hort
from Mistah FAB to Phonte via the candy rap of Fool’s Gold hopping on – but it sounds freer for the media’s spotlight
label-mate Kid Sister and upcoming work with Teedra Moses, having moved on from the hyphy scene.

ISSUE 014
and with a sound that coats the Bay’s low end theory with an
electric party gloss, Trackademicks has made an early name “The energy of everyone coming together around a common
for himself as a proponent of what he calls “hybrid music,” cause was great,” he says of the region’s turn as the hip regional ISSUE 014

pulling influences together from all over the stylistic shop and sound of the day a few years back, “but it was kinda like the
R.I.P.
TONY D
grabbing props from Mark Ronson in the process (“He’s one attention the crunk scene got before ’cos when that sound KOOL K
IM

hit record away from being on the level of at least a Polow Da emerged it had already been going on for a while, and we’ve
TONY B
UTTONS

BLRIVEEAOK IENT’!
NS
Don,” says the ex-pat producer). been quote-unquote ‘going dumb’ for hella long – I remember

BREAKIN’, TONY D, KOOL KIM

in 2000 dancing the way that became characteristic of hyphy.
“I would listen to very unconventional things for a 15 or 16-
year-old,” he explains of his magpie approach to production. “What was funny,” he concludes, once more connecting the

ISSUE 015
“I’d check everything from soulful drum ‘n’ bass like 4Hero to musical dots, “was that me and my deejay went out to London
‘grown-up’ music like Sade. So when I started making music in 2005 and looked into the grime scene. We went to see Roll
EE
that just carried over into how I pieced things together and Deep, we went to a grime night at the Ministry Of Sound, and ISSUE 015
2000 A.D
CK
T LA RO
IDAY &
with who I wanted to work with, whether that was Mistah we were both like, ‘Man, this is exactly mirroring the way the MAN FRJUNIOR
JIVE

FAB out here in the Bay or homies like Tanya Morgan.” hyphy scene is out here!’ It’s crazy the way things play out.”
Phillip Mlynar
Track’s sound may be openly rooted in the Bay’s DNA – check (Trackademicks’s EP will be out in October.)
current single ‘Enjoy What You Do’ for a bumper dose of ‘Enjoy What You Do’ DJ DISCO WIZ, 2000 A.DEE, T LA ROCK
HHC DIGITAL #004 7
6
HHC DIGITAL #004 7
UNKUT PRESENTS:
BACDAFUCUP!
You might have caught the search for ‘Rap’s King of Comedy’
over at Unkut.com recently... What’s that? You don’t read
blogs? Oh, you only eff with PDFs that you can print out on
eggshell white copy paper? Good for you. Anyway, here goes
with the obvious follow-up – a roll call of the most entirely
humourless rappers...
1. Puffy: Sean Combs likes to pretend that he’s a riot, what
with getting funny white guys to cameo in his videos and
making insane web videos about his Twittering habits, but this
calculating bastard is all front when it comes to shits ‘n’ giggles.
It’s safe to assume that he has a team of ghost-comedy-writers
toiling over his every droll comment in an attempt to fool the
world into believing that he’s just ‘regular people’ when in fact
he’s an evil android sent back in time by SkyNet to destroy us
all (or at least convince dames to shave half their hair off).
2. Rakim: Perhaps the driest emcee of all time. ‘I Ain’t No
Joke’? Damn skippy! It’s probably not advisable to be messing
with whoopee cushions and trick gum while you’re astral
traveling, but the world is also a poorer place knowing that
the 18th letter with never make a song about pulling the head
off a kid’s Ninja Turtle for interrupting some MILF time.
3. Professor Griff: It was important that PE’s Minister of
Information took his role as serious as a heart attack – who
else was going to counter Flav’s ‘Coke and a smile’ antics? To
his credit, Griff tried his hand at one-liners in ’89 – unfortunately
his entire repertoire consisted of inflammatory Jewish jokes.
After taking a break from his PE duties, Griff did what any ex-
leader of the S1Ws does and flew to Miami to work as a bouncer was giggling when they tried to slap the cuffs on Darkman X!
at titty bars. In between shifts he also recorded a couple of
LPs for Luke before returning to the PE fold after promising to 5. Kanye West: If ever proof was needed that ’Ye takes himself
never again utter the phrase “Jew-York” in front of a mic. way too seriously then South Park’s ‘Fish Sticks’ episode was it.
Not only did it lampoon ’Ye’s persona with pin-point accuracy,
4. DMX: No time for jokes here – X is known to shoot straight but he issued an official response virtually identical to the one
from the hip and tell it like it is. Impersonating an FBI agent at his character did! Minus the part about being a gay fish, sadly.
the airport might seem like comedy in retrospect, but no one Robbie Ettelson
HHC DIGITAL #004 8
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ROBOT CHICKEN EPISODES
LOOK OUT FOR LIMITED EDITION PACKAGING!

www.revolvergroup.com ON DVD 27 JULY ORDER YOURS NOW AT

HHC DIGITAL #004 9
FRESH DAILY
TAKING IT AND
SQUEEZING IT...
Fresh Daily has one task to complete over the next hour or
so: Sit back, sip a pint of Mother’s Milk, and give his expert
breast-obsessed opinion on the passing traffic’s bouncing
assets outside a Greenpoint, Brooklyn bar one mid-week
afternoon. Unfortunately for the rapper whose debut album,
‘The Gorgeous Killer’, contains a ditty titled ‘Two In The Shirt’

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KRISTINA HILL

in homage to his adoration of breasteses, and who has been
known to post up sneaked phone pics of cleavage on public
transport via Twitter, a noon-time downpour means that
there’s scarce female fodder on offer; the most notable being
a crazy lady who, after telling Fresh that Puerto Rican women
like a good stout, hobbles off, leaving him to dispatch the quip:
“None in the shirt!”

