A Narrative Of Unrest At Open The Gate
An evening of Live Music and discussion with various perspectives and voices from Musicians, Thinkers, Writers and Spoken Word Artists to Community Members in aid of providing an alternative Narrative to the mass media lead perspective / explanation behind the recent riots.
IRS – Speaks Volumes LP [IRS]
Whilst scrolling through the endless hell of facebook the latest IRS album Speaking Volumes came into my field of vision and moments later through my headphones. As with all the great UK Hip Hop groups IRS is underrated and overlooked, meanwhile Idris Elba’s on TV trying to tell us that So Solid were one of the most significant things in Hip Hop’s history – as AC would say, ‘Dickheads!!’.
London Riots 2011 – Time For Change
I wrote these lyrics while helicopters were flying overhead and sirens blazed through the streets, I felt upset at the misrepresentation of my community and culture as a whole and wanted to speak out as i believe many others would like to do too. I was also alarmed by the reckless attitudes of those who have given up on the system and felt that only people from the community could reach out to them before things spiralled out of control.
Funky DL – Whatever Happened To [Audio]
As the mayhem in London continues, we share this Funky DL track "Whatever Happend To?". Obviously the solution is bigger than music but we also all know how influencial music can be and the message in this song "may" just touch someone...
Rowdy T – Riot Muzik [Video]
As the third night of riots kick off in numerous parts of London, Tottenham exclie Rowdy T drops his take on what is going on. Whilst people in suits condem the actions and brand the rioters as criminals hear the voice of a disposessed youth and understand how this can happen when it is apparent that they feel they have no stake in society and the police can act with impunity.
Mr Thing – Its A DJ Thing
The festival season is in full swing both at home and abroad, with The Big Chill (4-7 August) and Sziget (8-15 August) creating the ultimate start to the eighth month. One man who is certainly making the most of his air miles, with an imminent mini tour of Australia, and having recently returned from what Time Out has described as perhaps the summers most beautiful festival, Soundwave Festival (July 21-24, Petrcane, Croatia), is of course Mr Thing.
Doom Vs Ghostface Live In November
The most anticipated collaboration in Hip Hop history has come to fruition as Doom and the Ghostface Killah have joined forces to mark the 10th anniversary of Lex Records! The best part is you lucky people have the chance to see a one-off worldwide exclusive as Doom and Ghostface come mask to face live on stage at The Roundhouse on November 5th.
Audit – Move Fast [Video]
New act Audit has dropped his first video for his easy going and laid back track Move Fast. The track is produced by Mr. Brown and is the first track to drop from Audit's forthcoming long player 'Auditory'. The night time video was shot and directed on a zero budget by Matt Drane at Dephect Ltd.
Onyx Live Postponed
We have been informed that due to unforseen circumstances Onyx show scheduled for tomorrow 4th August has had to be postponed. No reason given, but I guess the use of the term postponed suggests that the gig may be re-arranged sometime in the future. Was looking forward to getting rowdy so its a pity this has not come off, but these things happen.
Redrama
IBMCs headed up to Finland to find out more about Finnish Hip Hop. We interviewed Laineen Kasperi, Redrama and Jonti and Shaka. In the Finnish Hip Hop scene most of the rap is in Finnish. One of the biggest emcees to rap in English is known as Redrama. He is a Helsinki-based rapper and producer. His first breakthrough was by winning the Finnish MC-Championship in 2001, the same year his first EP came out.