If I wanted to catch an ‘extreme’ activities vibe I’d either be on 2 wheels traversing a muddied forest trail behind Wimbledon Common at top speed, doing the weekly shop on a Saturday afternoon or jogging my 6’4″ frame around the environs of South London [both equally challenging, and dangerous]. I sure as feck wouldnt be mountaineering, bungee jumping or doing anything similarly ‘action sports’ based to re-up my dopamine levels. Do Champion do wing-suits ?
Im far from spineless, but no longer do I have the Superintendent Rawls to handle ‘urban exploration’. If I did I’d be in like a shot, but sadly my days of challenging and illegal nocturnal adventures are long over. Watching these counter-culturalists however not only gave my vertiginous legs a major wobble [even while sitting down], it also highlighted a fascinating underground element of London I wasnt aware of.
I just like the idea of nonchalantly walking into the lobby of a 72 floor ‘luxury condominium unit’ in Chicago with my nearest and dearest, and hangin out on the roof watchin the sun rise, or taking a dander to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge while the city sleeps peacefully below…
Irelands 5 times DJ Championship winner Deejay Mek needs no intro to those that knows, he’s a monster behind the decks and relentless in his ability to nod heads on the regular. As well as being one of the finest scratch DJs still doin it live, he has 2 brand new mixes available to download, and as you can see, has the vintage Hip-Hop video collection on lock
As a close associate of the London Posse, Mek has the footage to make any UK Hip-Hop fanatic loose the plot/ their Burlington socks. The video above is a 5 minute clip of a lascivious Bionic [Jeff] and Sipho from London Posse on an old Dublin based magazine show called Megamix
As well as a brief interview with the presenter where they discuss the difference between Jamaican and American rap-singin , they drop a few tasty rhymes, Sipho rocks the Dallas theme a la ‘My Beatbox Reggae Style’ and the keener ones amongst you will notice that stand-up comedian Sean Hughes makes an appearance towards the end…
Re-up of an old post from July last year, as the audio has been upped to YT…
As well as puttin you lot up on the latest greatest in Rap singers and the usual nonsense, more and more of you are contacting us requestin the rarities from the HOTASBALLS Rap radio archives, for the few that say please, i’ve culled this wee number.
It’s 4 live cuts broadcast the night after the show above by Tim Westwood on the Capital Rap Show on Capital Radio.
Still Number One
Criminal Minded
My Philosophy
P is Free [Reggae Version Excursion]
The show was at the Town and Country Club, as opposed to whatever corporate branded trench-foot ridden hole its known as today. The T&C Club was THE venue of choice during the late Eighties for Hip-Hop [and even Go-Go] outfits playing to a larger crowd than the usual pokey sweat-soaked low-ceiling spots in London town [The Trouble Funk show that was featured on the Say What! alblum on Island back in 86 is a perfect example of the raw excitement that ensued under the T&C roof].
This show, was THE best Rap performance I have ever witnessed in the flesh, without question, and i’ve seen a few in my time let me tell ye. It wasnt because I was bouncing up and down like some lanky lunatic, rhymin along with almost every other lyric with my mates, or spiritedly throwing bows down the front, but simply because KRS had already honed his skills and created a persona for himself as the number one performance Rapper at the time, and let’s face it, not many have come close to perfecting his presence or delivery on-stage since. The clarity of virtually every rhyme was as clear as crystal that night, his phonetics were unfuckwitable, that may sound standard, but think of how many shows youve been to and that hasnt been the case.
As outta-towners attending gigs in London, the inevitable radio shows that came with travelling to the mainland from Ireland were as important to document as anything else we were at. By any means we’d record the Westwood shows, or Max n Dave or Dave Pearce or even Delroy Briscoe on Sky Community Radio, whoever was playing Rap at that moment in London, I wanted to be able to hear it at home, back in sunny Belfast. One of my best mates Andy even bought a portable radio/ tape deck in NY on one trip, just to catalog the Stretch & Bobb late night sessions on WKCR. We’d get off on the trips to 4 Star General, hangin out with and after a while, snappin on George, in his Gucci loafers and shitty nylon grey socks, we”d stock up on vinyl at Groove and head to all the Hip-Hop spots of choice at the time but the radio shows were imperishable and evidently lasting, so we’d do anything to tape em.
This show was broadcast on the Friday night, the evening after the gig, that’s a pretty impressive turnaround even by todays standards. Me and my muckers were ecstatic as we tuned to 95.8, nodding our heads to the show that we were all at just the night before, but the element that has made it an even longer lasting memory was listening to it on a roof-top across the bloody road from the venue, in North London, with it’s high Irish population. Shouts to Robin and Robins brother who let us hang out on the roof hurling abuse, amongst other things, at passers-by below til the wee hours.
The same live session from the Thursday night was also used for three cuts on the LIVE HARDCORE WORLDWIDE alblum, none of the tracks I have upped today were on that release so this is probably the first time these wee numbers has surfaced from this gig.
If you want more of this kind of thing, leave comments and you never know what might appear next, by just ripping the shit and runnin, youll never know what else could be round the corner. Enjoy.
We dont do many vinyl ups but this one is a classic. Im not a huge fan of, and have an insufficient archive of quality UK based Rap, but the 3 B-Side cuts on this EP from Battersea crew Lords of Rap are top quality, and funny, and find subject matter in such diverse topics as mates that have ugly GFs, and being pissed off with CD sales takin over vinyl, and well, you listen…
They were one of the few crews that gained praise from the simple fact that they resisted using American accents. Their strong SW11 pronunciations lending themselves to one of the most original EPs in UK Hip-Hop history. I mean, how could you resist this eloquent and refined word-play regarding a lady…
“Fancy your chances, I dont fancy yours much. She’s saggy bout the breast and her crutch has seen too much.