HHC DIGITAL #004 10


Slouching back in his chair on the sidewalk, Fresh Daily settles
for the pundit’s role, explaining his inspiration for penning lines
like the Kenneth Williams-approved, “I like mine perky, round,
and also extra huge/Honestly I can’t define the fascination/
All I want is something nice to plant my face in.” “Everyone
these days is on ass,” he sighs. “It’s nothing but ass, ass, ass,
and then more ass in every magazine; even porn is just so
completely ass-centric. So what I’m doing is bringing some
balance back.”
Not that the track ‘Two In The Shirt’ was quite the finished
song that LA-based producer Exile had in mind when shopping
beats in Fresh’s direction.
“Initially Exile sent me four beats, and one was for Jay
Electronica and one I didn’t like,” picks up Fresh of the story.
“The other two were called ‘Mommy’ and ‘Mommy El Negro’.
I chose the one called ‘Mommy’ ’cos I thought it was light
and playful, which is how I approached the track, with lots of
tongue-in-cheek references. But when I sent the song over to
Exile he hit me back like, ‘You know, it’s cool...’ I was like, ‘You
never want it to be just ‘cool’, what’s up with it?’ He goes, ‘No,
I like it, but I wrote the song because it reminded me of my
mom who had breast cancer...’
“He said she was okay now and not to worry, but that’s kinda
a funny story behind how that song came together.”
Then, with only a couple of waifish hipster chicks strolling past,
Fresh sups the last of his stout and turns to fantasy, musing on
which female emcee he’d consider voluptuous enough to hop
on to a remix of the track.
“This is probably going to sound a little bit crazy ’cos she’s not
really considered sexy,” he says, “but maybe Queen Latifah
would work. She’s definitely qualified. I think she has some
nice chesticles.” Phillip Mlynar
(Fresh Daily’s ‘The Gorgeous Killer’ is out now. It also contains
tracks not about boobs.)
‘Gotta Go’
HHC DIGITAL #004 11
HHC DIGITAL #004 12
SPEAK YA CLOUT!
RAP’S COMATOSE
CONSUMERS…
It’s a mid-week night and there’s an underground hip-hop
show going down. The venue’s less than half full, the bar’s
over-priced and sweat-down-your-back level humidity is in
effect. But more annoying are the gaggle of guys in the front
row: they’re standing statue still, holding up a variety of
variously sized video-cameras, trying to capture the rappers
spitting on the small stage – that’s before running home to
upload the variably-blurred content to blogs. What used to be
the livest part of the club has now been digitally frozen – and
it’s indicative of the energy being sapped out of hip-hop.
Technology – it’s not just the internet – was meant to bring
us all closer together, link us up, let us explore new and
innovative ways of interacting and entertaining. But has it?
With the speed that gig footage is available on your computer
or phone, why bother suffering the weather outside and
slugging around on wretched public transport when you could
stay home and watch the highlights while leisurely slumped
on a couch? We’re all so horribly vicarious these days that you
suspect the entire rap world is headed towards a Wall-E state
of comatose consumption.
And where’s the innovation that mass access to all this great
technology should be bringing us? Who’s freakin’ a video-blog
like Grandmaster Flash was tinkering with a mixer? Who’s
getting audacious with the MP3 format like Grandwizard
Theodore was playing with a platter? No one. These days
PHOTOGRAPHY BY KRISTINA HILL
innovation is synonymous only with being the first person to
click ‘upload’.
The cliché used to go that every rap gig was plagued by too
many people wanting to step from out of the crowd and grab
the mic – now we all just want to stand around and gawp. The
fuck happened? Arsenio Billingham
HHC DIGITAL #004 13
ZILLWOOD
‘HOW TO CHANGE THE
WORLD IN 15 BEATS’

OUT NOW
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD!

HHC DIGITAL #004 14

WILL C
IN SEARCH OF REAL
ROXANNE POSTERS...
You can picture Will C, the Boston-based producer slash rapper
slash radio show archivist, spending his evenings hunched over
a cardboard box full of dust-clogged tape cassettes, frantically
slotting them into an old boom-box, hitting play in hope, and
studiously cataloguing hissy snippets of old school and golden

PHOTOGRAPHY BY A GARCIA
era audio. After all, this is the guy who painstakingly pieced
together fragments of Mr Magic’s WBLS radio shows for the
‘Down The Dial’ package last year. But having just recorded
a fresh-sounding solo album, ‘Evil In The Mirror’, he shrugs
off the nerd factor that might project from his image, saying,
“Most music lovers can easily sound like nerds if you get them

HHC DIGITAL #004 15

talking about what they champion. Do you call GZA a nerd when
he breaks down the complexities of a Rakim line, though? Of
course not; why would you? He’s just appreciating the music,
and I have an appreciation for good music as well.”
Then, laughing, he adds, “But I admit, I sometimes nerd-out
as a collector, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell the girl
I’m dating that I just bought a two-decade-old Real Roxanne
poster! I mean, what the hell am I going to do with a Real
Roxanne poster anyway?! That might be the nerdiest thing
I’ve done right there.”
Merits of deep hip-hop nerdom aside, there’s no doubt that
Will C – the initial standing for his surname, Curley – excels
at creating intricately stitched together hip-hop music. The
14-track new album melds classic vocal snippets – a bit of Biz
here, a bout of Blastmaster there – to beats that hit not just
hard but with the type of abrasive texture absent from today’s
ring-tone-sheen sonics. Neither is he scared to ramp the tempo
right up, as on the 115 beats-per-minute – his calculation –
hook-up with Esoteric, ‘Synthetic Genetics’.
“I guess there’s a lot of blockheads out there,” he says when
asked about the sedate speed of much new music. “Challenge
yourself, experiment with tempo: ‘Synthetic Genetics’ is 115
bmp, but ‘Frog Among Queens’ is 76 bpm, and ‘Water Ice’ has a
tempo change... Granted, that tempo change was an accident,
but why fight that stuff when even the drum programming
for ‘Top Billin’’ was apparently an accident at first? Rap needs
chaos – a sterile environment is going to get you an album’s
worth of flat-line.”
As for what Mr Magic would think of Will’s ’09 moves? With
typical thoroughness he says, “Are we talking Mr Magic from
’88 or ’09? I’ve got a Rap Attack show where he says, ‘If you’re
a white boy in rap then you definitely gotta be on a mission.’
That’s the same Magic who threw water on MC Serch at the
New Music Seminar from what I’ve heard...
“Magic is a lot mellower in 2009, however; he supports my
endeavors, which feels like a Twilight Zone episode to me.”
(Will C’s ‘Evil In The Mirror’ is out now.)
‘It Ain’t The ’80s’
HHC DIGITAL #004 16
HHC DIGITAL #004 17
FEAR OF
THE RAP
OFF YOUR RAP RADAR...
Somebody’s gotta set the internet straight. And today that’s
gonna be me. Now, you’d be hard pressed to find more
misinformation about a group than you will about Natural
Elements, especially when it comes to their unreleased
material. Even the most reputable blogs and websites seem to
just throw up their hands and say, “Here’s a bunch of random
Natural Elements songs! Most of these are rare or something.”
And I’m going to clear it all up – all of it! – right here.
It would be impossible for me to list every single random
Cage or Chino XL song that some 12-year-old has somehow
mistaken for Natural Elements and shared through SoulSeek
(although, believe me, I’ve spent the last few weeks checking
each and every one of ’em). But some of the most common
mis-titlings from the most credible sources include naming ‘2
Tons’ as ‘Apocalypse’ and ‘Shine’ as ‘Keep Rising To The Top’
or ‘Reality Check’ (the latter presumably a misunderstanding
due to ‘Shine’’s inclusion on DJ Premier’s ‘NY Reality Check’
mixtape). Even Fortress botched one of their own titles,
calling ‘Step To The Side’ ‘Invincible’ on an old snippet tape
Charlemagne hooked me up with – I guess because it’s the first
word heard in the song; something that’s been perpetuated
online ever since.
But slogging through all of that, we discover the genuinely
unreleased material. First, of course, you’ve got their Tommy
Boy LP, which was shelved but leaked onto the internet
in spades. But then you come to the really interesting and
confusing stuff – their demos and other random unreleased
songs. Surprisingly, when you boil it all down and sort through
the nonsense, there’s actually only nine:
1. ‘What My Crew Do To You’: On the ’net this demo track is
usually titled ‘I Got Your Heart’. You know it’s one of their oldest
since the line-up features KA instead of A-Butta. The beat is
classically early Charlemagne-sounding, with subtle tonal
samples, hard drums and scratching. It’s easily distinguished
as the one with all the Mortal Kombat vocal samples.
2. ‘Life Ain’t Fair’: This oldie has a different sound than usual,
with an R’n’B singer named Bridge providing the hook and
HHC DIGITAL #004 18

