Month: November 2008

If you are one of the few people who have not heard of artist Banksy, you are quite special, and more likely than not, either a) dead b) in a coma, or c) unable to read the newspapers - where Banksy generally has some column or other writing about him most days.

October was a busy month for the music industry, with launch parties, album releases and award show happening every other day. BHH was invited attended the BET Hip-Hop Awards 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia.

If the aim of ‘Food 4 Da Brain Second Serving’ wasn’t to serve up a platter of perfectly complementing flavours then I’ll eat my hat. If that is what they set out to do then they’ve royally achieved it. The menu offers up tracks from the finest chefs on either side of the UK Hip Hop / Grime divide; in fact it tastily demonstrates the breaking down of the boundary.

In a UK hip hop sea swimming with 10 a penny Myspace rappers there’s few albums I’ve been offered lately as strong as Manchester’s Forbidden Tongues- ‘Sketches In Black and White’.

Everyone knows Tricksta’s name right? But does everyone know quite the extent of his work for our music scene? I interviewed him to get the complete low down from start to finish. Just to prove how internationally hard working he is, we had to break off the interview half way through whilst he spoke to K-Rino on the phone! Here’s what he had to say:

If honesty still has a place in the patriarchy of hip hop. I’m sick to death of tracks like this. Most intelligent women don’t actually find them sweet. While I was waiting for L.Star and Tweeti to come back with something a bit more inspiring and original, it appears these two still haven’t grown up and probably never will.

Considering everyone’s riding his dick like his nuts have handle bars it’s a controversial point of view; but I think new Detroit poster boy Black Milk is overrated. Some of his stuff is nice - his early dalliances with Slum Village turned up a few gems as did his debut Sound of the City and the Broken Wax EP, particularly the heavy cut Danger. But his feverishly feted sophomore LP left me a bit cold. Maybe I’m just a fussy bastard but I don’t see what all the fanfare is about.

Surely the UK success story of recent times, Estelle has gone from Skitz to hits, fleeing the Domestic Violence of the London scene to shack up with her American Boy. But am I the only one thinking this transformation from underground rapper to pop singer remains unconvincing?