BLACK

MILK
LEADER OF THE NEW
www.hhcdigital.net
HHC DIGITAL #003 DETROIT UNDERGROUND
CONTENTS JUNE 2009 HHC DIGITAL#003
03 THE LISTENING

04 MIX MASTER!

05 BITE BACK!

06 TANYA MORGAN
www.hhcdigital.net
www.twitter.com/hhcdigital
08 NEWS FLASH: ESLAM JAWAAD info@hhcdigital.net
10 CHECK OUT MY MELODY
EDITOR Phillip Mlynar
11 THE PANEL
(001) 347 731 1288 | phillip@hhcdigital.net
12 PUGS ATOMZ
DESIGNER April Hill | april@hhcdigital.net
13 FEAR OF THE RAP
WRITING Adam Anonymous, Cee Banger, Arsenio Billingham
14 FLOW FASHION Corin Douieb, Robbie Ettelson, Jo Fuertes-Knight, Mike Lewis
16 ELECTRIC RELAXATION Chloe McCloskey, John W McKelvey, James McNally, Tom Nook
Doc Nostrand, Chris Schonberger, Quincey Tones, Lucy Van Pelt,
17 TWITTERISHLY
Richard Watson
19 DETROIT IS NOW!
PHOTOGRAPHY Kristina Hill, Mike Lewis, Alexander Richter
32 FINALE
FRONT COVER Kristina Hill
34 D.ALLIE
ADVERTISING & SPONSORSHIP
36 KYZA
advertising@hhcdigital.net
40 M.O.P.
EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER AND HEAD OF
46 ALBUM OF THE MONTH: EMINEM MICROWAVE OVEN PROGRAMMING Andy Cowan
48 ALBUM REVIEWS PUBLISHED by Just One More in association with Infamous Ink Ltd.
All material (c) Just One More 2009. All rights reserved. HHC Digital
50 HOME STYLE may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, in whole or
in part, without the express written permission of the publisher.
Hip-Hop Connection is a registered trademark of Infamous Ink Ltd. All rights reserved.
52 OPEN UP
DISClAIMER While every effort is made to ensure the information in HHC
53 DEEJAY CHARTS Digital is correct, changes can occur which affect the accuracy of copy, for
which HHC Digital holds no responsibility. Contributors’ opinions do not
55 ON THE GO: PETE ROCK necessarily bear a relation to those of Just One More or Infamous Ink Ltd
40 M.O.P. or HHC Digital’s staff. The publishers disclaim any liability for those impressions. And
56 THE UNKUT COLUMN Dynamics Plus can go eat poo...

HHC DIGITAL #003 2

THE LISTENING
THIS MONTH’S FREE
MP3 STASH...
Back again with another top notch selection of free music
for your listening pleasure, you know how it works: Cop the
intricately-blended Last Skeptik-crafted mixtape version here,
or grab full and complete individual tracks from the end of 4. FRESH DAILY ‘BREAK A LEG’ (HIGH WATER) 11. ESLAM JAWAAD FEAT. DE LA SOUL ‘REWIND DJ’ (RPEG)
each interview and review throughout the mag. Now go ‘head 5. K-DEF ‘REDCOATS ARE COMING’ (GHETTO MAN) 12. BRAD STRUT ‘BELIEVE’ (SHOGUN)
and get to downloading... 6. FREESTYLE MASTER ‘BIG BAD CITY’ (POWERCUT) 13. D. ALLIE ‘EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE’
7. KYZA ‘SIN CITY’ (DENTED) (UNITED STATES OF MIND)
HHC DIGITAL MIX 003 8. FINALE FEAT. CASUAL ‘ONE MAN SHOW’ (8 BIT REMIX) 14. THE DELUSIONISTS ‘TO THE NEXT’
Click the play button to download! (FAT BEATS) (BEATS LAYING ABOUT)
1. LAST SKEPTIK INTRO 9. FAT RAY FEAT. AB & BLACK MILK ‘TAKE CONTROL’ 15. LOUDMOUTH MELVIN ‘TOP TEN LIST’
2. PUGS ATOMZ FEAT. SADAT X ‘WAIT & SEE’ (SOFLO ENT) (FAT BEATS) (LAST SKEPTIK REMIX) (WHITE)
3. TANYA MORGAN FEAT. BLU ‘MORGAN BLU’ 10. DJ SPINNA FEAT. TORAE ‘LYRICS IS BACK’ 16. MOP ‘BLOW THE HORNS’ (E1)
(INTERDEPENDENT) (HIGH WATER) 17. BLACK MILK ‘MO POWER’ (FAT BEATS)

HHC DIGITAL #003 3

MIX MASTER!
THE LAST SKEPTIK ON THIS
MONTH’S MIX...
Taking a break out from grooming his cats, The Last Skeptik
speaks semi-real words about HHC Digital 003’s free mix…

What three words best describe the mix?

“Not DMC standard.”

Big up your remix of Loudmouth Melvin’s ‘Top Ten List’...

Which track surprised you with its unexpected dopeness?
“It’s incredible. It’s not bigger than Jesus, but it stands up to
“Fresh Daily’s ‘Break A Leg’ made me reminisce: It’s exactly the
Odin. Loudmouth is one of the best rappers in the country.”
type of tune I’d run to Mr Bongo’s and buy on a Saturday morning
in between a Snapple, assorted crate-digging and general
weekend japery. Nowadays I just spend my Saturdays in pet What sandwich best describes this month’s mix?
supermarkets throwing tantrums in the Kibble aisle.” “Veggie-meatball marinara and cheese, with fries too.”

HHC DIGITAL #003 4

BITE BACK!
just what those ships are doing and how much food aid they’re whipped the crowd up into a frenzy in the first 25 minutes, but
trying to deliver the Somalian nation... Cynicism’s great if it’s this frenzy only lasted another ten minutes as they decided to
founded on accurate information. call it a night. We all thought they’d come back on for an encore

READERS RESPOND Tony Wright

Hi!
but they didn’t and the crowd grew restless – and rightly so.
Tonight was the biggest rip-off that I have come across at a
hip-hop gig for many years as we all paid the best part of £20
I giggled much when I read your STEPHAN! [Home Style 002]
(which isn’t far off of Brixton Academy!) to see De La perform

www.hhcdigital.net
HHC DIGITAL #002
35 FREE
EMUSIC
And, with being proud of listening to the show, and the promise
MP3s! a medley of tracks that failed to impress – especially from
of being sent something nice, I say to you: JUST COMING!
Dave who was walking around on stage like he couldn’t find
Ehe,
his favourite toy (probably ’cos he’d thrown it from his pram
Hickey x
‘ONLY BUILT 4 CUBAN LINX 2’ IS GO! over the sound quality). I hate to say it but the organisers and
GHOSTFACE, SPEECH DEBELLE, TANYA MORGAN, PAUL WHITE Can’t you kids just quote 30 Rock like the rest of us?
De La should be shame-faced right now for ripping their loyal
Hello, fan base off – I want my fucking money back!
I’ve just come from watching the legendary De La Soul at a Kind regards,
(Missed last month’s issue? Click the cover above to download!)
small venue in Exeter, Devon. At first glance it seemed that I’d Joe Foster, The Heartbroken Kid, Exeter.
Hey, be one of a lucky 130-odd people to get up close and personal Anyone else noticed a dip in the quality of live rap shows?
[In response to Steele’s comments on Somali pirates last with the Plugs and after a long drawn out two and a half hours
issue] Suggestion to General Steele – Do some research into of good warm up acts, out they came. Sure enough, they Wanna rant about rap? Holler at us on info@hhcdigital.net

HHC DIGITAL #003 5

TANYA MORGAN
BROOKLYNATI’S
FINEST...
“We aim to bring the art of the album back,” declares Von Pea,
the Brooklynite third of everyman rap crew Tanya Morgan.
“They say the album format is dying but that’s nonsense to
me. We made a complete album with ‘Brooklynati’ and that’s
what the ‘city’ is about.” Actually, by fusing hometowns to
create their sophomore set’s titular boho metropolis, Von and
Cincinnati kids Ilyas and Donwill have created more than just
a bumping long player, their Brooklynati website flagging up
the city’s attractions (Tiggalo’s House Of Worship, anyone?)
in immaculate multimedia style. “The website is definitely
elaborate,” agrees Donwill, “but that’s because Brooklynati is
as real as we make it. It’s not just an album title – it’s a state
of mind.”

HHC DIGITAL #003 6

On ‘Plan B’ you imagine scenarios in which you abandoned
your rap careers. Have you ever considered quitting?
Von Pea: “I used to want to quit all the time! Being a musician
and living your life can be difficult as hell. Trying to pay the bills,
find and maintain love, raise kids, be a good friend, brother
and son, and deal with all the shit that comes with living out
your dream isn’t easy. I love the highs so much though, that
Why did early ’90s Brooklynati rappers Hardcore Gentlemen
never make it past their debut single?
V: “Honestly, they were too much like Onyx and biting just
wasn’t allowed.”
D: “Well, you know they had a pretty bad drug problem too.
Sex addiction, gambling... They were plagued by a bunch of
personal issues around that time. They blew up too fast and

“
the lows don’t get to me anymore.”

MAKING HIP-HOP
Ilyas: “All the time. It’s like being in an abusive relationship. Hip-
hop is like a first love that rarely ever gives love back until you

IS LIKE BEING IN AN
say you’re gonna leave. Then right when you get comfortable

”
she’s back to being a bitch [laughs].”
ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP
On ‘We’re Fly’ Donwill gives props to Todd Shaw. What are
your favourite moments from the Too $hort back catalogue? it messed ’em up. They still hang out in front of Jurx Records
V: “‘Promoters pay me 10 Gs just to breathe on the mic!’” trying to get people to buy their shit. Sometimes I’ll still see
Donwill: “$hort Dog is the dude. How could you not respect ’em in Yancey Park in bubble coats in the dead of summer.
that guy for what he did and is still doing? My favourite songs They are definitely some strange guys but there’s no doubt
are: ‘Pimp The Hoe’, ‘Don’t Stop Rappin’’, ‘Ain’t Nothing But they deserve their respect.”
A Word’, ‘Hard On The Boulevard’... I could name songs of his (‘Brooklynati’ is out now.)
for days.” ‘Morgan Blu’ feat. Blu

HHC DIGITAL #003 7

NEWS FLASH!
ESLAM JAWAAD TALKS
CONSPIRACY FACTS
NOT THEORIES...
STICKY-FINGERED POLITICIANS…
“Politics always has an ulterior motive and it’s usually economic
so corruption is standard. Should it happen? Absolutely not.
Does it happen? All the time. I’m more interested in how they
use taxpayers’ money to bomb innocent civilians in the Middle
East, that’s more shocking than using the money to clean a
moat. Cleaning your moat, that’s a peaceful activity! It happens
all the time but there are more sinister things that politicians
get involved in. The hysteria in the news tends to make us stray
away from more important things that are happening.”
ON PROFESSOR GREEN GETTING BOTTLED...
“It’s alcohol. When people are drunk they get stupid. Under
normal circumstances, if you were sober, the chances of you
doing something highly offensive are low. You wouldn’t grab
someone’s girlfriend’s ass for no reason, but when drunk that’s
a different story. I rarely drink; ‘cos I get stupid when drunk.
I’ve been involved in altercations which might render a lyric
somewhere but it’s not worth it. I wish him luck recovering.”
BNP UPROAR…
“I don’t understand how they’re allowed to exist. I’m
with protecting rights and freedom but with them it’s too
extreme. Their current wave of popularity is really riding
on this anti-muslim sentiment. Sometimes they play it
smart with what they openly say but they’ll always get
found out having these crazy racist rants somewhere.”
Jo Fuertes-Knight
‘Rewind’ feat. De La Soul
HHC DIGITAL #003 8
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HHC DIGITAL #003 9