constant back-up for the emcees’ verses. He’s pretty talented;
and don’t get it twisted – NE still come lyrical on this.
3. ‘Knick Knack’: Another demo cut, the title, hook and beat are
all cheerfully lifted from EPMD’s classic number with K-Solo,
but the trio’s freestyle rhymes are pure NE.
4. ‘Freak Freak Y’all’: More laid back than your average
Elements cut, this demo song features a slow drum track,
vibes, soft bassline and calm deliveries from each emcee.
5. ‘Let ’Em Know’: This is the only solo song from the demo,
a Mr Voodoo joint. Not to be confused with ‘Let The World
Know’ off his 2004 EP, it’s just a smooth track coupled with
the sick punchlines and complex, multi-syllable rhymes we’ve
come to expect from Voo, and it’s right up there with the best
of his solo work.
6. ‘MTV (More Than Vocals)’: This is actually the most recent NE
song, recorded after their Tommy Boy period. In an interview
on the crew’s MySpace page, L-Swift says, “We made a couple
attempts to record again. That must have been one of the last
songs we did. We made that like early ’04. Voo’s homeboy Lou
put together that beat.” Well, he did a good job of capturing
Charlemagne’s vibe, although it does sound a bit more modern
than the other songs listed here.
7. ‘Supreme Domination’: This joint is dope! An ill piano loop
serves as both the bassline and the driving music sample over
a hot drum loop; and each emcee definitely comes correct,
with a hook paying homage to Redhead Kingpin’s ‘We Rock
The Mic Right’.
8. ‘My Nature’: This is typically found under the title ‘Take A
Trip Into The Mind’, ripped from KCR radio, though there’s also
a weird, edited version titled ‘Water Air Earth Fire’ with the
hooks inexplicably and brutishly chopped out. It’s just what
you’d expect at this point: smooth beats and tight rhymes.
9. ‘Triple Team’: Another really old one featuring KA in A-Butta’s
stead; and he sounds good on this. He brings a different voice
and style to the crew, which makes me wonder what Natural
Elements’ history would’ve been like had they stuck things out
as a four-man crew.
And really, that’s it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, who knows
how much more Natural Elements have in their vaults? In
another interview, Mr Voodoo says they recorded some songs
for Def Jam. Are those just the same songs we’ve all heard
since or completely unheard material? And of course 2Face
have been releasing plenty of songs as free downloads this
past year. But as for the vintage NE material, it’s either on this
list or it had some kind of legitimate release – I don’t care what
screwy, made-up title your MP3 has. John McKelvey
HHC DIGITAL #004 19
 STILL AVAILABLE!

ISSUE 001
NAS is Using Twitter

@Preem Sorry, didn’t mean to snap at you, buddy. You’re a

legend. BTW, you got Aguilera’s number?
3:51 PM today, from TweetDeck

@Preem NOT FUCKING NOW, son!!! How the fuck is 10 boom-

DOOM!
THE SUPER-VILLAIN
bap 1994 joints going to keep Kelis in minks and Faberge ON BUKOWSKI, BEER
AND BECOMING A
eggs?!? GAZZILLIONAIRE
3:48 PM today, from web www.hhcdigital.net
HHC DIGITAL #001 WILLIE ISZ, CHARLES HAMILTON, DANTE ROSS & MORE!

Oh, and the homeless dude, too. His clothes is mad soiled,
though.
1:05 PM today, from TweetDeck

And my nylon dungarees from the photoshoot. Only mildly

DOOM, WILLIE ISZ, DANTE ROSS, MOBONIX
soiled.
1:04 PM today, from web

ISSUE 002
To anyone interested, I’m selling original ‘Illmatic’ artwork on

www.hhcdigital.net
HHC DIGITAL #002
eBay. 35 FREE
EMUSIC
1:03 PM today, from twitteriffic MP3s!

@A2thaZ Don’t worry, son – this divorce is NOT going to ruin

me. My pockets is fat not flat LOL!!!
12:37 PM today, from web

@Preem We’ll discuss this another time. Got shit on my mind. ‘ONLY BUILT 4 CUBAN LINX 2’ IS GO!
11:09 AM today, from twitteriffic GHOSTFACE, SPEECH DEBELLE, TANYA MORGAN, PAUL WHITE

RAEKWON, GHOSTFACE, SPEECH DEBELLE

HHC DIGITAL #004 7
20
THE DMC LEGEND
25 YEARS AGO DMC FOUNDER TONY PRINCE ORGANISED A DEEJAY CONVENTION
IN LONDON. NOW A QUARTER OF A CENTURY STRONG, HHC DIGITAL PAYS TRIBUTE
TO THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD’S PREMIER MIXING COMPETITION...
BY CHLOE MCCLOSKEY, PHILLIP MLYNAR, RICHARD WATSON

HHC DIGITAL #004 21

BLAST OFF!
HIP-HOP HITS THE HIPPODROME, 1986
THE HIPPODROME...
Tony Prince (DMC founder): “Our first competition was at The
Hippodrome in 1985. We weren’t really into mixing back then
– we just thought we’d invite deejays on stage and see who
could mix as many records together in a minute as possible!
Roger Johnson won the first event – he was a very straight-
laced young man; he was just a pure mixer.

