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Episode 203 : Inna Space
"Balance without weight..." - Dug Infinite Maybe not a fully-themed episode, but we definitely make nods this time towards the recent moon mission that had many of us glued to the various streams and dashboards online! Besides those occasional references, this month we pay tribute to Guru and DMX, and have a selection that spikes both in the 90s and also the very recent past, with some contemporary releases to add to your headphone rotation with the quickness! (None of the albums in the episode artwork are featured, but one of the artists is 🙂) Mastodon : @airadam@mastodon.me.uk Twitch : @airadam13 Playlist/Notes Mecca:83 : Love In Space We start off with an artist local to me whose sound is respected worldwide! Mecca:83 came with the heat on the lovingly-crafted, skillfully-produced "Quiet Storm" beat tape, sampling up all manner of love songs and putting his own signature bump into them. If you like quality work with a solid theme running all the way through, don't miss that one. Focus... : Space&Time The man with three dots on the boards here as we go back to the very first "Analog In A Digital World" (doesn't that feel more and more relevant?) album from 2015. Sounding kind of spaced-out despite the snare intentionally rushing a little ahead of the pace, the potentially-hidden ingredient is the sub-bass that drops on some of the downbeats - separate from the bass guitar sounds - that you'll need quality headphones or capable speakers to appreciate. O.C. : Burn Me Slow This could be a companion track to KRS-ONE's "I Can't Wake Up", with O.C. likening himself to some quality weed - something I may not know about first-hand, but I'm sure many listeners do! The D.I.T.C. legend carries the theme through three solid verses over a chunky Buckwild beat that samples a great soul-gospel track. This is available from the "Buckwild Presents: Diggin' in the Crates - Rare Studio Masters (1993-1997)" compilation I'm drawing from here, but I believe there's a reissue of the "Jewelz" LP somewhere that includes it as a bonus track. Natural Elements : infiNitE shiNE One of the finest MC crews ever to be assembled is back with this month's brand new LP "Alignment", and one of the highlights is this - a new version of "Shine", an absolute heater that was one of their first singles! Charlemagne's beat is just a touch different to the original, a little darker and sharper, and A-Butta/Anthony Cruz, L-Swift/Swigga, and Mr. Voodoo/Agu come through heavy with updated bars for 2026. I've been waiting impatiently for this release, and it's an essential for anyone who respects that real NYC Hip-Hop! Richie Branson : World Revolution I bought this Richie Branson CD from the man himself after a show in Manchester (2013 I think), and "From Guardia With Love" still stands up. This San Antonio native has one of the more unusual CVs in Hip-Hop, being not just an MC and producer, but also a game designer! He's very much part of what many would term the "nerdcore" scene, incorporating video game sounds and themes heavily into his work, including this LP which is entirely based on the JRPG "Chrono Trigger". No hook on this, just flows over some slow, live-sounding drums and ominous video game synths. I don't know if the CD is still easily available, but you can get this on Bandcamp and put some money directly in Richie's pocket! Beaminmusic (ft. Huey P) : Passion Fruit In Blood Diamonds Coming out of the Pacific Northwest, Beaminmusic combines with fellow Seattle artist Huey P (aka Easthill Huey) to pair a beautiful, harp-laden instrumental with skilful bar work. Listen closely and you can hear the thoughtfulness on this cut from the 2024 album "Diego Escobar Passion, Fruit, In Blood Diamonds". Evil Needle & chromonicci : Midnight A chill instrumental to continue the wind-down and palate cleanse coming off the previous short mix, this is a beautiful slice of bumping smoothness from the 2020 "Travelers" EP/mini-LP by the French/German producer Evil Needle, who's done great work on the Chillhop label, alongside Dallas' Chromonicci showing he can get busy on the MPC too. Benny The Butcher : Gold Plated Leica Now that would be an expensive camera! My Ko-Fi account is open if you're feeling generous...anyway, here's a track from last year that makes the brightest season sound menacing, with Texas boom-bap specialist Nickel Plated providing the spooky, vaguely unsettling production to fit The Butcher's dope game bars. His two verses sandwich a guest appearance by OT The Real, who keeps the quality level up as well as contributing the hook. "Summertime Butch 2" is the source for this one. Nas : Blue Benz If for no other reason, this tune would get ratings from me for the abrupt drop-out to the iconic Louie Rankin (RIP) home