YNR

Confucius MC steps back out of the shadows for his latest single 'Cicada 3301'; drafting in underworld connections StrangeU (High Focus) and Lee Scott (Blah Records) for covert operations.

As we rumble ever closer to the release of Confucius MC's forthcoming album 'Somewhere', the London wordsmith continues to build the anticipation with the unveiling of the second single from the project War And Peace.

After the 12 months of darkness we collectively endured last year Confucius MC​ is bringing the light back with his latest single 'Lanterns​'; once again teaming up with French producer Keor Meteor​ to reignite the flames they created on 2014 LP 'The Highest Order​'.

After the 12 months of darkness we collectively endured last year Confucius MC is bringing the light back with his latest single Lanterns. Once again teaming up with French producer Keor Meteor.

Jehst, Billy Brimstone, J-Star, Billy Tha Kid is back with another dark and brooding thumper. As always he's on point with twisting lyrics to split your wig. Body Bag is taken from the Heathens EP.

Worldwide besting from the million dollar Confucius MC! Coming off the top rope having told you to 'Look Deeper' earlier this year, he tags in Wann Sklobi, the Californian producer.

The debut album from Confucius MC entitled 'The Highest Order' dropped a couple of weeks back in May, exclusively on YNR, but we still needed to bring you this information. The album is a rare trans-channel Hip Hop collaboration with Parisian beat-smith Keor Meteor; who's smoky boom-bap provides the perfect sound-scape for Con's cerebral picture-painting. Eloquently constructed rhymes laid over a backdrop of atmospheric, cinematic production.

Micall Parknsun the 'working class dad' has just dropped his latest LP entitled Me Myself & Akai on YNR. Its a banger and stands out as something special. Parky has put this together doing both the beats and the vocals and has excelled on both counts. Max Weldon caught up with him to find out more and dropped a few questions in Parky's direction. Read on to find out what he had to say.

If you haven't been lucky enough to catch the YNR General Jehst with his incredible full live band, we have a little taster of what you've been missing. The band demonstrate exactly how to take live Hip-Hop to a completely different plateau; smashing through an epic rendition of 'The Illest' (taken from 2011's 'The Dragon Of An Ordinary Family' in this brand new video by emerging director Tarun Thind.

Telemachus is the alter-ego of London based producer Chemo, who has been steadily building a reputation as one of the UK's go-to producers. The Sheltering Sky is the second single taken from Telemachus' forthcoming debut LP In The Evening featuring vocals from Jehst. This is a brooding slice of cinematic Hip Hop, an epic soundtrack for Jehst's double-edged wordplay, taking the listener on a desert journey across foreign sands.

Any fan of UK hip Hop has been hearing about the brewing of this album for years now and it’s finally here! Well, almost.

I feel very privileged to have a very early press copy of this album and after hearing it, I couldn’t wait to let you all know how damn good it is. Yes, its true. This is the Jehst that we all know and love and he has managed to bring us a full length album of new tracks that hit all of the right buttons.

Verb T could be the hardest working man in showbitchness. He could also be worthy of the title ‘UK rap legend’. New offering, Serious Games, is the latest addition to a body of mainly classic records and is, as expected, an unbridled triumph.

Up and coming producer Jon Phonics first emerged in 2006, banging out beats for artists such as M9 and Doc Brown. He has since lent his talents to a number of projects including the YNR compilation Feeding Time at the Zoo and Verb T's Verbs With A Vengeance album.

YNR's good year continues and they've chosen to kick of Q3 with the release of Micall Parknsun's M-Phazes produced All 4 Hip Hop. For all the good old fashioned rap fans out there, this one's for you. Lively and triumphant soul with horn harmonies backs Parky's bold lyricism as he pledges his allegiance to and declares his love for Hip Hop.

Here's my (un-edited) review of YNR's Feeding Time At The Zoo, originally written for and published in HHC Digital 002, it was their album of the month:

Head over to the Hip Hop Connection place at 5pm today for the publication of their second digital issue. It's going to feature Raekwon (as you can see), Ghostface, Speech Debelle, P.O.S., General Steele, Superstar Quamallah, Paul White, DJ Vadim, Asher Roth, YNR and Dr Butcher. Oh, and an piece on Homecut written by a blogger you know well.

Every now and then something really fresh comes along, something that little bit different that makes it stand out from the crowd. Newcomer Jyager’s raps and Cee Why’s beats have that thing; ‘Encrypted Scriptures’ is a striking album. It’s still Hip Hop as we know it but, as you’d expect from YNR, it’s finely tuned and well polished and that’s what sets it apart.

There must be no better way to begin a new year than with a massive posse cut. Jehst’s YNR label kick 2009 off in fine style with Jyager’s ‘Eyes Open’. The re-spit version is like a platter of what’s hopefully to come from the label this year. With 8 MCs jostling to ride a heavy beat mainly consisting of a fog horn and a lorry reversing this should crash into the scene with much devastation when it’s released in February.

Hip Hop has an odd relationship with Jazz. Many like to talk up the connections between them and some even see them as linear extensions of each other. But is this true? Sure, they have common ground but they also have much to tell them apart. In essence, Jazz is about flux, leading, following and exploration whereas the beauty of Hip Hop is in its simplicity, its repetition.

Asaviour is a unique proposition with a very identifiable and individual style. Having released classics on Low Life and YNR, he now has his own series of mixtapes being released on his own imprint - Saving Grace. Sam Bradshaw caught up with him to find out what has been going down with Asaviour...

Following on from the release of his highly acclaimed Mengi Bus mix tape, The High Plains Drifter AKA Billy Brimstone AKA Jehst, slams the keys in the ignition and dusts off the A to Z as the Mengi Bus takes to the road with a brand new tour of the UK.

Fucking hell. I spent last night (from 8pm through til about 3am) at the Fav, chilling with the Leeds Hip-Hop Scene boys and more importantly catching up with Billy Brimstone AKA Jehst for a filmed interview.

Jehst is pretty well known to most UK heads and those who don't know the deal can check out his bio at www.myspace.com/jeh5t – suffice it to say he's one of the illest and most twisted individuals ever to grace the British mic scene.

Jehst is back with 'The Mengi Bus Mixtape' mixed by DJ IQ and hosted by Sir Smurf Lil. Bursting at the seams with exclusives, rarities and remixes this cut-n-paste extravaganza is not to be slept on!

Jehst is one of the UK’s leading Hip Hop artists. Growing up in both the South East and North West of England, the self-styled High Plains Drifter has a unique perspective on life in the UK. His music reflects this, which has earned him the respect of a loyal fan-base both sides of the North-South divide.

Jehst's position as one of the most respected lyricists in the UK is more or less a given nowadays. His dense, intelligent rhymes take some getting into and his style is distinctive enough to divide opinion, but once you've break past the barrier and enter his world, the extent to which he dominates and defines a certain strain and style of UK Hip-Hop becomes both evident and wholly justifiable.