“Then we saw the potential of mixing and introduced the

World DJ Championships. DJ Cheese, who won in 1986, was
the first to bring scratching to it. Orlando Voorn from Holland,
who came second, wasn’t very happy. He grabbed the mic
off me and said, ‘What is this, a mixing comp or a scratching
comp?’ I grabbed the mic back and said, ‘Come on, be a good
sport. You’ve been beat.’ The following year even Orlando
Voorn was scratching. Everyone had been bitten by the bug.”

HHC DIGITAL #004 22

THE PANEL
THE JUDGING
PROCESS...
While the deejays up on stage are studiously going through
their routines, it’s the panel of judges and peers sitting to the
side who ultimately decide who will be crowned the world’s
DMC champ. With everyone from hip-hop icons like Red Alert
(pictured) to previous title holders getting a say, Tony Prince
and the UK’s Cutmaster Swift muse over the methodology...
Tony Prince: “Selecting the panel of judges each year is a multi-
thorned problem because, first of all, you have to make sure
that every judge understands what they’re looking for. Then
you have to make sure they’re not prejudiced for somebody
on stage. Then you have to make sure that you don’t have
too many people from Britain or America, which is a problem
because most of your really really knowledgeable deejays are
Brits and Americans.
“The way we got around it was to have lots of judges, so as to
dilute the possibility of anybody being prejudiced for a country
or a friend. And I firmly believe that the judges have always
gotten it right at the end of the day.
“We seem to have grown out of the controversy and the
arguing. I think people believe that DMC’s heart is in the right
place and we want the right people to win.”
Cutmaster Swift: “A lot of people to this very day feel that DJ
Aladdin should have won when I did in 1989, and I don’t have a
problem with that at all. But as funky as he was, those people
aren’t emulating DJ Aladdin – they’re emulating the stuff that
I did.
THE LEGENDARY
KOOL DJ Red Alert
“So if you don’t agree with the decision, don’t moan and
whine. Instead, have the balls to say, ‘I’ll battle you right here
for the title.’”
HHC DIGITAL #004 23
SABOTAGE!
DIRTY TACTICS AT
THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL...
Chad Jackson: “In the early days turntablism was very visual so
at the ’87 finals I planned to levitate the last record I played over
the crowd at the Royal Albert Hall. I set up the illusion with a
magician friend of mine – we’d rigged up thin supporting lines
that would enable me to ‘throw’ the record into the crowd
like a frisbee so it would look like the record was ‘flying’. But
Chad Jackson quite
towards the end of my set my friend crept over and told me
literally gets props!
that someone had sabotaged it by burning the wires!

“I had to freestyle the ending, which involved my back-up plan

of scratching with and throwing an American football at the
end of the routine – which I managed to do perfectly in time
with the final chord of the last tune!”

Chad Jackson’s trick-laden routine

HHC DIGITAL #004 24

RAP ROYALTY
THE DMCS
TAKE OVER
THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL...
Tony Prince: “Our greatest accomplishment was the time we
hired the Royal Albert Hall. We built two giant SL1200s which
were about the size of an aeroplane, with these two turntables
that the deejays competed on. It cost about £20,000 to build,
and the minute the event was over they smashed it up – it was
just too big to store.

“In those days we had a lot of support from the record

companies – they brought the artists in for us without it
costing us a lot of money. One year I remember Russell Setting up at
Simmons standing on stage with me watching Run-DMC and the Royal Albert Hall

Public Enemy run around.

HHC DIGITAL #004 25

 “Russell turned to me and said, ‘I’ve never seen anything like
this in my life.’ It was incredible.
Public Enemy
bring the noise
“After Public Enemy and Run-DMC had performed, I said to
the crowd, ‘You think you’ve seen everything tonight... but
you haven’t seen everything yet.’ They went quiet and I said,
‘Ladies and gentlemen, God is here!’ Nobody, not even the
record companies, knew that we’d brought James Brown
in from America – not to perform, but just to walk on stage
and accept the DMC Lifetime Award trophy we’d had made
for him. When he walked on stage the place erupted because
everyone appreciated the importance of James Brown and
how he was so fundamental to hip-hop.”

Cutmaster Swift: “I’m a soul person. I had those records by

James Brown and Alexander O’Neal, so I was mesmerised that
these people were in the place, but I had to have a focus. I was
there to compete for a title so I couldn’t run around all geeky. I
didn’t speak to any of them, but to see James Brown showing
respect to hip-hop and the way we’d used his music – I had to
give him props for that.”

HHC DIGITAL #004 26

SO MARVELLOUS
CASH MONEY’S James Brown live on

DMC DAYS... stage in London, 1988

Cash Money: “DMC was the first competition and company

to bridge the gap internationally between hip-hop and dance
music. They recognised a street deejay like myself and allowed
me to display my turntable skills in front of the industry’s
biggest and best performers – James Brown, Alexander
O’Neal, Mantronix, even Boy George! And I can’t forget the
large crowd that were all blowing their whistles and cheering
for me at the Royal Albert Hall! We made history that day.

“Looking back, DMC helped in changing my life and career

– people still remember the year I became the 1988 world
champion to this day! Happy 25th anniversary to my DMC Cash Money celebrating
family – so many great memories!” becoming the ’88 world champ

Cash Money’s winning set from ’88

HHC DIGITAL #004 27

GLOBAL DYNAMICS
CUTMASTER SWIFT Cutmaster Swift

BROADCASTS
with Cash Money

TO THE WORLD...
Roc Raida: “I remember going to [original X-Men member]
Steve Dee’s house and him showing me a VHS tape of the DMC
finals in 1989. I saw Aladdin and Cutmaster Swift perform and
after that my goal was to be a DMC champion.

“I was completely amazed by Cutmaster Swift’s routine and

his showmanship. His stage presence was crazy, and to see
someone from the UK with as much style and flair as that was
like seeing a UK version of what we were doing in New York.

“When I saw him get his prizes, get his plaque, I was like, ‘I
want that to be me one day!’”