She’s double scary, sometimes I get lary. Have a word with ye bird an’ cover her face cos its hairy”
Lords of Rap – Stix ‘n’ Stones EP
1. Stix ‘n’ Stones
2. Stix ‘n’ Stones [Remix]
3. Stix ‘n’ Stones [Bullie Mix]
4. Where Does The Xtra 3 Quid Go?
5. Cease And Seckle
6. Fancy Your Chances
Mr Jones looks back at the science of recording radio shows onto a format long forgotten about, from the days when he was a ‘young city bandit’. He talks about the importance of twiddling up and down the dial during the days when more than one show was on the New York FM airwaves, the colour of the physical tape and even the fragrance of a fresh cassette. Top choice clip for the throwback crowd and anyone that put their batteries in the freezer to recharge em
To listen to a multi-million selling artist talk about those live tapes and park jams with such affection and admit theyre still hurtin from missing those tapes is something anyone who did the same back then can equate to. I wonder if Nasir repeatedly used the same C90 before he got his double tape player. Anyone that has any Fresh Fest recordings needs to get in touch too btw
You know HOTASBALLS are driven by Hip-Hop, good music and comedy, right? Well, Zadie Smiths’ younger brother Ben Smith/ Doc Brown seems to be gaining a few column inches due to his Edinburgh Fringe Festival performances this year, take a peek at a short clip from his routine from the end of 2009 [who knew he was a sibling of a bestselling British author? Answer, not us]
Evidently, the most important element in his routine is in full e f f e c t, the timing, and he’s comfortable ridiculing and recognising his cultural background. Unlike Frankie Boyle eg, Doc is a ‘safe’ comedian, and if he hasnt already, he’ll end up on Mock the Week. He’s also makin a rustle with a few actin jobs too, peep him in BBC doozy ‘Rev’
Shouts to Ben for throwin a comedic curve-ball at the UK Rap thing… It’ll be interestin to see how his progressive style of comedy transfers to stages in London and across the country, good luck to him we say
Doc Brown plays the Canary Wharf Comedy Club on Tuesday 26 October and his next Central London performances are the weekend of 5 & 6 November on a boat on the Thames
As well as puttin you lot up on the latest greatest in Rap singers and the usual nonsense, more and more of you are contacting us requestin the rarities from the HOTASBALLS Rap radio archives, for the few that say please, i’ve culled this wee number.
It’s 4 live cuts broadcast the night after the show above by Tim Westwood on the Capital Rap Show on Capital Radio.
Still Number One
Criminal Minded
My Philosophy
P is Free [Reggae Version Excursion]
The show was at the Town and Country Club, as opposed to whatever corporate branded trench-foot ridden hole its known as today. The T&C Club was THE venue of choice during the late Eighties for Hip-Hop [and even Go-Go] outfits playing to a larger crowd than the usual pokey sweat-soaked low-ceiling spots in London town [The Trouble Funk show that was featured on the Say What! alblum on Island back in 86 is a perfect example of the raw excitement that ensued under the T&C roof].
This show, was THE best Rap performance I have ever witnessed in the flesh, without question, and i’ve seen a few in my time let me tell ye. It wasnt because I was bouncing up and down like some lanky lunatic, rhymin along with almost every other lyric with my mates, or spiritedly throwing bows down the front, but simply because KRS had already honed his skills and created a persona for himself as the number one performance Rapper at the time, and let’s face it, not many have come close to perfecting his presence or delivery on-stage since. The clarity of virtually every rhyme was as clear as crystal that night, his phonetics were unfuckwitable, that may sound standard, but think of how many shows youve been to and that hasnt been the case.
As outta-towners attending gigs in London, the inevitable radio shows that came with travelling to the mainland from Ireland were as important to document as anything else we were at. By any means we’d record the Westwood shows, or Max n Dave or Dave Pearce or even Delroy Briscoe on Sky Community Radio, whoever was playing Rap at that moment in London, I wanted to be able to hear it at home, back in sunny Belfast. One of my best mates Andy even bought a portable radio/ tape deck in NY on one trip, just to catalog the Stretch & Bobb late night sessions on WKCR. We’d get off on the trips to 4 Star General, hangin out with and after a while, snappin on George, in his Gucci loafers and shitty nylon grey socks, we”d stock up on vinyl at Groove and head to all the Hip-Hop spots of choice at the time but the radio shows were imperishable and evidently lasting, so we’d do anything to tape em.
This show was broadcast on the Friday night, the evening after the gig, that’s a pretty impressive turnaround even by todays standards. Me and my muckers were ecstatic as we tuned to 95.8, nodding our heads to the show that we were all at just the night before, but the element that has made it an even longer lasting memory was listening to it on a roof-top across the bloody road from the venue, in North London, with it’s high Irish population. Shouts to Robin and Robins brother who let us hang out on the roof hurling abuse, amongst other things, at passers-by below til the wee hours.
The same live session from the Thursday night was also used for three cuts on the LIVE HARDCORE WORLDWIDE alblum, none of the tracks I have upped today were on that release so this is probably the first time these wee numbers has surfaced from this gig.
If you want more of this kind of thing, leave comments and you never know what might appear next, by just ripping the shit and runnin, youll never know what else could be round the corner. Enjoy.
As well as puttin you lot up on the latest greatest in Rap singers and the usual nonsense, more and more of you are contacting us requestin the rarities from the HOTASBALLS Rap radio archives, for the few that say please, i’ve culled this wee number.
HOTASBALLS 