Tag: jehst

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.

Certified Banger, a blog (almost) dedicated to the art of Hip Hop in the UK proudly presents this 21 track compilation of some up-and-coming artists and their music. Taking in many different angles of UK Hip Hop 'On The Radar' attempts to bring some new music to your ears, all for the princely sum of nothing.

Asaviour has been on the rise for a few years now and his forthcoming LP 'The A Loop Theory' will surely cement him a place at the top of the UK Rap pile. Here he is talking about his past, Lowlife, who he's worked with and which tracks off his new album with DJ IQ are his favourites:

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.

If it's beats you're looking for then look no further than Evil Ed's 'Edstrumentals Vol. 1'. It's 20 tracks of Evil Ed's best known instrumentals used by Yungun ('The Art of Celebration' and 'Nico Suave'), Task Force ('The Tournament'), Tommy Evans ('Alright/OK'), The Colony ('Back Up'), Asaviour ('Field Of Dreams') Conspicuous & Shameless ('Write A Song For Me'), Ricochet aka Ric Branson ('A New Way of Thinking' & 'No Pressure') and Jehst ('Alien').

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.

‘A New Bloodline’; Sir Smurf Lil’ teams up with the current cream of UK producers - Jehst, Apa-Tight, Beat Butcha, LG, Conspicuous and Asaviour - all men well known for their dusty Hip Hop beats. Don’t take that the wrong way though; on paper ‘A New Bloodline’ may seem like a quick tracing of the UK rap outline but in reality the uniquely stylised rendering of Smurf makes this more than just a carbon copy.

On 20th September 2008, Huddersfield emcee Jack Flash took part in, and won the UK final of the End of The Weak rap battle against three other extremely talented English artists. Up against Dubbledge, Arkaic and M9, and with Chester P (Taskforce), Jehst and Reain as judges, it was always going to be a tough competition.

Aidan Severs of Certified Banger caught up with SonnyJim a Brummie battle rapper who previously had out his Soul Trader EP. Now he is inked with Dented Records and is pushing his latest work, the Trading Standards mix CD. Read on to find out where he has come from and what it is like to be on the edge of something big.

"Despite the growing pressure from these coporate clowns / My music never got diluted I just wont water it down / I keep it as true as I can, if that means I lose a few fans / Real recognise real, my people root for their champ".