Cutmaster Swift taking the ’89 crown

HHC DIGITAL #004 28

THE LEGACY
CUTMASTER SWIFT’s
DMC MEMORIES...
Cutmaster Swift: “I wasn’t particularly nervous in the 1989
finals because in terms of the competition, realistically, my
only nemesis at that time was Aladdin, and previous to the
competition I had seen him do one of my techniques, which was
needle popping. It was originated by Grand Wizard Theodore,
but I brought it back into a present day existence. Then I saw
Aladdin doing it in the States and I thought, ‘Wow, if he’s doing
something that I’ve re-initiated, he must be following me...’ So
I was quite confident.
“I’m quite cool with Aladdin, and a funny story is that he even
got together with my sparring partner, DJ Pogo, and he didn’t
really have a full set for the Worlds that year. He borrowed
some records from Pogo that he was gonna use. A lot of
people don’t know, but he kind of freestyled his set, so again I
was quite confident in what I was doing. But I must admit that
my World-winning set in ’89 wasn’t my best set. My best set
was in the UK final, coming back as the first person to defend
my UK finals crown. I felt genuinely that a lot of eyes were on
me, like, ‘Swifty, it’s yours if you just do it’. Feeling like that and
knowing that I was representing the country, I just focused.
“My greatest claim to fame seems to be dancing on a big
turntable in 1989. Nobody wants to acknowledge that, wait a
minute, if you take away those few seconds, what was the rest
of my set? I was doing something called the Copycat which I
pioneered in 1988, but unfortunately the Americans renamed
it. It got lost and came back in 1990 as the Chase. I even saw
people on the internet crediting Shortkut, and Shortkut said it
originated from a guy called Yoshi in Japan. People don’t know
that I went to Japan in 1990 and performed it there. Actually,
in 1990, when I lost the championship to DJ David, I was beat-
juggling, if you wanna call it that, but I tried to play down the Cutmaster Swift
dramatics and the technical aspect.” showing And proving
Cutmaster Swift performing at The DMC Summit
HHC DIGITAL #004 29
KNIGHTS OF THE “It was just mind-blowing shit because at the time everyone

TURNTABLE
was just doing visual tricks,” he continues. “Motherfuckers
were coming out with, like, huge records the size of a turntable
and just being really gimmicky. Then these three fuckers come

Q-BERT, MIXMASTER out like, ‘Three turntables – that’s all we need. Now let’s make

MIKE AND DJ APOLLO... a beat...’” Q-Bert and Mixmaster Mike

as The Dream Team in 1993
“Q-Bert is without a doubt the pinnacle of what deejays are
In 1991, Germany’s DJ David thrilled the crowd with his
when they enter the DMCs,” adds Cutmaster Swift. “The
gimmick-packed routine, taking home the title off the back of
fact that he’s maintained the hunger to keep pushing and
a centerpiece that involved him spinning around on a Technics
developing is what all us deejays have always aspired to.”
deck supported by four Coca Cola cans. Twelve months
later things couldn’t have been any different, with three San
Looking back on his own contribution to the DMC legend, Q-Bert, Mixmaster Mike
Francisco turntable knights, Q-Bert, Mixmaster Mike and DJ
Q-Bert says humbly, “When I first started to deejay I always and Apollo in 1992
Apollo, revolutionising the art with their pure deck skills and
wanted to enter the DMCs. After a good few years of hard
taking the world title in the process.
practice I finally entered and my dreams of becoming a world
champion came true. From that point on I owed my life to
Summing up their influence, three-time DMC champ DJ
them for having the world’s greatest deejay battles. Thanks,
Craze gushes, “When the three of them were up there as the
Mr and Mrs Prince.”
Rocksteady DJs, that’s when I really geeked out, like, ‘Wow,
that’s like a band!’ The Rocksteady DJs go on a rampage in ’92

HHC DIGITAL #004 30

THE ’95 CHAMP
GRANDMASTER
ROC RAIDA’S RISE
TO THE TOP...
“My first DMC competition was in 1992; it was the New York
heats. Clark Kent was one of the judges. I’d battled in clubs
before, but this was my first organised comp. I did pretty good,
but I didn’t win: Rob Swift was competing and he went on to
Roc Raida displaying
take the US finals that year. I took it as a learning experience. his golden BOUNTY

“In ’95, I actually didn’t win my regional – Ghetto took that one
– but I went to the US finals and won and then came the world
finals. My favourite part of the routine was doing body tricks
to ‘The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of
Steel’ – and now I have a pair of golden turntables myself.”

Roc Raida’s all-conquering ’95 routine

HHC DIGITAL #004 31

ONE FOR ALL!
INTRODUCING THE Scratch Perverts
SCRATCH PERVERTS... in full force, 1999

In 1999, a new united force in turntablism announced

themselves to the world as a UK quartet of Tony Vegas,
Prime Cuts, Mr Thing and First Rate took the DMC Team
Championships, beating off competition from the equally
star-studded Allies line-up (DJ Craze, A-Trak and Infamous). A
decade on from their victory, pivotal member Prime Cuts looks
back on his DMC days...

“To be honest, I got into deejaying because I could never

see myself rapping. Like lots of people I was into b-boying at
first – that was really my route into the music. Through that
I found myself getting obsessed with people like DJ Cheese
and Cutmaster DC – I actually managed to see Cheese, who
won the DMCs in ’86, play at the Brixton Fridge when I was
13-years-old.

HHC DIGITAL #004 32

 “I’ve got a lot of DMC memories. Winning the team final in
’99 was a pretty crazy thing, especially with it being held in
Prime Cuts in deep America. When they called out the Allies in second place we
concentration were shocked!

“Then at the other end my worst memory is when Tony Vegas

and I managed to screw the routine completely at the team
finals in 2000! I truly believed that it was the best team routine
that had ever been arranged at the time, but we just didn’t
manage to pull it off that night. Honestly, I can’t even tell you
what happened...

“We went through the routine hundreds of times. It was one

of those routines where with two men, six turntables and
two mixers it was extremely complicated and unforgiving – if
something went wrong, it would snowball... and it did!

“It was seven or eight years ago now, and I’ve still never
watched the video.”

The Scratch Perverts take top billin’ in 1999

HHC DIGITAL #004 33

IT’S TRICKY!
the true dissection of a record has been lost: people just use
two bits of wax that have been pre-arranged. If you’re familiar

THE ART OF
with a record, and you see someone flip it, it’s a great thing to
witness rather than just messing with a battle weapon.

TURNTABLISM... “Don’t forget though that scratching has always gone hand-
in-hand with technology. From the mid-’90s when you had the
Around the turn of the new millennium the turntablism
new wave of Vestax mixers and cross-faders come in allowing
movement began to hit its peak, with deejays honing in on the
intricate scratch patterns, up to now where things like Serato
uber-technical details of every scratch with the precision of a
and time-coded vinyl – although I have yet to see anyone use
skilled surgeon. Here three-time DMC world champ DJ Craze
that creatively – are predominant and impacting the natural
and Scratch Perverts man Prime Cuts look back on the era...
progression...”