CHECK OUT MY
MELODY
DJ SPINNA’S MUSICAL PICKS…
“You’re talking to a man that has 50,000 records in his
collection!” laughs DJ Spinna when asked to name-check his
classic albums. With his own ‘Sonic Smash’ set promising a
return to the “straight boom-bap”, here’s his cornerstones...
STEVIE WONDER ‘SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE’ &
‘INNERVISIONS’
“I was three years old when I first heard ‘Superstition’. I
remember Stevie on Sesame Street playing it and my mom
telling me he was blind but not fully understanding what being
blind meant and trying to see behind his shades. I’ve been a
Stevie Wonder fanatic since day one.”
THE JBS ‘FOOD FOR THOUGHT’
“I had a lot of James Brown 45s as a kid: ‘Sex Machine’,
‘Escapism’, ‘Get On The Good Foot’... I’d been an aspiring hip-
hop producer since ’83 and went to my first recording session
in ’85. When sampling became a part of hip-hop music, I
embraced it whole-heartedly. People like Marley Marl and
Ced Gee brought it to fruition, and I’d say Marley is single-
handedly responsible for putting James Brown samples on
the map: In ’88, 60% of hip-hop records had ‘Funky Drummer’
as the beat!”
A TRIBE CALLED QUEST ‘MIDNIGHT MARAUDERS’
“I’m a big Tribe fan. The samples they were using were pretty
much unheard of – they put Eugene McDaniels and RAMP on
the map. By the time ‘Midnight Marauders’ came out they had
totally reached a point where they knew their concept as a
group and how to make an album. This is the definitive Tribe
album, from the songs to concepts to the interludes, even the
computer chick speaking – ‘Keep bouncin’’!” Doc Nostrand
(‘Sonic Smash’ is out June 30th.)
‘Lyrics Is Back’ feat. Torae
HHC DIGITAL #003 10
THE PANEL
WHAT WAS YOUR
FIRST IMPRESSION
OF EMINEM?
GHOST
“I first became aware of Eminem while driving a
van through Manchester! They were playing ‘My
Name Is’ on Radio 1. I remember that people had told me it
was good and I remember hearing it and laughing, thinking it
was pretty dope, that the beat was sick and that he was clever.
Then I was like, ‘Damn, that’s the guy from the Shabaam
Shadeeq ‘5 Star Generals’ track! I was a bit slow to catch on,
but I liked what I heard.”
DR SYNTAX
“I first heard Eminem with ‘My Name Is’. I thought
he was hilarious. He had crazy multi-syllabic
rhymes, ignorant punchlines for days and didn’t take himself
too seriously. He was pretty much the most exciting thing
in hip-hop for a while – he didn’t sound like anyone else, he
sounded hungry, and raised the bar technically.”
KASHMERE
“I’m not totally sure – I was blazing loads around
them times. From what I remember it was a
regular day. I went round to see a friend who I’d just hook up
with sometimes and play tapes and one day he was like, ‘Listen
to this kid!’ I heard the verse and just thought, ‘Damn!’ A little
while later I started hearing other shit, thinking this dude is
fucking dope. It was just next level; nobody before him had
quite spit it like that. Eminem changed the game, shook the
whole thing up, and it was dope because it seemed unanimous
with everyone that he was dope, you know what I mean? That
doesn’t always happen in hip-hop so when it does it feels great.
Shame about the Bruno incident though...” Corin Douieb
HHC DIGITAL #003 11
PUGS ATOMZ
AWARD TOUR...
“Moscow was crazy!” says Chicago, Illinois emcee Pugs Atomz,
having just jetted back from a European jaunt with DJ Vadim.
“It was strange to see armed soldiers in uniform everywhere,
from outside the train stations to even at the corner stores,
and the architecture was real utilitarian. But the sky was
amazing, and the people were so into the music, besides the
language barrier.
“It felt like when I first got into hip-hop back in Chicago,” he
continues, “where it wasn’t so accessible, and where you
couldn’t just walk down the street and immediately see people
who obviously listened to hip-hop – you had to seek it out.”
About to drop his ‘Roof Top’ album, headed up by the mellow
collabo with “kindred spirit” Sadat X, ‘Wait And See’, Pugs
Atomz – the name hails from his graffiti days, after ditching “20
other attempts” including near misses as Pervert and MC Clue
– caught the rap bug during the peak days of EPMD, Boogie
Down Productions and De La Soul, and found his rhyming feet
during the Hiero-sparked freestyle era.
“My first rhyme was at school, when we were asked to write
a poem about God,” he recalls. “When I recited what I had
written everyone started saying, ‘You’re rapping!’ I thought,
‘Yeah, you know, I can do this.’”
Now with a plethora of projects prepped to drop before the
year’s out, from free download mixtapes (‘Road 2 The Top’)
to a side-group distraction as The Gents (“It’s on some real
grown man shit – we perform in suits and ties!”), the kid with
the versatile style is going all out to etch his name on the
worldwide rap map. As that man the great Datty X says, “Pugs
has got the skill and drive to make progress in this industry.”
Doc Nostrand
(‘Rooftop’ is out June 16th on Slo-Flo.)
‘Wait And See’ feat. Sadat X
HHC DIGITAL #003 12
FEAR OF
THE RAP
OFF YOUR RAP RADAR...
If you enjoy your hip-hop street level and gritty but you
haven’t heard of The Custodian Of Records yet (pictured, sort
of), then I think it’s only a matter of time. He’s an underground
deejay/producer whose debut album, ‘Burton Music’, just
dropped digitally on Domination Records (WTF, Domination,
not even a CD?). He’s a sample based-producer, in the vein of
Large Professor and Showbiz, so you won’t hear all the synth
lines and Apple software library sounds you get on the radio
today. It’s rugged ’90s throwback stuff, and he’s got a pack of
like-minded, up-and-coming emcees with him.
After that album, the next stage is ‘The Custodian And Friends’
set, and he’s also producing a full album for Solzalez, one of
the Brick City artists featured on ‘The Burton’. He’s let me hear
some tracks in advance, including collaborations with Tame 1,
Shawn Luv and Pace Won (yeah, it doesn’t get anymore Jer-
sey than this!), and I can tell you: Custodian is the first up-and-
coming producer I’ve been excited about in a long time. (Well,
him and Marco Polo, but Custodian’s material is more raw –
seriously.) So look for this guy’s name in the credits of some of
your favorite albums down the line, no doubt.
Now, I don’t think I’m alone in being disappointed by X-Clan’s
comeback album, ‘Return From Mecca’. Apart from the ‘sin-
gle’ (in quotes, because there was no actual 12-inch, cassette
or CD released), it was basically a huge mess, leaving our in-
trepid Brother J lost in a sea of ill-advised guest rappers and
producers. So it was no surprise that the follow-up popped
with little to no fanfare or ‘blog buzz’ – in fact, I didn’t realise
until pretty recently that ‘Mainstream Outlawz’ actually came
out back in January!
A once-over of the producers wasn’t too promising: Craig Rip,
The Are, Apokalips… Who on Earth are these guys?! Fat Jack
and DJ Quik may have been total mismatches, but at least we
knew who the heck they were. Why were they opting not to
use Ultraman? He clearly understood how to produce for J bet-
ter than anyone since Paradise. But, I’m pleasantly surprised to
report this album actually works: the new guys knew how to
lay a foundation for J’s commanding voice, the guest emcees
fit, and it’s all around the album ‘Return...’ should have been.
It’s not perfect, but it deserves to be heard – so go check it be-
fore Brother J retires for another decade. John W McKelvey
HHC DIGITAL #003 13
FLOW
FASHION
RAHSAAN

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KRISTINA HILL

“My first single is called ‘The Sneaker Store Terrorist’, so it’s
taking that addiction and making a profit off it,” says Florida
kicks disciple RahSaan while hitting up Wealthy Hostage in
Brooklyn. With a background in design (his designs for Mecca
were rocked in The Wire), and his own footwear store about to
open (The Stock Exchange), here’s the fly guy’s sole science...

HHC DIGITAL #003 14

When did your addiction to sneakers start?
“When I was 15. Until that point I was only allowed to wear
Payless sneakers, like XJ900s! When I got my first pair of Air
Force 1s – the mids, white and navy blue – it was tenth grade
and from that day on that was all I wanted to wear. For the
next ten years I wore nothing but Air Force 1s. Then I started
getting into Adidas shell-toes and Air Max.”

Do you keep your old sneakers? How large is your collection?

“I was born in Guyana, and I still have a tight hold on my
homeland, so every couple of years I bag up my leftover
sneakers and ship ’em over for underprivileged kids there.”

How long have you been coming to Wealthy Hostage?

“Two and a half years – they know me well in here! It’s one of
the dopest sneaker spots that I’ve been to in New York City.”

What are you wearing yourself at the moment?

“Red Japanese edition Air Force 1s, with the air bubble.”
(Check out www.wealthyhostage.com for more.)
‘Savior’

HHC DIGITAL #003 15

ELECTRIC
FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS
(HBO)
Get ready to folk, as they say, with the

RELAXATION
DVD release of series two of the antics of
New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk
parody duo.

THIS MONTH’S
ROBOT CHICKEN: STAR WARS EPISODE II
(ADULT SWIM)

HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Dropping in July, this one does what it says
on the tin, mashing up elements of the two
worlds. Warped Adult Swim-style comedy
AGENT DJ HERO then ensues.
(ROCKSTAR) (ACTIVISION)
The latest from the bods behind the all- Packaged with a turntable-shaped controller, and featuring METALOCALYPSE S1
conquering Grand Theft Auto franchise, new title Agent is being input from DJ Shadow and Z-Trip plus tracks from Eminem and (ADULT SWIM)
touted around as “the ultimate action game”. A lofty claim, Jay-Z, the latest in the musical sim genre plugs straight into The animated story of the world’s most
but set against a Cold War backdrop, and with a stealthy dose the ones and twos. “A deejay has the ability to use music to extreme metal band, Dethklok, this one’s an
of espionage weaved in to proceedings, it’s one RockStar just control people’s emotions,” says Jigga of the game, and the all out rock fest. Also includes murderous
might pull off. Either way, all will be revealed later this year title will feature exclusive content from both the Roc man and kittens and the vocal talents of
when it drops on the PS3. Eminem. Out this autumn. Mark Hamill.

HHC DIGITAL #003 7

16
 STILL AVAILABLE!

ISSUE 001
CAM’RON is Using Twitter

@J2TheMwah Cosign on bursting onto the stage through

giant flip charts – FLIPSET in the building!!! LOL!!!
7:18 PM today, from twitteriffic

NO HOMO!!!!
DOOM!
THE SUPER-VILLAIN
5:50 PM today, from web ON BUKOWSKI, BEER
AND BECOMING A
Meant to type no homo just then. Tweeting with this iPhone GAZZILLIONAIRE
www.hhcdigital.net
HHC DIGITAL #001 WILLIE ISZ, CHARLES HAMILTON, DANTE ROSS & MORE!
app’s a big fat pain in the ass. Mo homo.
5:50 PM today, from web

Video turned out great, especially the Swingball action.

