Tag: Celebrate

When outside observers think of Hip Hop, they tend to think of thugged out posers, so aggressive and in your face that it ends out intimidating and fake; or battle rappers, who, although superbly creative, are so intent on destroying the opponent that negativity reigns; or the abstract poets, imagination second to none, but so out there that only they ever know what theyre rapping about. There is a definite lack of social consciousness and, at the end of the day, just some good positive creativity.

Jon Phonics is an MC / Producer based in the South. He has worked with some well known names and got them to feature on his Half Past Calm release. Whilst he was over in the US he took the time out to parle with Nino. Read on to find out what he had to say.

Going back to Kool Herc’s Bloc Parties, many things have remained the same when it comes to DJs. Their new scratches and breaks mixes create new breaker moves, inspire new graff designs and provide a foundation for new styles of spitting. But, when we reach the end of the weak ones, the thing that really makes the DJ the king pin is that he’s often the coolest cat in the joint.

It's been a minute since regular heads heard anything from Wiley's showcase crew Roll Deep, but with label mini dramas long behind them, (their label felt more comfortable pushing KT Tunstall, and dropped them accordingly, even after selling 75k albums!), the 13 man set is back! Expect more sound system bangers, alongside irresistible commercial head nodders.