DJ Craze: “I think that there was definitely a time when

DJ Craze: “Yeah, I think that the turntablism vibe is still poppin’
scratching got too technical and I blame A-Trak! He took it to
with the young kids. I still get MySpace messages all day from A-Trak and his Allies crew
that technical level that made everyone think, ‘Shit, I gotta be
little kids who are like, ‘I just found out about you! What
better than A-Trak – and I can’t have fun no more...’ But I still
should I get? Where should I go? What should I practice?’ The
love you A-Trak!”
old heads think it’s dead, but turntablism is very much alive
Prime Cuts: “But I think it’s always been over-indulgent. That’s among the youth.”
the nature of it – we were terribly over-indulgent trying to
make the craziest, most technical records. But I do think that A-Trak sets a new scratch standard

HHC DIGITAL #004 34

THREE TIMES DOPE
CELEBRATING
THE GREAT DJ CRAZE... All eyes on DJ Craze, 1999

Germany’s DJ David may have been the first DMC competitor

to take the title in two successive years back in 1990 and 1991,
but seven years later something unprecedented happened: DJ
Craze burst out of Miami and put a lock on the world title for
three years in a row...

Prime Cuts: “Personally, I would say that Craze’s ’98 US final

routine is the all-time most classic DMC routine. I think that a
lot of things peaked right there – there was a lot of creativity
going on at that time, and at the hands of Craze it was the
ultimate routine.”

Klever: “I think the craziest routine was, honestly, Craze’s in

1998. The Art Of Noise section is a total classic – it should be
framed and boxed away.”

HHC DIGITAL #004 35

 DJ Spinna: “Honestly, watching DJ Craze perform at the DMC
competitions was the one that made me give up scratching
and battling for a while! You just couldn’t compete with him
around that time. Everything about him in that era was hitting,
and so precisely.”

DJ Craze: “1998 was my hunger year, where it all started for

me with the DMCs, but my best DMC memory is winning the
third time. The first time felt great, but I beat A-Trak and it
was more about who fucked up the least. We both fucked up
– our routines were horrible. His shit, the fader flew off; my
shit, I tried a new routine and it sounded wack. For the second
title my daughter was supposed to come out the day of the
competition and I was a wreck – I was having anxiety attacks
and I went to the hospital a week before my girl because I
thought I was dying... But the third title was the coolest shit,
because my whole family flew out and my mom and brother
DJ Craze, 2009
hadn’t talked in years and that day they were really happy for
me. I remember looking to the side and they were all crying.”

DJ Craze takes his third title in 2000

HHC DIGITAL #004 36

STILL SHINING
THE LEGEND OF THE
GOLDEN DECKS... The 1991 golden edition

Tony Prince: “I used to go to Japan and report to Technics on

how things were going. These were the days when Technics
were courting deejays big time; they were in awe of what
deejays were doing with turntables. We came up with the idea
of the golden turntable. It was the year after Cash Money won
that we introduced it, ’cos I remember Cash would complain
to me for years that he’d never won a golden turntable! So I
went over and pleaded for him. I said, ‘He’s one of our legends,
can you do a special edition of the golden turntables for him?’

“The reason I still go on stage and present the prizes is that the
deejays want the same guy who gave the golden turntables to
Cash Money, Cutmaster Swift and all those other champs. I
should really be retired, but they roll me out every year so that
the continuity of the golden turntables can be maintained.”

HHC DIGITAL #004 37

 CLICK H
E
COP DM RE TO

THE LISTENING
C CHAM
DJ SWITCH P
OF THE ’S MIX
MONTH
’S
BEST N
EW
39. ALBUM OF THE MONTH: TRACKS
SOUNDSCI !
40. GET UP ON NEW SETS
FROM JUICE ALEEM, JAY ARE,
LEGACY, MICALL PARKNSUN,
THE HERBALISER, BREEZE
EVAHFLOWIN, ZILLWOOD,
DJ JS-1 AND MORE...

43. HOME STYLE:

YOUR ONE-STOP UK RAP
ROUND-UP, FEATURING
JUICE ALEEM, THE NEXTMEN,
KILLA KELA, KOASTE AND
THAT MAN KLASHNEKOFF...