Mo homo.
5:49 PM today, from web
DOOM, WILLIE ISZ, DANTE ROSS, MOBONIX
Shooting latest budget video in my man’s back garden.

ISSUE 002
Paddling pool should look bigger with the right framing.
2:27 PM today, from twitteriffic

www.hhcdigital.net
HHC DIGITAL #002
35 FREE
EMUSIC
@J2TheMwah Had idea for our Bosses tour. Let’s start with MP3s!
a giant PowerPoint presentation showing our resumes. And
use that race car noise.
10:14 AM today, from TweetDeck

Watching Clarissa Explains It All. Miss having the budget

to sample dope TV themes. ‘ONLY BUILT 4 CUBAN LINX 2’ IS GO!
9:03 AM today, from web GHOSTFACE, SPEECH DEBELLE, TANYA MORGAN, PAUL WHITE

RAEKWON, GHOSTFACE, SPEECH DEBELLE

HHC DIGITAL #003 7
17
ADVERTISEMENT

HHC DIGITAL #003 18

DETROIT
IS NOW!
THESE DAYS IF IT’S DOPE IT’S MOST
LIKELY FROM DETROIT – AND THESE
ARE THE CATS WHO HOLD THE KEY TO
THE D’S UNDERGROUND DOMINANCE...

BY RICHARD WATSON • PHOTOGRAPHY BY KRISTINA HILL

HHC DIGITAL #003 19

“Don’t nobody care about us/All they do is doubt us/’Til we blow
the spot/Then they all wanna crowd us...”
Phat Kat, ‘Don’t Nobody Care About Us’

Its noise – a rumbling, rugged-sometimes-smooth assault on

the neck muscles and frequently the gut – had been audible
for some time, but 2008 was the year Detroit’s hip-hop
community followed through on the oft-heard instruction of
its dearly departed talisman J-Dilla and turned it up a lil’ louder.
Elzhi (‘The Preface’), Fat Ray (‘The Set-Up’), Black Milk (‘The
Tronic’), Illa J (‘Yancey Boys’) and Guilty Simpson (‘Ode To The
Ghetto’) were fixtures on both end-of-year top ten lists and
each other’s tracks, hammering home the point that, ebbing
with talent and a sense of community, the D might currently
be the most vital and vibrant spot on the rap map. Now, in ’09,
with Eminem bringing the blockbuster back to hip-hop, and a “DETROIT MUSIC IS
decade on from his game-changing ‘The Slim Shady LP’, it’s
HEARTFELT AND ANTI-
time for the D to rule rap – from the bottom up.
COMMERCIAL”
There’s a certain poetry to Detroit’s newfound standing as
the epicentre of authentic hip-hop. If the culture began by

HHC DIGITAL #003 20

 giving a voice to the unheard and disenfranchised, then who
better to grab the mic at this moment than the residents of a
city that has never known the glamour and notoriety of more
fashionable hip-hop hotbeds? A city synonymous with struggle;
where hustling and grinding are daily routines for damn near
everyone, from big time ball players to nine-to-fivers? And yes,
definitely the resident rap talent, too.
“Detroit is a blue collar city,” says Phat Kat, a stalwart of his
hometown’s hip-hop scene since the mid-’90s, “so you get a
blue collar emcee; a working class emcee. We’re not iced-out
and driving Bentleys and everything, but we’re surviving off of
the music and it shows in the music.”
Fat Ray, an emcee with a similarly no-frills persona, seems
“DJ PREMIER WAS buoyed by what he views as a classic, rose-growing-from-
GIVING ME PROPS
concrete scenario.
FOR ’THE TRONIC’” “The artists in the city feel like nobody’s gonna help them
in the situation that they’re in,” he observes, “so the music
comes out a lot more honest and a lot more raw. It’s really like
the artists are not trying to appease the industry, so I think the
music is becoming a lot more heartfelt and anti-commercial.
It’s back to the underground and the feeling is so real. I’m
starting to feel a lot of the local artists that’s coming out now
because they’re being honest with the music. They’re not
trying to portray that commercial sound that everybody in the
music industry loves so much.”
After years of hearing talent-light, bling-heavy rappers set their
shopping lists to insipid, ring-tone ready beats, the appeal of
Phat Kat, Fat Ray and their hard grafting, heart-spilling peers
isn’t hard to fathom, least of all when the rumbling of their
tracks often seems rivalled only by the rumbling in their
bellies.
“Yeah, it’s hunger, man,” relates Hex Murda, who, as
manager of Elzhi, Black Milk and Guilty Simpson, has a better
understanding than most of the fire that fuels his city’s
current rap ambassadors. “It’s like when you come out and
you’re a Detroit cat – whether you’re Black or Guilty or Royce
or whoever − you gotta let ’em know: ‘This is what I do, this
HHC DIGITAL #003 21
is my lane, y’all can’t come over here. Y’all can do whatever
other shit you wanna do, but this is Detroit shit right here;
this is how we do it and you can’t fuck with it’. It’s a hunger
and desire that these guys have to let people know, ‘You keep
overlooking us, and that’s cool ’cos we right here’.
“I don’t know, man. Sometimes it feels like you banging your
head against the wall, but if you doing this just for recognition
you might as well quit and go work at the post office.”
As Black Milk underlines, “Being from Detroit, I’m condident
with what I do and, at the end of the day, I’m the type of artist
that makes what I wanna make and if I’m satisfied with the
project then it really doesn’t matter what outside people think
about it.
“It’s crossed my mind to deliberately make a commercial-
sounding track before,” he adds, “but whether it’s from being
from Detroit or something else, my brain won’t let me do it!
I’m always just trying to create something new and fresh that
no one’s heard before.”
Whether Detroit is as overlooked as its artists frequently
claim on record hardly matters when that us-against-the-
world attitude is so intrinsic to the Motor City mentality. While
easterly neighbour New York continues to an exude an air of
entitlement like a once-storied sports franchise perennially
bereft of silverware, Detroit plays with a chip on its collective
shoulder, grinding and scrapping for every point and – behind
the 8 Mile-wide scowl – revelling in its underdog status.
While it’s easy to disassociate the mega-selling Eminem
from the D’s 2009 roster of ravenous underground rhyme-
spitters, there’s no denying that Marshall’s incredible ascent
is testament to the against-all-odds attitude in which his
hometown is steeped. Em’s trailer park back-story gave
him the authenticity usually considered lacking in his pale-
faced predecessors (Detroit’s majority-black make-up and
segregated streets making his rise a virtual photo-negative
retelling of the textbook rap-to-riches story), and while, of
course, his skills on the mic spoke for themselves, they too
were steeled in the fiery battles that went down at spots like
the city’s legendary Hip-Hop Shop. You want a local-boy-makes-
good underdog story? How many other rappers have had their
lives immortalised on screen in a rap remake of Rocky?
“He really got it done for the city,” says local legend DJ House
Shoes, who got his start deejaying at fabled Motown hip-
hop club St Andrews back in 1994. “No matter what anybody
says, he sold like 35 million records and he’s a product of his
environment, which is Detroit, so that’s great.”
Still, while Em’s self-determination took him to the top of the
pop charts, his success – perhaps because the involvement
of undisputed Cali kingpin Dr Dre muddied the geographical
waters somewhat – didn’t exactly have the music industry
decamping to Detroit. In fact, one of the factors distinguishing
Detroit artists from their cross country counterparts is the
lack of even local-level infrastructure at their disposal. Your
average player in, say, the Bay Area’s aggressively indigenous
hyphy scene can afford to throw up the thizz face at outsiders
baffled by the stunna shades and side-shows before ghost-
riding their way to the radio station and promoting their
latest CD to legions of fiercely loyal local fans. However, with
HHC DIGITAL #003 22
 local labels and radio support virtually non-existent, the D’s
troopers often seem to be struggling against resistance not
from the world outside their city, but from their immediate
surroundings. But it’s a state of affairs that only seems to offer
more fuel to their fire – and at the very least it’s certainly not
something that Hex Murda is losing any sleep over.

“Radio is gonna be radio and it’s gonna do what it does,” he

shrugs. “It’s gonna play what the advertisers need it to play.
You’re not going to listen to the radio and hear three or four

“LYRICALLY, ELZHI’S ONE Guilty, Black Milk and Elzhi records in a row. I’m not even trying
to be delusional and think to myself like it’s possible. I don’t
OF THE DOPEST EMCEES need to change the radio because, on some real shit, fuck the

I’VE EVER HEARD”

radio. The internet is here now. I can get shit out quicker on
the internet than I can on the radio. It’s instant. I can put a
record up tomorrow and a hundred million people will hear
it. It’s global, so why should I care about the radio? I mean,
the radio is good at making people famous if you want to be
heard locally. That’s cool, but at the same time we got XFM
stations now. Black Milk and Guilty and Elzhi get play on Sirius
and that’s nationwide, worldwide.”

HHC DIGITAL #003 23

Make no mistake: That nationwide, worldwide audience has
been essential to the D’s come-up, with heads from Europe
and Japan voraciously collecting catalogue from the city’s “THE SIMPLICITY IS
artists and showing up en masse for live shows.
WHAT MAKES DILLA’S
“When we do shows that take place overseas it’s amazing,” BEATS GREAT”
enthuses House Shoes. “I was in Paris one night with Illa J, Aloe
Blacc and Exile on the ‘Dilla Changed My Life’ tour. After the
set, I spun for like five hours and the energy from the crowd
was consistent from beginning to end – they were going
fucking crazy; every word from every song, even the obscure
shit. Cats have no idea. The love we get over there is so much
more intense than anything we get back home.”

Crucially, while supporters of the city’s music may hail from all
four corners of the globe, they can broadly be characterised
as one demographic: hip-hop fans desperately seeking that
increasingly elusive fix of, well, good old-fashioned hip-hop.
To some extent, Detroit’s ascent is the result of impeccable
timing: Many well-seasoned hip-hop heads were unwilling to
lift a Crunk Juice-filled petrol can to Lil Jon and friends in the

HHC DIGITAL #003 24

wake of the indie scene’s turn-of-the-millennium implosion,
and though the new generation of blog-rappers isn’t without
talent, there’s a suspicion that many of them will prove as
trendy and transient as their much-maligned skinny jeans.
Detroit’s finest, though, display a relationship with hip-hop’s
glory years that goes way deeper than a throwback font on a
smedium T-shirt, serving up music that appeases ears raised
on the late ’80s/early-’90s hip-hop staples without sounding
overly safe or retrogressive. Sure, the buzz coming out of
Detroit may not be as radical as the sounds that have shaped
the crunk or hyphy movements or even, for that matter,
Britain’s own grime scene, but then that’s half the point. It’s
the balancing act perfected by the D’s great and good that
makes their output all the more impressive − fans who came
up on Black Moon can nod their heads to Black Milk without
feeling like they’ve heard it all before.
Perhaps the greatest indicator of the Motor City’s rude health
is that these days, bemoaning New York’s creative stagnancy
or speculating about which bureaucracy-beleaguered emcee
is primed to stop the Big Apple’s rot just as soon as their label
frees them seems somewhat pointless when a slew of Detroit
artists are busy dropping the type of creative but structurally
sound street music that we used to take for granted from the
five boroughs.
“I’ve been telling people for a good few years that Detroit is
like the new Bronx,” relates House Shoes. “People are looking
to us for inspiration.”
Hell, even Noo Yiddy’s own boom-bap standard-setters have
their ears cocked to the mid-west.
“Just recently I was over in Phoenix for Sha-Money’s One-
Stop Shop producer conference,” recalls Black Milk, “and
DJ Premier was on the panel giving me props. Even though
he’s on the album [adding scratches to the track ‘Matrix’ with
“I’M ALWAYS TRYING
Pharoahe Monch and Sean P], for me he’s the biggest legend TO CREATE SOMETHING
out of all the hip-hop producers, so props from him make me THAT NO ONE’S HEARD
feel like I’m where I need to be musically. It’s the same as when BEFORE”
Madlib was giving me props out in Cali.”
HHC DIGITAL #003 25