45. MARKETPLACE:
ALL THE MONTH’S
ESSENTIAL CONSUMER
SPENDING!

46. ON THE GO:

DJ PREMIER’S SAMPLE
SOURCE PLAYLIST

HHC DIGITAL #004 38

ALBUM
OFTHEMONTH
Audessey says: “This is just pure hip-hop; unfiltered and
pure from the construction of the music to the rhymes. It
will remind you why you fell in love with hip-hop in the first
place. I feel that I like the track ‘The Remedy’ a lot because
to me it gives you the total package: rhymes plus beats
plus cuts equals dope hip-hop, and this is our ‘remedy’ for
folks who think and feel that hip-hop is dead. If you listen
to this you definitely won’t feel like it’s dead, and know that
Soundsci will bring it dope every time like that – or doper
if we can! So if you love dope hip-hop then Soundsci is
definitely for you!”
1. SOUNDSCI
‘DIG FOR VICTORY EP’
(CRATE ESCAPE)
We say: Rap may or may not run in ten year cycles, and
Bobby never did get to amping on a scale like Michael’s,
but there’s a growing number of rap faces from the fabled
indie era coming out from under a decade-long blanket and
dropping some mighty fine music. This time it’s Audessey –
once part of Atlanta’s Mass Influence – who’s back on the
map, thanks to a hook-up with Johnny Cuba (ex-Dynamic
Syncopation) for a heavy-as-hell eight tracker. The beats
are raw as you like (check ‘The Illness’ for thumping proof),
and releasing it on red vinyl seals the win.
‘The Remedy’
HHC DIGITAL #004 39
ALBUMREVIEWS
2. JAY ARE
‘THE 1960S JAZZ REVOLUTION AGAIN’
(GROOVEATTACK)
They say: “The incomparable hip-hop producer J Rawls
is back with another instalment of jazz-hop excitement,
this time teaming up with the extraordinary talent of John
Robinson aka Lil Sci. Together they are Jay Are!”
We say: Even if you thought you’d had your fill of mid-tempo
Lone Catalysts-style tracks with tinkling jazz samples, this
slinky set does a fitting job of maintaining the bop-factor,
topped by Robinson’s reminisce about the Fondle ’Em
days and meeting MF Doom on ‘It’s Jay Are’. Snappier than
‘Jazzmattazz’ ever was to boot.
‘The Lee Morgan Story’
3. BREEZE EVAHFLOWIN
‘BREEZ DEEZ TREEZ’
(DOMINATION)
Breeze says: “To me, this album is what hip-hop sounds
like if it was allowed to grow up. It’s life documented in a
lyrical artform that uses more lyrics than anything short of
a full-blown opera.”
We say: Conceived while Breeze was holed up down in the
woods of North Carolina, this is 12 tracks of melancholy hip-
hop musings, with New York producer Dave Archuletta’s
beats appropriately employing violins (‘Within Me’) and
minor-key piano chords (‘I Failed’) to add to the moody
brooding. Thoughtful hip-hop done the right way.
‘Over’ feat. Swave Sevah
4. STOOPZ N BREEZE
‘TURN UP THE SMOOTH’
(BUTTER-MADE)
Breeze says: “This is the story of our trip to Miami. We laid
low at first, but received a positive reaction from the locals
– especially the crackheads.”
We say: A top-to-toe conceptual album based around a
couple of cats from Detroit going back to the Miami of
the ’80s, this vibrates like a Prince Paul project, complete
with a cameo from Baatin, advice on mixing Henny with
Red Bull, and tongue planted very firmly in pimp-walloped
cheek. It’ll likely be passed by for Rick Ross’s latest viral
vomit, but do the right thing and search it out.
‘The Set Up’ feat. Baatin
HHC DIGITAL #004 40
ALBUMREVIEWS
5. LEGACY
‘SUICIDE MUSIC’
(HALL OF JUSTUS)
LEGACY says: “Originally I wanted 9th Wonder and
various other producers involved with this album, but
while working on it me and Khrysis came up with a new
sound and the other material became null and void, so he
produced it all.”
We say: Punchy throughout, moments like the title track
almost come off like a lost Roc-A-Fella session from the
Just Blaze era, while the posse cut ‘TKO’ hits hard and
uncompromising, and ‘The Greatest’ shows an emcee with
fire in his belly. Totally digestible at 11 tracks short too.
‘TKO’ feat. Phonte, Chaundon & Sean Price
6. MICALL PARKNSUN
‘FIRST SECOND TIME AROUND’
(YNR)
Micall Parknsun says: “Check the track ‘Holding It Down’,
produced by M-Phazes, which to me defines the essence
of the hip-hop I used to love – that hip-hop you just put in
your stereo and rinsed for years.”
We say: Charismatically rapped real life rhymes that never
fall flat over weighty production, plus high quality guest
verses from YNR associates leave Parky plenty of time to
shine with his dynamic verses. ‘All 4 Hip Hop’ sounds like
the anthem it should be, while tracks like ‘Still Here’ and
‘Come Again’ covertly push this thing forward. Cee Banger
‘Still Here’
7. THE HERBALISER
‘BAND SESSION 2’
(!K7)
Ollie Teeba says: “This studio album is not just funky dope
business of the highest order, but also a demonstration of
exactly the kind of sounds you’ll hear when you come to a
Herbaliser live or deejay show. See you at the next one!”
We say: Completely instrumental business – so, alas,
nothing from regular collaborator Jean Grae – but totally
funky, you’ll be hard pushed to find a more cohesively
enjoyable 11 tracks to pop on when you want a break from
rap. Ill scratching on ‘Geddim!’ and ‘Theme From Control
Centre’ seals the deal.
‘Stranded On Earth’
HHC DIGITAL #004 41
ALBUMREVIEWS
8. ZILLWOOD 9. JUICE ALEEM 10. DJ JS-1
‘HOW TO CHANGE THE ‘JERUSALAAM COME’ ‘NO SELLOUT’
WORLD IN 15 BEATS’ (BIG DADA) (FAT BEATS)
(FREE DOWNLOAD)

Zillwood says: “I’d call this new-age hip-hop beats with a
Somerset-style vocal – but that doesn’t mean I sound like
a farmer spitting down the mic! Check it because it offers a
different perspective on the UK and the problems the youth
are facing. And I suffer from Tourette’s Syndrome so you
might get a better awareness about it from listening.”
We say: The combination of A-Z Style Beats’s varied
productions and Zillwood’s willingness to tackle different
issues gels well – and check the 130-bmp ‘Pure Alphabet
Adrenaline’ for a real spit session.
‘How To Change The World In 15 Beats’ (free DL!)
Juice Aleem says: “If you’ve got intelligence, good looks
and a need to get away from crack dealers and Jolly
Rancher art school emcees then check the album out.”
We say: Hip-hop’s high priest of afro-futurist endeavours,
Rammellzee, would definitely approve of the one-time New
Flesh man’s latest album: tracks like the brilliantly-titled
‘Rock Your Hologram’ and the stand-out, ‘First Lesson’,
which sees Juice rocking a staccato style, slot right into the
space-wards gazing sector. Elsewhere, Earth-bound bods
can take refuge in the soothing sounds of ‘The Fallen’.
‘Straight Out Of BC’ feat. Cipher Jewels & Blackitude
DJ JS-1 says: “Doing an album with over 40 emcees on it is
not easy! Between the artists being on tour, coordinating
what beats to use, agreeing on concepts, and fitting in the
hooks, it’s not something that gets done quickly!”
We say: Featuring Aesop Rock, Craig G, AG, CL Smooth,
Masta Ace, KRS-One, Canibus, Killah Priest... But don’t be
put off by the saturated spitters list – it is a deejay set after
all – as there are gems to prize out from the pack, most
notably the two-thirds ‘Metal Thangz’ reunion ‘Ridiculous’
with Monch and OC over a slice of boom-bap.
‘Like This’ feat. Large Professor

HHC DIGITAL #004 42

HOME STYLE
new album with female rapper Apani of Polyrhythm Addicts
fame. More on this to come but in the meantime check them
out online at www.teasearecords.net to keep abreast of all

YOUR UK RAP ATTACK… their moves.

Brad Baloo and Dom Search aka The Nextmen (pictured) Without trying to sound like a Brighton special we now find

bring the beat back with their new album, ‘Join The Dots’, ourselves with fellow resident Herma Puma. With the absence

on Sanctuary. A mix of instrumentals and vocal tracks, the of a press release we’re unable to tell if Herma is a producer,

highlights are ‘Join The Dots’, ‘Round Of Applause’ featuring emcee, group or a gaggle of talented geese, but one thing’s for

Dynamite MC, and ‘Burn’ featuring Lindsay West. They’re sure – ‘Evil Side’ featuring D Nick is a heavy beat head-nodder

touring the UK over the next three months so you’ll be able to worthy of a single release. Elemental features on ‘20,000

see their spectacular skills live.
By now you should know we favour vinyl over CDs or irritating
MP3s but by the time you’ve read this chances are that Koaste’s
double-sided picture disc, ‘Billy The Kid/Blabbermouth’, will
have already sold out. The A-side is produced by Tom Caruana
with the equally wonderful flip produced by Black Grass.
Speaking of Tom Caruana, the man of a thousand beats has been
working with Grand Agent and is rumoured to be producing a
Leagues’ bringing us nautical tales while Sensei Of Soul tells
us all about ‘Disposable Rappers’. The above tracks are taken
from Herma’s ‘Synchromatic’ album, which will hopefully see
the light of day this year.
LDZ aka Londonzoo are back with some blap, blap, blap for yo
ass. That’s right, after ten years Home Style says ‘ass’. ‘Wave 2
Da Floor’ has one of those heavy bass lines and sinister feels that
will take you back to the time you first heard London Posse’s
‘Money Mad’… unless you’re not as old as Westwood in which
case it’ll remind you of the first time you heard ‘Witness’ (or
insert your favourite bass-heavy record here). Also included
on ‘The Puppa Murc EP’ is ‘Bitch’ (guess what that’s about?),
‘It’s Not Relevant’, and the old school-sounding ‘Go This Way’.
These tracks bode well for a full album in the new year on the
Dented label.
Ramson Badbonez goes crazy ape bonkers with his download
only ‘Tales From The Staircase: Chapter 1’. As ever his rhymes
are tight, he never bites, and the download price is right.