“I’m definitely paying attention to what’s going on over in the
city of Detroit,” says Show, production maestro for New York’s
legendary Diggin’ In The Crates crew, an outfit synonymous
with the type of music now deemed largely MIA from hip-
hop’s established birthplace. “As long as you know what you
are doing with the sampler, then I’m down with it, you know
what I mean? Let’s be honest, when it comes to listening to hip-
hop music, a lot of times people don’t even try to get creative,
so as long as those guys are creative, I don’t care where they
come from, man. These guys from Detroit, they’re soundin’
good to me.”
It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that creativity is
such a key component on the Motor City production line. Few
American cities boast a musical heritage as broad-reaching as
Detroit (its nicknames, Motown and Rock City, nod proudly to
genre-spanning past glories and, whatever Eminem’s personal
tastes, it’s no slouch in the techno stakes, either), so it’s only
natural that the D’s hip-hop vanguard draws influence from
across the board. For every gritty, street-spitting Phat Kat or
Royce Da 5’ 9” (and if you like your gulliness a little less Fader-
friendly, there’s always the antics of the Eastside Chedda Boyz
and their one-time vicious rivals the Street Lordz), there’s
an adventurous, avant garde offering from Amp Fiddler or
Waajeed and his Platinum Pied Pipers crew, now transplanted
to Brooklyn. Which only makes it all the more remarkable
that the city has, over the last few years, begun to cultivate
something approaching a signature sound.
The first wave of Detroit artists worked wonders for local pride,
but did so largely by proving that the D could keep stylistic pace
with their colleagues in New York and Los Angeles. By contrast,
the Detroit artists making noise today are cranking out music
that – while certainly conforming to the time honoured beats-
and-rhymes blueprint − sounds genuinely different to that
emanating from the more traditional hip-hop hotbeds.
“Guys like Detroit’s Most Wanted, Awesome Dre, Prince Vince,
Smiley and all these other cats, they had kind of a sound too,”
contends Hex. “They had their own sound, and the sound that
we have now still goes back to that mentality that those guys
had just in the street. But as far as music, yeah, at this moment
in time you can say, ‘That’s a Detroit cat,’ when you hear a
dude rhyming or when you hear a certain type of track; the
way they chopped the drum or something, ‘That’s a Detroit
dude.’ Esham, Detroit’s Most Wanted − all these guys had their
own lane. We’re trying to build our own lane, too.”
“What we’re seeing isn’t just a new thing,” says Waajeed. “In
so many ways Detroit is so different to so many other places
across the world. That directly affects our originality, our ideas
and our stance on the world and feeds into the sound you hear
now. It’s been kinda like a building process over the last ten
years that’s made it the kinda focal point it is now.”
HHC DIGITAL #003 26
That Detroit hip-hop catches the ear and nags the neck with a
sound so distinct from the competition is due, in no small part,
to the dusty fingered movements of one man in particular.
While people’s champ Proof was the mayor of the Detroit hip-
hop scene, and his peroxide pal became its pop superstar, the
main architect of the city’s signature sound is the man who,
after dropping a couple of resolutely local hits, conquered
– yes! – New York and LA before officially welcoming us to
Detroit: the inimitable J Dilla.

A look at some of Dilla’s earliest assignments – specifically

his work as musical choreographer for 1996’s official Native
Tongues reinstatement – evidences the very qualities he would
later display in abundance as a Detroit figurehead: a heart
for classic hip-hop combined with an ear for innovation. His
brassy, broody board-work on De La’s ‘Stakes Is High’ single
provided the perfect backdrop for the Plug boys’ seething
“I HOPE DETROIT ARTISTS
state-of-the-union address, while the mixed reaction to Tribe’s KEEP THAT UNDERDOG FIRE
Ummah-led move into woozier musical territories on ‘Beats,
Rhymes & Life’ is at least partly attributable to the fact that,
IN THEIR SOULS”
while others merely claim to be, James Yancey was genuinely

HHC DIGITAL #003 27

on some next shit. Ironically, Dilla would spend the next
decade crafting music entirely in keeping with the intrepid
golden era spirit once embodied by Quest and friends, and
when the world eventally caught up, the biggest beneficiary
was the producer’s hometown.
Throughout his tragically curtailed career, Dilla almost seemed
to be moving backwards – beautifully, weirdly backwards like
The Pharcyde in the video for ‘Drop’ (yep, another Jay Dee
sure-shot). While many a board-basher has smoothed out
their sound for commercial consumption, Dilla often appeared
intent on scuffing his up, amplifying his aesthetic eccentricities
to (im)perfect a sound that was – and is – distinctly Detroit.
Despite spending his final days in more tranquil Cali climes,
Dilla never stopped repping for his hometown, and for every
Busta or Common collabo he handed out heat to his Motor
City brethren. Even the 2005 JayLib project ‘Champion
Sound’, ostensibly a cross cultural collision of Dilla and west
coast maverick Madlib, became an advert for the new Detroit
aesthetic. By keeping pace with his notoriously experimental
playmate while roping Guilty Simpson and Frank n’ Dank in on
rabble-rousing duties, Dilla firmly established the D’s facility
for robust rap bangers with fidgety, off-key inflections; music
faithful to the streets but not enslaved by its strictures.
So idiosyncratic yet instantly recognisable is The Dilla Method
that, when asked to pinpoint his late friend’s technical
innovations, Waajeed – who began his own beat-making
career after borrowing, and later buying, a broken MPC2000
from Dilla – can’t quite put a finger on it. “I can’t really say
what his technical thing was – it was him, you know what I’m
saying? I think the simplicity is what makes Dilla’s beats great.
A Dilla beat is very similar to a conversation with Dilla: Jay
didn’t really say much, but what he did say and how he said it
was simple, so you got the point; it was like a slap to the face.
It was firm, to the point, and it left a taste in your mouth and
left you something to think about.”
Today, of course, Dilla’s sound and spirit live on not merely
in mixtapes, t-shirts and limited edition mixtape-and-t-
shirt collector’s packs, but also in the music of his peers.
An undoubted Dilla disciple, Black Milk has continued in
HHC DIGITAL #003 28
his predecessor’s cracked, filtered path while increasingly
broadening his sound in a way that would surely have the great
man nodding his head from on high (Black recently hinted that
his follow-up to the eclectic ‘Tronic’ will be Beatles-influenced),
while Dilla’s baby bro Illa J is, with the help of his late sibling’s
archived beats, quite literally carrying on the family name on
debut album ‘Yancey Boys’.
Still, Dilla’s influence extends far further than just individual
CVs, his innovations key to his hometown’s current rude health.
While it’s arguable that no other city in hip-hop currently does
‘hard’ as well as the D (check Phat Kat’s unnerving, Dilla-
produced ‘Cold Steel’ for a song as chilly and tough as its title),
the city’s damn near incontestable in its ability to temper
those asphalt-ready beats and frequently frostbitten rhymes
with the type of warm, honest-to-goodness soul that’s been a
local staple since Jay Dee and his fellow Slum Villagers started
to circulate the piecemeal charms of their ‘Fan-Tas-Tic Vol 1’
back in 1997.
While Dilla’s life left an indelible imprint on Detroit hip-hop,
so did his February 2006 death, along with Proof’s passing
just two months later. Two very different personalities (one
as gregarious and sociable as the other was introspective and
studio-bound), both were bonafide Motor City royalty when
different tragic circumstances made them the highest profile
additions to a list of deceased Detroit rap talent that already
included AWOL’s DJ Homicide, Wipeout, Blade Icewood and
Proof’s former D-12 bandmate Bugz. We know how Detroit
responds to getting knocked down though, and while we can
only speculate on how strong the city might be with Big Proof
and Dilla Dawg still alive, the resilience of their peers in the
wake of their passing is there for all to see. (“Before it was all “There’s no AD, there’s no BD,” he insists. “It’s a Detroit
cliks,” confirms Phat Kat, “but the passing of Dilla and Proof movement. Even despite J’s greatness, I really kinda hate this
brought us all together.”) idea of before-Dilla and post-Dilla. There was a movement prior
to J and there’s a movement after. We should be focussed on
It’s this same one-for-all ethos that Waajeed believes should be the city as a whole. Because of Dilla’s passing, all of a sudden
the true recipient of the spotlight, the Triple P man cautioning everybody’s focussed on his great achievements and it’s almost
against Dilla’s lionisation by fans and journalists, and, despite like an afterthought where the media and popular culture just
his adoration for the man who sold him his first worse-for- kinda looks to ‘Donuts’ and all of Dilla’s current records that
wear bit of kit, refusing to co-sign a Detroit rap timeline with kinda have a story behind them. It’s bullshit because it’s a lot
James Yancey at its centre. more going on.
HHC DIGITAL #003 29

“There isn’t a hero or a saviour or a particular person that
defines the sound of the city. Black Milk is not that, Dilla’s not
that. People should stop treating it like a phenomenon, ’cos
I know what happens with phenomenons. A couple of years
from now, the thing that T-Pain uses on his voice is going to be
a joke ’cos everyone’s using it, and I want to make sure that
Dilla is not put in that phenomenon basket where people are
saying ‘‘Donuts’, ‘Donuts’, ‘Donuts’…’ and then ten years from
now it’ll be like the fucking ‘Thong Song’ by Sisqo. I’m hoping
to bring attention to people like Dwele and T3; everybody, as
opposed to the smaller picture of just Dilla and Black Milk.”
So do the players at the heart of Detroit hip-hop see themselves
as part of a movement; practitioners of a region-specific hip-
hop sub genre – or simply a group of emcees and producers
who share a postcode, personal friendships, and a penchant
for proper hip-hop?
“There’s a circle of people I could count on both hands that do
a certain genre of music,” opines Hex, “whether you want to
call it Detroit hip-hop or whatever. There are definitely fans,
especially overseas, that latch onto the music kinda like people
did with Detroit techno and only listen to Detroit shit, but as a
whole, even though we’re all a crew and we all work together, I
don’t think it’s as big as the crunk thing. It’s just Detroit people
have a kinship in their music thought process.”
“Lyrically, Elzhi’s one of the dopest emcees I’ve ever heard,“
says Fat Ray, talking about that kinship. “When he asked me
to be on his ‘Fire’ remix it was an honour. It was a good feeling
hearing so many great Detroit artists shooting for one common
goal, which is letting the world know that we are capable of
making hit music. It’s definitely a good feeling to be in the
company of other artists who share in the success of Detroit
and what we all have as a whole, which is a movement.”
The most exciting part of all this? The fact that this Motor City
movement shows no signs of slowing down. Elzhi’s ‘The Set-
Up’ and Fat Ray and Black Milk’s ‘The Preface’ were, as their
titles suggest, intended as mere curtain-raisers for ‘proper’
albums, while this year has already seen a relapsing Eminem
returning to pop glory, upcomer Finale building his rep with
‘A Pipedream And A Promise’ and Dilla giving us another
posthumous reminder of his dopeness on ‘Jay $tay Paid’. Still
to come, there’s Elzhi’s ‘The Feed’, a possible Slum Village
reunion, and the tantalising triumvirate of Black Milk, Guilty
Simpson and NY Boot Camper Sean Price as Random Axe.
“It’s gonna be what people expect but not really what people
expect,” teases Black Milk of the team-up. “It’s gonna be on a
different vibe – but still smacking.”
Waajeed also remains optimistic about the future of Detroit
hip-hop, despite – or perhaps because of – his pessimism for
the city’s socioeconomic situation.
HHC DIGITAL #003 30

“BEING FROM DETROIT I
CAN’T MAKE DELIBERATELY Waa probably needn’t worry about his Motown peers losing
COMMERCIAL TRACKS”
“When New York had its toughest economic times and
some of the most racist, corrupt motherfuckers running the
government, out came hip-hop, and I think that it takes that
pressure and that energy and anger and an SP1200 sitting
there to make that happen. That’s what’s going to happen
with Detroit. With the automotive situation and all that, I think
that the greatest is yet to come because Detroit is so fucked
up and shit is real, you know?
“So I hope the artists keep that underdog fire in their souls,”
he continues, “and keep seeing Detroit as a place that’s slept
on as opposed to a great mecca. Some people are holding us
to that now and it’s still not even true.”
their fire, but at this rate it’s going to get harder and harder
for his hometown to duck rap music mecca status. Detroit
the most underestimated plus underrated city in this hip-hop
game? Surely not for much longer.
Black Milk ‘Mo Power’
Fat Ray & Black Milk feat. AB ‘Take Control’
HHC DIGITAL #003 31
FINALE
A PROMISING START...
BY PHILLIP MLYNAR
The latest emcee to fly off Detroit’s never-slowing underground
conveyor-belt, Finale’s recent ‘A Pipedream And A Promise’
was wrought through with traditional D-Town grit as well as
featuring nods to the city’s heritage with a Dilla production
and vocal input from first-wave Detroit ambassador Awesome
Dre. Here’s his snapshot of the Motor City...
Is the Detroit portrayed on records the same as the real
Detroit experienced by anyone who lives there?
“If it’s a rapper who is really from Detroit then it’s very
accurate. Detroit, the way we approach music, this is what it is,
you love it or you hate it. Detroit is going to be Detroit: it’s not
sugar-coated, it’s not super-planned out, and we’re not about
to say it’s messed up when it isn’t - it is messed up. Whatever
you heard about what goes on in Detroit, whether it’s where
I grew up on the east side, Conant Gardens where Dilla and
Slum Village started, or the west side with Big Tone, Detroit is
going to be Detroit. The music is pretty accurate.”
You’ve talked about how it took Proof and Dilla passing away
to bring Detroit to the world’s attention. How do you look on
Eminem’s contribution to putting Detroit on the map?
“I would say Em did what no other rapper in Detroit could
possibly do. He put Detroit on the multi-platinum-I-sold-20-
HHC DIGITAL #003 32

million-records level. He’s without doubt one of the greatest
rappers to ever do it and he took rap to the highest level
possible. But what Dilla and Proof did was give the inner city
hope and solidified it. Eminem gave it the push we needed, but
Dilla and Proof gave it the hope. I mean Eminem took Detroit
and put us on the Grammys! So because of that we were then
able to see Proof rockin’ on stage with Em at the American
Music Awards.”
So is there a strong sense of unity in the Detroit scene? Or is
that something that outsiders have just assumed?
“There is now, but there wasn’t before, ’cos there was a lot of
circles. Before, with an artist like Dilla or Proof, or Wipeout or
Blade Icewood or Disco D, everybody in Detroit had their own
individual circle. The way it worked was, there was a Dilla circle,
and there was a Proof and D12 circle, and a Big Herc circle.
When Dilla and Proof passed away we kinda came together
and said we need to overlap these circles – we had to figure
out a way to help each other out. Detroit was separated, but
we’re learning how to come together now.”
What were key hip-hop venues when you were coming up?
“There was a spot in Pontiac, Michigan where I met One Be Low
– he co-produced the Binary Star record, which in my eyes is a
definite classic – and it was called Crazy Moe’s, in downtown
Pontiac. This was on a Monday, then on Tuesdays there was a
spot called Lush Lounge, which is the place where I met Guilty
Simpson and Black Milk and Hex Murda. And then there used
to always be open mics at the Shelter and downstairs at a
place called St Andrews.”
What about now?
“There aren’t many venues in downtown Detroit – it’s been
run-over by stadiums and construction. It’s being taken over
and companies are swooping in. There used to be dope venues
like Mahogany where I saw Proof battle like 50 rappers in a
row! That spot is gone now. The only spot building up right
now is called Five Elements Gallery.”
Is there any crossover between the hip-hop and the techno
scenes in Detroit?
“I’m actually working on an electronic hip-hop project with
Dabrye. When you look at Detroit playing a big part in techno
music, it’s automatic. When me and Invincible was coming up,
if we had a contract to look over, we’d go over to Underground
Resistance and have the homey Mike Banks look over it. And
I was just over there a couple of weeks ago listening to beats,
’cos Nick Speed, a G-Unit producer, he’s got access to their
whole back catalogue. They brought him in to mix up electronic
music with hip-hop.”
(Finale’s ‘A Pipedream And A Promise’ is out now.)
‘One Man Show’ feat. Casual
HHC DIGITAL #003 33
D.ALLIE
DETROIT’S NEW WORDSMITH...
BY PHILLIP MLYNAR
It’s just after 3pm on a lazy Friday afternoon and Detroit
lyricist D. Allie is whiling the day away in a coffee shop, jotting
down a new rap verse in his rhyme pad. Asked about the
last line he’s just crafted, he offers to kick the whole verse, a
capella, live from the barista bar: “So many thoughts on the
mind,” he begins, before ending some 60 seconds later with,
“The only question of success is: What’s your definition?/Yeah,
I’m missing the fortune but that’s only monetary/I gain wealth
from the love that I share with my family...”
Is that a truthful answer about your definition of success?
“Yeah, I believe so. Everyone always wants to talk about
success, but I guess I go against the social law: I went to
college and have a lot of friends who went on to become
stock-brokers and got into securities shit and they’re like, ‘Are
you feeling successful?’ I’m like, ‘Of course I feel successful, I
wake up every day and I get to create things!’ Everybody has
their own definitions of success.”
How does being from Detroit affect your music?
“I love the city, man. That’s another thing, all my friends I
went to college with left the city. People always ask me why
do I stay here? They’ll say there’s nothing going on and ask
why don’t I move to New York or LA ’cos that’s where music
HHC DIGITAL #003 34

is happening. I’m like, ‘No, there’s great music going on here,
it’s just that nobody hears about it!’ People aren’t ready for
the type of music we’re creating, but that’s starting to change
with artists like Black Milk and Finale.”
So what one thing would help artists in the Detroit
underground scene?
“Money is always an issue! But I think the biggest problem we
have in Detroit is that we do not have the push of a record
label here, or even the push of a PR firm being based here.
How do you know I’m here? I could make the best music in
the world, but at that point it doesn’t really matter if nobody
knows who I am. But there’s a lot of cats across the world
who are starting to support us, like Gilles Peterson – he plays
Detroit music more than Detroit plays Detroit music!”
In broader terms, if you were the mayor of Detroit what
would your first act in charge be?
“First of all, let me preface this by saying that this is not a
job that I would ever want! But I grew up always believing in
grass roots action, so I’d want to start from the bottom up,
as opposed to the top down. It starts with the people, so just
create plans and actions to make the people think that they
can make a change, as opposed to just hearing orders from
the top down that they never really get to see the effects of.”
What would your slogan be?
“Maybe something goofy and back-packer-ish, like ‘Similar
differences’! I always liked the concept of a mosaic, where
different pieces come together to create one grand art piece,
as opposed to the melting pot theory of America where
everybody has to ultimately become the same. So let’s go
with: ‘From the bottom up to the top’.”
What’s the first word that comes to mind when I say J Dilla?
“Genius.”
Awesome Dre…
“Pioneer.”
Invincible…
“Conscious.”
Favourite Eminem album...
“It’s definitely a toss-up between the ‘Slim Shady’ and ‘Marshall
Mathers’ albums, and those albums are very pieced together,
like you know all the tracks run together properly, but I think
the first offering – well, ‘Infinite’’s the first first offering – but I
think the ‘Slim Shady’ album, definitely.”
‘Everywhich Way But Loose (Talking Ears)’
HHC DIGITAL #003 35
FIVE FOR FIVE:
THE KYZA
OPINION...
BY CHLOE MCCLOSKEY

London emcee Kyza is back with a hot new album. Or mixtape.

Actually, he’s not too sure himself, explaining, “I don’t wanna
call ‘Shots Of Smirnoff’ a mixtape, but I’m coming to the reali-
sation that it is.” Either way, the 28-year-old is in rude form on
it, and here he talks to HHC Digital about vices, violence, and
why being the Kelly Rowland of Terra Firma ain’t so bad...

HHC DIGITAL #003 36

1. BOTTOMS UP...
“I was very much into drinking at one time. That’s why they
used to call me Smirnoff, ’cos I literally used to drink pint glass-
es of Smirnoff, no chaser, real talk. I was 18, young – I just liked
getting drunk. We used to go to people’s house parties, me
and my boys, in north, south, east and west London – we were
little travelers. We’d arrive and go to where they were serving
the drinks; they’d be like, ‘Know what Kyza’s having... Smirnoff!’
And I’d pour it out, glug, glug, glug, glug – chick dancin’ front
of me, woo! Ravin’, making faces shit like crazy... Those were
the days. Now my tolerance for alcohol has just gone down.
I don’t smoke either. I’m not what you’d call ‘healthy’ but in
terms of vices, I am. My only vice is women.”
2. THE GOOD OL’ DAYS...
“I got into hip-hop because of my older brother and cousin. I
remember going to the cinema watching Breakin’ – Turbo and
Ozone and all that. We used to have our little crew and we
used to beatbox and rap and freestyle on the spot. It was re-
ally ’80s – proper gold rope chains and track suits and Kangol,
then going into the ’90s with the Kid ‘N’ Play thing with the
fades and routines and that. And I was a very good dancer – I
could do caterpillars and windmills until puberty hit – then I
got too big!
“As for music, I was into Eazy E and Rakim and Rodney P and
London Posse. ‘Gangster Chronicle’ was my first UK hip-hop
record. I had KRS-One, Jungle Brothers’ ‘Jimbrowski’ and Eazy
E’s ‘Eazy Duz It’ – that was my first record. I used to play that
when my mum was at work and think, ‘He said fuck, he said
bitch! Ah, this is heavy!’ Ho, motherfucker – it was probably
the first time I heard someone say motherfucker; I was like,
‘Can you even say that?’ It was so foreign to me – but I loved it.
And now, in terms of new school emcees: Slaughterhouse, es-
pecially Crooked I – his wordplay and flow are ridiculous, and
he’s very, very underrated.”
HHC DIGITAL #003 37
3. THE TERRA FIRMA SPLIT...
“I didn’t want to be a forgotten person. It wouldn’t have been
fair to myself. There are many reasons why we split, but I’m not
prepared to divulge that information right yet. I wasn’t going
to be happy just being in Terra Firma and just being a rhymer.
There is always a ‘star’ in a group scenario – look at Pussycat
Dolls, Destiny’s Child, N’Sync. There is always one who stands
out and that was Klash – he was the ‘leader’, the ‘figurehead’,
but then you got your Kelly Rowlands and your Mel Cs. Yeah,
I’m the Kelly Rowland of Terra Firma, haha!”