HHC DIGITAL #004 43

A number of you have been emailing regarding last issue’s
mention of Klashnekoff’s new album ‘Back To Da Sagas’ and
asking when it’ll be released. Well, at this moment in time we
don’t have any news on a release date although we’ve heard
a few rough mixes and if the finished mix is anything to go by
then Klash will have an album definitely equal to that of ‘The
Sagas Of…’.
On the Big Dada tip, Juice Aleem’s ‘First Lesson’ gets the remix
treatment from Evil Nine, making it sound like a Pete Tong
summer track, while a Rude Kid remix gives it an electro feel,
A La Fu gives it a suitable treatment for all the bass heads, and
the Shadowless Domain mix sounds like, well, a bit of a mess
to be honest. Purists will be pleased to know that the original
version is also included.
Finally, UK beatboxer Killa Kela should see his solo album,
‘Amplified’, released come September time. Mike Lewis
(All records mentioned in Home Style are available to buy from
www.RapAndSoulMailOrder.com)
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
2. THE COSYNE PROJECT
With a history that involves a track titled ‘Tennents Super
Will Kill You’ (recorded with “a £5 mic from Maplin after a
particularly heavy night on the cans”), influences from Kool
Keith and Big L to Art Blakey and Kraftwerk, plus a period
spent making “weird electronic hip-hop instrumentals”,
welcome to the world of The Cosyne Project...
How would you describe your style?
“Warped feacal brains.”
What one thing would help the UK scene the most?
“More publicity, more money, more media, more quality
control, more cooperation... but then if we had nothing
to complain about would some of the rhymes be as good?
I guess the UK could do with more raps about shitting in
Tesco, wearing chestwigs, and aliens ridding the Earth of
perma-tanned slappers who hang out at posh wine bars.
And that’s where we come in…”
What do you have coming up music-wise?
“We’re concentrating on producing tracks for a new EP,
then we’ll be out playing and promoting it.”
‘Neon Flux’
HHC DIGITAL #004 44
MARKETPLACE
PAUL WHITE
‘THE STRANGE DREAMS OF PAUL WHITE’

CREDIT CARDS
Possibly the first rap release that’s dry-
clean only, the London beatmaker’s debut
comes in super-comfortable, hand-stitched,

AT THE READY…
pillow-case packaging.

GTA: CHINATOWN WARS
(ROCK STAR)
More anti-social antics from the GTA
series, this time with the dinky DS
installment making its way to the PSP to satiate all your
portable crime cravings.
DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL
(POWERHOUSE)
A collaboration between Dangermouse,
David Lynch and Sparklehorse,
this this limited-to-5000-copies book and
album package pairs dark hypnotic images to music.
SELF HARMONIC
‘NO PRETENSE’
Catering to right-clickers and vinyl heads
alike, Self Harmonic’s Cage-featuring track is
available for MP3 download and as a limited
run green vinyl 7-inch.
TROUBLE THE WATER
(ZEITGEIST)
Oscar-nominated, this post-Katrina documentary profiles DEBRUIT
female rapper Black Kold Madina, representing New Orleans’ ‘I’M GOIN’ WIT YOU’
Ninth Ward, and her struggles to balance day-to-day life Featuring the vocals of Sa-Ra’s Om’Mas,
with aspirations towards a music career. Set against a truly this prime slice of wonky is best experienced
turbulent backdrop, it’s authentic, gritty, emotional stuff, and by watching the online video with the ’80s-
well worth checking out. style 3D glasses it comes with!

HHC DIGITAL #004 7

45
ON THE GO
collabo with Scarface, ‘Betrayal’. A real soulful gem, clocking around in this track, but it was for Jeru’s ‘Mental Stamina’ that
in at almost eight minutes and finishing with a ‘Hey Jude’-like the mighty Premo sampled the tiniest part of the vibes solo to
sing-along motif over the final couple of minutes. Brilliant! such great effect.

2. DJ PREMIER 2. HUBERT LAWS ‘I HAD A DREAM’

Flautist Hubert Laws brings the jazz-funk on this fusion classic
4. CAESAR FRAZIER ‘FUNK IT UP’
A vintage instrumental funk gem here, laden with samples

On The Go
sampled on MOP’s ‘Downtown Swinga ’96’. The main melody from start to finish. Premier has used this record himself more
Deliver The Word

Welcome again to HHC Digital’s sounds like it could’ve been used for a ’70’s cop/detective than once – I’ll let you see if you can spot the tracks... A great
WAR

I Had A Dream
HUBERT LAWS

fantasy playlist column where we show. The song goes on to explode during the solos due to head-nodding tune with a seriously funky bassline and horns!
Sensitize
ROY AYERS

Funk It Up
CAESAR FRAZIER

A Good Man Is Gone

MONK HIGGINS & BARBARA MASON get beat-man Quincey Tones to the incredible band made up of the finest session musicians of

By Quincey Tones imagine what the most sample-
savvy hip-hop producers were
listening to in their formative years.
This time around, the legendary
Gang Starr man...
1. WAR ‘DELIVER THE WORD’
This Fender Rhodes-led track was sampled on Gang Starr’s ’98
the time – the drumming in particular is out of this world.
3. ROY AYERS ‘SENSITIZE’
Not one of Roy Ayers’s best-known songs, but his typical sound
is evident throughout. It’s got everything you’d expect from
the jazz/soul legend; great melodies, great harmonies... What
more can you ask for? If you’re a notorious sample spotter
then you’ll probably recognize two or three others scattered
5. MONK HIGGINS & BARBARA MASON ‘A GOOD MAN IS GONE’
Sampled for Gang Starr’s ‘Next Time’, this is such a fantastic
song with a classic soundtrack vibe. There’s something very
Shirley Bassey about it, only not quite as dramatic. The horn
and string arrangements (courtesy of Monk Higgins) are
especially superb and singer Barbara Mason is just perfect for
the song.
(Hit up MySpace.com/QuinceyTones for more.)

HHC DIGITAL #004 46

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HHC DIGITAL #004 47