4. THE UK SCENE...
“The UK game is too oriented around how ill you are as an em-
cee; it’s all about skills or punchlines and people have lost the
focus of making good enjoyable music for everybody. People
don’t seem to be bringing the musical element to the game
– bar people like Foreign Beggars and some others like Pirelli.
I’m not going the typical route of punchline hip-hop, or the ‘on

HHC DIGITAL #003 38

the road’ thing talking about drugs and violence. It’s a bit of a
fusion of both – that’s my contribution.
“The peak of the UK scene is gone. The peak was when Klash
brought out ‘Sagas...’, when Jehst brought out ‘High Plains
Drifter’, when we were doing Kung Fu in Camden, when Task-
force was doing ‘Music From The Corner’, and yeah, when Ter-
ra Firma was out as well. Then all the crews broke up – Terra
Firma broke up, Poisonous Poets broke up...
“Plus nowadays the connection with the female audience is
the missing link in UK hip-hop. You go to a grime jam and there
are a lot of females about, but at a typical UK hip-hop night,
there will be four girls in the place and they will be them bel-
ly-top-wearing trustafarians with combat trousers! It doesn’t
turn me on seeing a girl waving a Stella in the air at me. I need
incentive to keep working hard! In Newcastle, there were
dudes who knew every word to every tune – that was cool,
but at the same time, a bit of eye candy and female support
wouldn’t hurt.”
5. STOP THE VIOLENCE...
“Violence is not as prominent in UK hip-hop as it is in grime.
Violence seems to be the central theme in grime. Grime em-
cees seem to be obsessed with being violent and aggressive.
Fair enough – that seems to be where the energy comes from.
I know dudes my age who are still going wild on road: ‘No one
can’t tell me naffin’ blud,’ they say. [Sarcastically] This is a re-
sult of people feeling ‘disenfranchised’. Kyza Sayso, the psy-
chologist, has come to the conclusion that they don’t know
how to deal with their emotions properly. If they appear emo-
tional – it’s deemed weak. Man gotta be hard out here, bruv,
hard body. That’s why I like being me as a rapper – I don’t have
to come across as being ‘hard body’.”
(‘SOS: Shots Of Smirnoff’ is out now on Dented.)
‘Sin City’
HHC DIGITAL #003 39
M.O.P.
A new MOP album? Why not? Billy Danze and Lil’ Fame’s sound
– that concrete-hard, testosterone-brewing, rugged alchemy
still rooted in Brownsville, Brooklyn – has never made even a
scintilla of a glance towards being fashionable or trendy, so
in the stylistic crapshoot of oh-nine hip-hop their blend is as
hearty a tonic as ever.

Nursing a hangover from the night before – though breaking

BLOW THE HORNS!
THE MASH OUT POSSE ARE BACK...
By Phillip Mlynar • Photography by Alexander Richter
out the traditional bottle of Henny long before the clock hits
three in the afternoon – Billy and Mash Out Posse lifer Laze-
E-Laze are in boisterous form, joking about a back-in-the-day
fight they had over in the Sunset Park area of BK (“A great
fight!” laughs Danzenie), while Fame’s largely content to leaf
through a magazine, perking up only to try out a mock London
accent on the way up to the roof for the photoshoot. So with
lead single ‘Blow The Horns’ name-checking MOP’s “five
albums, six deals” pedigree, we got the men from St Marks to
take a trip down their back catalogue memory lane. Salute!

HHC DIGITAL #003 40

What’s your favourite track from the ‘To The Death’ album?
Billy: “Mine is ‘To The Death’, the actual song. That album was
Select Records, our first shot.”
What were the studio sessions like?
Billy: “Studio sessions was great, all kinds of Jack Daniels and
E&J, my god! My liver is still recuperating! I’m still looking for
transplants and stuff like that! It was a good time because, like
I said, it was something that we had never done before. It was
fun and it’s not like we missed out on anything that was going
on in the street, ’cos anything that was going on in the street
we brought with us to the studio and put it on wax.”
How about ‘Firing Squad’?
Billy: “That was on Relativity. My favourite joint was ‘Stick To
Ya Gunz’ with Kool G Rap. For me, it was because it was Kool G
Rap: I actually met him when he came off the elevator to come
to the studio. I’d never seen this man a day in my life outside of
the TV and he was coming to the studio to do the record with
me and it was fuckin’ amazing. And DJ Premier produced it. If
I’m not mistaken that was our first feature.”
Laze: “The funny thing about that record with Premo was we
did it at our studio and we made him use a drum machine he
didn’t use and he was mad as shit! He was going to fight me that
day! All the artists like Fame and Premo, they’re real particular
about their equipment. Premo made ‘Brownsville’ and ‘Stick
To Your Gunz’ off an MPC60 – he was so fuckin’ pissed off at
me but those records were amazing.”
Fame: “What he normally use?”
Laze: “A 950. I gave him a 3000; that’s back in the days when
I was using a 3000.”
Moving on to ‘First Family 4 Life’...
Billy: “That record... Damn, it’s a lot of great records on that
album: ‘Down 4 Whateva’, ‘4 Alarm Blaze’, Downtown Swinga
‘98’, ‘Brooklyn/Jersey Get Wild’...”
HHC DIGITAL #003 41
What was the atmosphere like recording it?
Billy: “We were working more with Premo then over at D&D
studios. It was a good feeling ’cos now you actually felt like
you were a player in the game, like you were really on the field,
’cos Nas would pop through one day, or Jay-Z would come by;
Premo’s there, Guru would pop in...
“We had a good time recording the album ’cos we actually
got the chance to work with different people – OC was on
that album, Freddie Foxxx, Heather B, Treach – it was a good
album, a well put together album.”
How would you describe D&D at the time?
Billy: “D&D was like your hallway, like your block where you
hang out at. You go up the block and pass the people who
live on this side and you’re cool with them, then you go a little
further up the block and see somebody else, then you turn the
corner and there’s someone else that you can hang with... It
was always good times in that studio.”
And ‘Warriorz’?
Billy: “‘Warriorz’ is my favourite track on ‘Warriorz’. I love it!
At that time we were on Loud records.”
How was that?
Billy: “That was great because going on Loud, they had Wu-
Tang, Mobb Deep, and Pun was over there. Everything had
worked for them at that point. They whole set up was they
could handle street music, so it was great to go over there.
Of course we came out with the DR Period produced ‘Ante
Up’ and people went nuts over it. They put it out and all
around the world people were able to get the album. It was a
good situation, and I thank all the guys there for giving us an
opportunity to further our career.”
Can you remember the first time you preformed ‘Ante Up’ in
a club?
Laze: “The Limelight, in New York.”
HHC DIGITAL #003 42
Billy: “And it was so hot; somebody passed out. It was
steaming hot, there was a broken AC or something, it was like
2000 degrees, it was hot as shit...”
Laze: “The story behind that was that Peter Gation, who
also owned the Tunnel, didn’t want MOP to perform at The
Limelight, so in spite to us because we’d been on the radio and
everything, he made them turn off the AC. That was to spite
MOP. But we packed the house.”

What was the reaction to the song like?

Laze: “Well the story behind ‘Ante Up’ was that at the time
‘How About Some Hardcore’ was the record that people
were coming to see, and ‘Ante Up’ didn’t have that same
sort of reaction immediately, except for a certain section just
going crazy, but everyone else was looking like, ‘What’s this?
Something new?’ It was only after a couple of months later
when it started going off, when [Funkmaster] Flex started
whiling with it...

HHC DIGITAL #003 43

“But I knew ‘Ante Up’ was going to be a hit. With every new
song, I look to see if it affects the most aggressive people and
then I figure it will filter down and eventually affect everyone.
But that particular day at Limelight, it was aggravating, it was
hot, everybody was mad, the group was pissed off, people
were falling out with each other... So to put that song in the
middle of that scene...”
What’s the wildest thing you’ve ever seen in the crowd when
performing ‘Ante Up’?
Billy: “I think the wildest shit was the picket signs, the home
made picket signs – just a mop!”
Laze: “Hip-Hop Kemp, right?”
Billy: “I was like, ‘Holy shit, mops!’”
Laze: “We were in Prague, at this big festival with about 50,000
people. It was a European festival where you camp out for the
whole weekend. We were headlining day two, so we’d already
been there for two days solid just drinking, and then we came
out on the stage and there was ‘MOP’ signs and then people
started waving actual mops! A bunch of fuckin’ mops! At that
point I was like, ‘Shit is out of control!’”
“ROC-A-FELLA
AND G-UNIT
WERE TWO DIFFERENT
ANIMALS…”
How about the Marxmen project?
Billy: “The Marxmen was... At that time we were being more
creative, just playing around with the records, ’cos in my
opinion there was no real competition. At that time no one
could touch MOP. So we were just playing around with records
and starting to show our fans a different kind of light.”
Laze: “‘Marxmen Cinema’ was Fame’s idea. He called one day
saying, ‘Yo, I want to start a new thing called Marxmen – you
know, like a double thing like actual marksmen and men from
St Marks, ’cos we from there...’”
Billy: “[Laughing] The man from Marks!”
Laze: “That was the first mixtape that we put out that was
just all new, weird themes. We was having not really beef with
Roc-A-Fella, but they was having beef, so we was like that ain’t
gonna stop us putting records out...”
How was it being on Roc-A-Fella versus G-Unit?
Billy: “Um, it wasn’t no difference to me at all, ’cos whatever
going to happen with MOP was going to happen with MOP:
this was the year we were signed to Roc-A-Fella and then
we left; this was the year we were signed to G-Unit. To me, it
wasn’t no real difference.”
Laze: “It was two different animals. 50 Cent is one type of
dude, so you can have a good relationship with somebody
HHC DIGITAL #003 44
and with another person it’ll be another type of relationship.
Roc-A-Fella was more a three-headed monster; no one person
owned the company. We was cool with Damon [Dash], Jay-Z
was an artist and Biggs was on the behind-the-scenes business
side. Creatively, Fame and Jay was on the same page, Billy liked
Dame ’cos he was crazy and loud and shit, and Biggs was just
a cool dude to be around.
“Roc-A-Fella enjoyed when you was having a good time, they
liked that; but G-Unit was a label a little different where guys
was like, ‘We gotta prove ourselves to you all...’ People really
was trying to dismiss 50 Cent as a guy who couldn’t make it, so
I think he was like, ‘Fuck all y’all! You tried to shit on me!’”
Was it a frustrating time being on those labels?
Billy: “It’s always frustrating not getting to put a record out,
but we like to be on the stage so it’s just about having a good
time regardless of whether we’re on the stage with 50 Cent or
Jay-Z or Busta Rhymes or just MOP – it’s always fun.
Finally, bringing things up to date, what about the new album,
‘The Foundation’?
Billy: “The first single’s the war call!”
Laze: “Blow the horns on them! Are you tired or sleepy? Blow
the horns on them! This album’s totally been put together
in-house – I think Fame is the best producer for MOP, and I
don’t think that his talent is recognised production wise yet.
I think it’s going to be years in the future when people start
to appreciate him and just what he can do when it comes to
producing hip-hop music.”
Billy: “‘The Foundation’ is very hard, driven, traditional MOP
music that MOP fans will get energy from. It’s not for those
people who just want to walk around looking ‘cool’ – you’ve
got to get involved with the music. So big shout to everybody
who helped with making the album – and everyone else can
kiss my ass!”
(‘The Foundation’ it out July 7th on E1.)
‘Blow The Horns’
HHC DIGITAL #003 45
ALBUM
OFTHEMONTH
EMINEM’S LATEST GETS
DISSECTED BY MANY MEN...
With the blonde man from the Motor City’s latest album either
being a vital shot in the arm for a stale hip-hop scene or the
last stand for blockbuster artists in a daily decaying arena, who
better to take its pulse then a selection of the finest artists
from the UK (and – ho, ho! – The Last Skeptik)? Here’s their
take on the oh-niner’s biggest release to date – average mark
out of five and concluding thoughts to follow...
EMINEM
‘RELAPSE’
(INTERSCOPE)
JACK FLASH
Few emcees fulfill your expectations with a long-awaited
album, but Em probably exceeded them. Dre’s beats
are a slap in the face to wake you up and remind you he
still has some of the nicest compositions in the game;
Em connects with his former twisted self and brings a
darker tone to this essentially horrorcore set and ups his
lyricism – on the tenth listen you’ll still be picking apart his
syllables. Its good to have a mainstream album out that
focuses so much on skill, flow, character and concept.
SKANDAL
First off, if you’re gonna listen to this album and fully
appreciate it you need to listen to it loud, and preferably
with your head next to the speakers. Okay? Ready? Here
goes... Dr Dre’s production throughout the set has to
be the finest we’ve ever heard on an Eminem album.
With the good doctor providing every beat bar one this
has given Eminem the chance to concentrate on his
lyrics and it shows. From the start to the finish we’re
astonished by flows, morbid topics and subject matter,
genuinely laugh-out-loud punch lines and statements –
not to mention great hooks, skits, and that good ol’ Slim
Shady controversy we all know and love, all culminating
in the hardest hip-hop track I’ve heard in ten years,
‘Underground’. In fact, ‘Crack A Bottle’ seems to be the
only track I’ll skip after eight listens, and that’s not a bad
look for the album. I’ll give this four and a half out of five,
and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do.
HHC DIGITAL #003 46
GHOST
Avoiding all the hyperbole, I was pleasantly surprised by
the amount of good tracks on ‘Relapse’. Unquestionably
a great talent, Em has put together his best work for
a long time, and ‘Underground’, ‘Same Song & Dance’
and ‘Deja Vu’ are highlights. By no means a classic, it has
some good moments – there’s just not enough of them.
K-DELIGHT
Eminem uses his vocals like a multi-layered instrument –
it’s just a shame that on ‘Relapse’ he should have gone
with some other producers to vary the sound a bit. ‘Crack
A Bottle’ is a stand out (though really not sure about 50
Cent’s verse!), while ‘Medicine Ball’ is probably my choice
tune. Not his best album, but still packed with mad lyrics
and flows, and as dark and twisted as ever.
THE LAST SKEPTIK
To be honest, I’ve always respected Eminem as lyricist,
but everything after ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’ was just
so corny that it made me wonder where the rapper
who spat so uncompromisingly on ‘Role Model’ had
gone. I really didn’t even want to listen to this album,
but after literally forcing myself to switch it on I found
that there’s actually quite a solid project on the table. To
me, that’s not really so much due to Eminem’s typically
silly voices and irrelevant celebrity digs, but down to the
great Dr Dre’s incredible engineering work and pretty
much perfect production throughout the 20 tracks on MOB RULE...
offer. As a rapper, Eminem is undeniably a talent, but it’s
only when he figures out he can get by without having So, what have we gleaned from our panel of practicing
to always please a pop audience that he’ll truly produce hip-hop chaps? That Em’s latest is better than you might
the top-to-toe classic that his oldest fans – and his lyrical imagine, what with all the hype, but still not the classic
talent – deserve; ‘Relapse’ still leaves him coming up Marshall’s talent deserves. Rounded-up, an average 3.7
short on that tip. out of five becomes a very decent four stars then.
HHC DIGITAL #003 47
ALBUMREVIEWS
5 O’CLOCK SHADOWBOXERS
‘THE SLOW TWILIGHT’
(WHITE)
Just when you were starting to think that you were
the only person convinced that hip-hop bods sampling
Cat Power would be a good thing, up pops a bi-coastal
US duo who, somewhere in the middle of creating a
concept album based around noir flick Blast Of Slience and
throwing around hearty lyrical references to the GZA, have
spliced in a lick from indie rock’s shyest live performer
to swanky effect. Guitar heavy throughout – check
‘High Noon’ for an eerie treat – this is likely better than
anything rock-related Weezy will stumble into. Tom Nook
‘Weak Stomach’
AWOL ONE & FACTOR
‘OWL HOURS’
(FAKE FOUR)
More technically Vegemite than Marmite in the love-
it-or-hate-it regional stakes, the type of left coast hip-
hop AWOL One et al practice might not always translate
thoroughly outside of their local spots, but the addition
of Xzibit in an executive producer role and cameos from
those premier hip-hop drunkies Tash and E-Swift sure do
perk up proceedings here, with their typically liquor-loving
vocab boosting ‘Waste The Wine’. Throughout Factor’s
beats keep a consistent vibe, and the regular guest slots
for once bring nice variety to the mix. Lucy Van Pelt
‘Stand Up’ feat. Myka9 & Aesop Rock
BRAD STRUT
‘FALLOUT SHELTER/REJUVENATION’
(SHOGUN)
Life in London has clearly had an affect on the vocals of
Melbourne’s Brad Strut, with the Lyrical Commission emcee
sounding almost authentically home grown on an EP that
finds him adopting the persona of the last man on earth
over Beat Butcha’s widescreen beats. The synth-propelled
‘No!’ and eerie ‘Believe’ stand out, but this near companion
piece to Jehst’s ‘Nuke Proof Suit’ is best consumed whole.
Jehst also pops up in remixer role (along with M-Phazes
and Chemo) on ‘Rejuvenation’, a second CD of remixes
that wins with a similar quality. Andy Cowan
‘Believe’
HHC DIGITAL #003 48
ALBUMREVIEWS
DELUSIONISTS
‘THE PROLUSION’
(BEATS LAYING ABOUT)
Hailing from the decidedly unsexy climes of Lowestoft,
Delusionists pick the expected fare of small-town fixations
to fuel their debut EP – namely, smoking weed, pulling
women, and the realities of life outside the limelight. But
like a refreshing gust of East Anglian air, rapper-stroke-
producer Benjamin Black successfully breathes new life into
old conceits: On ‘To The Next…’ the verbal jester presents
the countryside’s answer to Jay-Z’s ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’,
nobbing everyone from fat birds to village bicycles with
comedic gusto. Accessible and punchy! Chris Schonberger
‘To The Next...’
FRESH DAILY
‘THE GORGEOUS KILLER’
(HIGH WATER)
In a world where cats are trying painfully hard to keep up
with the next flash-in-the-shit-pan trend, it’s a treat to hear
someone who rocks a flow that pays strong homage to the
great Masta Ace, and just like the original Slaughtahouse
man, Brooklyn’s Fresh Daily does enough on this 13 tracker
to suggest he’ll be in it for the long term. On-topic tracks
about boobs (‘Two In The Shirt’) and video games (er,
‘Video Gamin’’), plus a guest spot from the Tanya Morgan
crew and production from Spinna and Ski, seal a darn
attractive package. Doc Nostrand
‘Break A Leg’
K-DEF
‘BEATS FROM THE ’90S VOL 2’
(GHETTO MAN)
Another dose of dope ‘does what it says it does on the tin’
beat business straight from the vaults of the man still best
loved for ‘Real Live Shit’, here you know the steelo: hard,
classically-wrought and commercially-uncompromising
rhythms from one of the ’90s most underrated producers.
East Coast in style to the end, tracks like ‘Redcoats Are
Coming’ – equal parts head-nodder and sinister vibe creator
– remind you that even in the oh-niner’s geographical rap
melting pot there’s something undisputable about the
power of the basics done well. Arsenio Billingham
‘Redcoats Are Coming’
HHC DIGITAL #003 49
HOME STYLE
YOUR UK RAP ATTACK…
With MPs being taken to task over expenses, I have to come
clean with my own fiddles. I regularly take stationery, soap,
shampoo and conditioner when I stay in hotels and use a
friend’s Starbucks free wifi password. The real crime is that I
don’t even use conditioner. Three MPs have already resigned
and formed a spin-off party called the MP3. Sorry. Before
rummaging through the stationery cupboard to see what I can
pilfer from HHC Digital HQ, here’s some music news...
Mixed by DJ No Names ‘SOS: Shots Of Smirnoff’ is Kyza’s
finest work to date. ‘Love & Music’ and ‘Sin City’ have already
troubled the airwaves and it’s nice to hear the album lives up
to their high standard.
‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’, ‘Sorry’ and ‘What About Me’
aren’t the ramblings of a disgraced banker – they are in fact
tracks on Bashy’s debut album ‘Catch Me If You Can’. Finally, it
sees the light of day!
Juice Aleem’s debut solo sees the one time New Flesh man
(pictured) covering a vast array of topics over production
varying from electro-dub to straight up hip-hop beats. The
first single is ‘First Lesson’.
Micall Parknsun leaps back into action on YNR with his amazing
new single ‘All 4 Hip-Hop’. Produced by M-Phazes it also
features a Jehst remix and versions of ‘Still Here’ produced by
Apa-Tight and Chemo.
South Londoner Jay Full Stop is set to blow up this summer
with his ‘City Meals’ album on Run The City Records. A regular
on the live scene, Jay aka Jarvis Vincent showcases his dexterity
on the mic as well as getting his own imprint off to a flying
start. Check www.runthecityrecords.com for more.
It’s hard to say Funky DL without saying ‘MOBO winner’ first.
The young lad took the UK by storm almost 15 years ago and
HHC DIGITAL #003 50
has enjoyed success here as well as in the US and Japan. After
a hiatus he’s back on BBE with full lengther ‘The Interview’.
The real treat is the bonus ‘London Convention’ featuring
MCD, Skinnyman, Blak Twang, Ty, Rodney P and more.
Ghost can’t stop churning out the good stuff and this time it’s
his collaboration with Devorah and their band Lingua Franca.
‘Money’/‘Work & Play’ is a summer smash, while also on
Breakin Bread is the uber-funky ‘Freak’ by The Killer Meters.
Move over VV Brown, Duffy and The Noisettes – the real
queen of soul/funk is here.
Finally, look out for The Razzle, a London collective with
touches of Latin, soul, funk, dub and rock running through
their great EP ‘Wrong’un’ – to these ears there’s definitely
something of Reverend And The Makers about the delivery
on the title track.
Next month we’ll be giving you tips on insider trading and
letting you know how to ride the bus for free using a Panini
football sticker and some hairspray. Mike Lewis
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
1. PANACHE
How long have you been rapping?
“Nearly ten years! I was known as the drum’n’bass emcee
Suddz, but as Panache hip-hop is my main genre that I
live and practice every day.”
What are your main musical influences?
“I have a lot, from Wu-Tang and Cypress Hill to Roots
Manuva and even other genres like drum’n’bass
and dubstep.”
Describe your style in three words…
“Organic, vintage, panache!”
What do you have coming up, music wise?
“My mixtape ‘24/7’, featuring DRS (Broke N English),
Dawn Raid, Bigz and Shotty, and the free download
‘Headcase!’ which has at least three emcees on each
and every track!”
(Check www.panachetunes.com for more.)
‘Music Makes Ya Move’ feat. Bigz & Caroline Quine
HOME STYLE’S TOP TEN
FOR THOSE TOO LAZY
TO READ THE COLUMN…
1. Micall Parknsun ‘All 4 Hip-Hop’ (YNR single)
2. Kyza ‘Shots Of Smirnoff’ (Dented album)
3. Juice Aleem ‘Jerusalaam Come’ (Big Dada album)
4. Lingua Franca ‘Money’ (Breakin Bread single)
5. Jay Full Stop ‘City Meals’ (Run The City album)
6. Inja ‘Hat Low’ (promo single)
7. Bashy ‘Catch Me If You Can’ (GG)
8. Funky DL ‘The Interview’ (BBE album)
9. Scrabull ‘Bad Boys’ (Seventy Recordings single)
10. Steve Stranger ‘The Bloggist’ (Fist single)
(All available from www.RapAndSoulMailOrder.com)
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OPEN UP
HIP-HOP AND BEYOND…
Where better to begin this month’s leftfield picks than true
Open Up favourites? Nowhere, yo, so cop ‘The Malaria EP’
from Manchester’s premier grime chatters Virus Syndicate,
which rips from schoolyard taunts within lead track ‘Anything’
onward. Merkin’. San Francisco-based UK dubstep dude
Milanese’s new album ‘Lockout’ is just as hot, fire-spitting
mouthpieces from Europe to South Africa guaranteeing
thermometer-smashing results.
Big-haired erstwhile The Beats chap Example is back with
a bang, taking it high tempo on single ‘Hooligans’ over an
electro-house banger from Dutch dance deejay Don Diablo
(try garbling that pissed). Warning: possible frustratingly
manicured teens clubbing soundtrack content.
Also heading sideward is beatboxer extraordinaire Killa Kela’s
comeback 12-inch, ‘Built Like An Amplifier’ – complete with a
Sway remix to boot. Subsequent album ‘Amplified’ jumps ADD-
fashion betwixt genres, inviting along Bashy and backpack
stalwart Lateef.
Not enough syllables? Don’t fret: tongue-twisting Cali emcee
Busdriver has a new record! ‘Jhelli Beam’ doesn’t satisfy like
predecessor ‘RoadKillOvercoat’, though props for featuring
madcap Bay Area indie-rockers Deerhoof.
More party? From the musical ballpark of fellow Tampa
rhymers Yo Majesty, cocksure teenaged rapstress Domique
Young Unique couples innocently wide-eyed flows with beats
from YM’s Brit production team Hardfeelingsuk. Expect a Best of the rest? Sure. German duo Ancient Astronauts
similar scale break out rather soon… (pictured) get space-rap on album ‘We Are To Answer’,
the golden age as seen through a kaleidoscope. Keeping it
What are Anticon up to right now? Releasing Serengeti & continental, French lady Flore’s buzzing electro-bass tune
Polyphonic’s brain-busting ‘Terradactyl’, aided by Doseone ‘We Rewind’, chopping up Rodney P and Shunda K, should
and Buck 65 cameos. Cross-coast at Def Jux? Well, Cage’s new decimate dancefloors from here to Lyon. And we’re out…
free EP bodes mighty positively for his full-length return. Adam Anonymous
HHC DIGITAL #003 52
DEEJAYCHARTS
DJ MK (WWW.DJMKSWORLD.COM)
1. JAY-Z ‘DOA’
“Jay kills it, breaking down how Auto-tune has helped make
hip-hop stagnant in the last 12 months. Real talk.”
2. RAEKWON FEAT. HAVOC & DILLA ‘24K RAP’
“Three years after his death and Dilla’s music is sounding
better and better. Been killing this on the radio show.”
3. RAMSON BADBONEZ ‘GET OFF ME’
“One of the best emcees in the UK – this dude is a serious
problem on the mic!”
DJ ECLIPSE (THE HALFTIME SHOW/FAT BEATS)
1. LA COKA NOSTRA FEAT. BUN B ‘CHOOSE YOUR SIDE’
“Another LCN banger over a hypnotizing Alchemist track –
proving again that LCN is a brand you can trust.”
2. DJ JS-1 FEAT. LARGE PRO ‘LIKE THIS’
“Heavy drums with a melodic sample all brought together by
cuts and scratches – pure hip-hop, never selling out.”
3. SOUL KHAN FEAT. HOMEBOY SANDMAN ‘KNUCKLE PUCK’
“Produced by Brown Bag representative J57, this is
reminiscent of the early indie days.”
DJ CRO (MAIN INGREDIENT/CRATE ESCAPE)
1. MICALL PARKNSUN ‘ALL 4 HIP-HOP’
“Parky sounds right at home on this massive tune, and with
the Jehst remix changing the vibe up it’s back of the net!”
2. GODFATHER DON ‘OFFDAMENTAL’
“Amazing unreleased Don material using ‘Nautilus’ to great ef-
fect – still sounds better than most rappers out now!”
3. PHAT KAT ‘NIGHTMARE (SUFF DADDY REMIX)’
“Suff manages to transform and improve on the original –
remix competition winner and rightfully so.”
HHC DIGITAL #003 53
DJ ELEVEN (THERUB/DJELEVEN.COM)
1. GHOSTFACE ‘FOREVER’
“Neck and neck in the race with Q-Tip for leader of the Old Guy
Rap movement – I’m geeked to listen to this on repeat.”
2. DJ WEBSTAR FEAT. JIM JONES & STYLES P ‘UPTOWN’
“Harlem’s the only neighbourhood in Manhattan that matters
to hip-hop (sorry Murray Hill!) – here’s a new anthem.”
3. DORROUGH ‘ICE CREAM PAINT JOB’
“A near perfect southern rap song from outta Dallas, complete
with Saved By The Bell reference.”
BENJI B (DEVIATION)
1. DRAKE ‘SAY WHAT’S REAL’
“Drake really goes on on the best beat from ‘808s And
Heartbreak’ – one to watch, and I think he’ll deliver.”
2. DOOM ‘GAZZILLION EAR’
“My favourite cut from the current LP, using a couple of my
favourite Dilla beats.”
3. BUSTA RHYMES FEAT. COMMON ‘DECISION’
“Not feeling much of the new Busta LP to be honest, but this
cut is quality.”
SPIN DOCTOR (THEDOCTORSORDERS.COM)
1. JAY-Z ‘DOA’
“When Jigga talks people listen, but will this really see the end
of the Auto-tune?”
2. BUSTA RHYMES ‘HUSTLER’S ANTHEM ’09’
“This tough little cookie is still killing it in both the club and
streets alike!”
3. J DILLA FEAT. DOOM ‘FIRE WOOD DRUMSTIX’
“A tag team of two of hip-hop’s most unique talents is always
gonna be heat!”

HHC DIGITAL #003 54

ON THE GO
1. PETE ROCK
On The Go
Capricorn
CANNONBALL ADDERLEY QUINTET
From This Day On
EDDIE BO
Enchanted Lady
MILT JACKSON BIG BAND
Groovy Situation
MEL AND TIM
I Ain’t Got The Love
THE AMBASSADORS
By Quincey Tones
listening to as they grew up as shorties. This month, what
songs were shaping the future sound of a knee-high Soul
Brother Number One?
Welcome to HHC Digital’s new
fantasy playlist column, where we
– big leap of faith required – send
home grown producer-on-the-rise
Quincey Tones back in time and get
him to peek around the corner and
peep what our favourite sample-
happy hip-hop producers were
1. CANNONBALL ADDERLEY QUINTET ‘CAPRICORN’
“The Soul Brother sampled the jazz sax legend on ‘In The
House’, the opening track off ‘The Main Ingredient’. Pete took
the beautiful two-bar Fender Rhodes loop and put his stamp
all over it, bringing out the bass in trademark fashion. It’s
the rawness of the live recording that gives ‘Capricorn’ such
character, especially the distorting of the rhodes.”
2. EDDIE BO ‘FROM THIS DAY ON’
“How could anybody not want to dance to this classic from
Eddie Bo? ‘Here comes the king’-style horns, fast flamenco
guitar run on the intro, and a funky beat and bassline drop – all
elements used on ‘The Creator’. From there on in it’s nothing
but hip-swinging New Orleans soul.”
3. MILT JACKSON BIG BAND ‘ENCHANTED LADY’
“Another great jazz sample, this time vibraphonist Milt
Jackson with assistance from his incredible band. This track
moves along thanks to the drum groove, not to mention the
simple but infectious melody from the muted trumpet. A great
summer tune, and you’ll recognize the chords on the intro
from Pete & CL’s classic ‘Carmel City’.”
4. MEL AND TIM ‘GROOVY SITUATION’
“Not to be confused with ’80s pop act Mel and Kim, this
’60s soul duo recorded many a great party song and ‘Groovy
Situation’, with the pair’s superb harmonies, big horns, and
excellent backing band, is certainly one of those. Pete & CL fans
will pick out guitar parts used on ‘I Got A Love’; Will Ferrell fans
might also recognize it from the Anchorman soundtrack.”
5. THE AMBASSADORS ‘I AIN’T GOT THE LOVE’
“Making up the other half of the ’94 single ‘I Got A Love’ is this
similarly-titled soul gem – Pete sampled the intro horns and
scratched the hook line for his version.”
(Check out mo’ Quincey at www.myspace.com/quinceytones)
HHC DIGITAL #003 55
UNKUT PRESENTS:
BACDAFUCUP!
Rappers – whatever you do, please try to avoid dying a violent
death. Sure, there are ‘6 Million Ways To Die’ if you believe
the raspy warnings of 9 Double M (better known as Nine),
but those who are unfortunate enough to be gunned down in
their prime are then forced to endure another lifetime’s worth
of indignities.
The real losers are the fans, who not only have to deal with
the loss of an artist who they connected with on a musical
level but are then sentenced to endless abuses of their legacy.
While I’m the first to get giddy with excitement – or at least
marginally interested – when unheard Big L demos surface,
it almost never ends there. As ‘Born Again’ demonstrated,
tacking your a capellas onto new beats crammed with a
who’s who of current ‘rapper dudes’ is usually embarrassing
for everyone involved. Especially for someone like 2Pac, who
pretty much had a problem with 75 percent of New York but
has posthumously appeared on tracks with Nas and virtually
everyone else mentioned on ‘Hit ’Em Up’.
Possibly the most ridiculous incidents have been the blend of
Biggie vocals onto Ghostface and Raekwon’s ‘Three Bricks’ and
The Chef’s subsequent ‘Letter To BIG’. You go to the trouble
to dedicate an entire venomous skit to the guy when he was
alive and kicking, and now that he’s passed it’s all love-love?
Don’t even get me started on ‘paying homage’. Whether it’s
Jay-Z reciting chunks of the Black Frank White’s rhyme book,
shameless imitation of Big Pun’s flow, or everyone who’s ever
driven through Detroit ‘channeling’ Jay Dee and chowing rap magazine and website? “But none of those people were
down on his unorthodox drum patterns – shit’s disgusting, B. platinum artists!” Tell someone who gives a shit – the fact that
they weren’t is all the more cause to give them some shine. At
Blogs are equally to blame – every year I have to wade through least we can take some small solace in the knowledge that we
the same old dedications to the same old late rappers and beat won’t have to stomach their catalogues being stripped bare
makers – and yet Scott La Rock, Subroc, Too Poetic and Paul C by the hungry vultures that are record labels and bitch-ass
remain as mere footnotes? Will KL from Screwball, Party Arty bootleggers.
and Tony D (pictured) receive annual memorials at every major Robbie Ettelson
HHC DIGITAL #003 56