invasion monologue from "Belly", but other reasons definitely exist! Hit-Boy, Penthouse Parti, and Roget Chahayed are on the fire beat from the first of the "King's Disease" albums, with Nas recalling the New York of the nineties in his trademark cinematic detail. Definitely one of the standouts on the album. Semi Six : Truth Had to do a little edit to give this a nice instrumental intro, as I think this standout from January's "Crown" EP deserves. Jael McCreary and Cameron Falsetti construct a sonic Hip-Hop haunted house for Detroit's Semi Six to coil his flow around on two fire verses. This is an artist who I think still isn't getting the light he deserves yet, but one who always leads with his pen and lets those who can keep up follow! Clipse : Let God Sort Em Out "YEAH!" The DJ Drama interjections on this were a nostalgic and welcome surprise on the title track for the latest Clipse LP "Let God Sort 'Em Out", which was in my opinion one of the best on the whole project. We mix out of it just as Nas' guest appearance would have started, one which I think would have been elevated even further if the Pharrell-produced beat you hear up to this point would have kept going instead of the switch-up. This beat is dark, menacing, cold, and perfect - a fitting setting for Pusha and Malice's pitiless bars. Sndtrak : Bitethedust Anyone who thinks sampling isn't an artform should hear this masterwork of a flip. On this selection from "Flips V1 : Triple Lindy", Sndtrak takes a rock classic and completely turns it inside out. It's drastically slower, the tough-sounding drums are brilliantly programmed in a slinky pattern, the bassline is totally reconfigured, and snatches of the rest of the instrumentation and legendary main vocal emerge from the shadows periodically before fading back into the darkness. This one deserved to be played all the way through to the end. Toonorth : To The Moon And Back I thought this was a nice one to include coming off the back of the successful Artemis 2 mission, which reminded us that competence is still valuable, and gave us back a little of the wonder of space travel that I'd say has been eroded by the Musks and Bezoses of the world. Somehow already eight years old, this relaxing beat from Portland producer Toonorth is most easily found on "Chillhop Essentials - Fall 2018". No I.D. ft. Dug Infinite : Jump On It Quality 90s head-nod flavour from Chicago - a city which wasn't always recognised for their Hip-Hop at the time. No I.D. (formerly Immenslope) is probably best known for his work with Common, but also gave us a solid solo LP in "Accept Your Own And Be Yourself (The Black Album)" from which this it taken. There's nothing unusual to point out about this track, it's just simple dopeness - the quasi-sci-fi sounds of the intro lead into the main beat before settling into the background of the track, and guest MC Dug Infinite (who is on most of the album) had great chemistry with the headliner as they go back and forth. Gang Starr : Gotta Get Over (Taking Loot) I mentioned the soundtrack era last episode - there were some acclaimed ones, plenty of sub-par releases, and occasionally, an overlooked gem. For me, the "Trespass" soundtrack is firmly in the latter category, and gave us some career highlights for several of the featured artists, and this is a quality Gang Starr cut that never appeared on any of their LPs. DJ Premier hooks up a looping funk sample while the late great Guru plays a character in keeping with the larcenous theme of the film, as well as being reminiscent of the perspective of the robber from the GS classic "Just To Get A Rep". Guru's legendary monotone is perfect for the cold outlook of the character, and fits cleanly alongside the beat - as always. De La Soul : Long Island Degrees "I got questions about your life if you're so ready to die" 😲  90s again, why not? We move just over from Brooklyn to the Long Island of the title for another non-single selection, this time from De La's "Stakes Is High". They show love to their section over a smooth self-produced beat, going back and forth over six compact verses. Camper ft. Terrace Martin and Arin Ray : Speak To Me I can't lie - as someone who is not really a heavy R&B listener, Camper has not really been on my radar, but this track came to my notice because of the guest appearance of Terrace Martin - a musician I think is truly a modern giant. Camper is a Grammy winner himself as it turns out, so clearly I've been sleeping! We slide into some piano-laden jazzy vibes on this cut from the recent "Campilation" project, with Arin Ray contributing the vocal which really melds into the track as a whole: not densely lyrical, but carrying the day with feel.  Pete Rock : Hope The World Don't Stop (Before I Get Mines) Pretty much. Get this beat on the "Return Of The SP1200" LP, a collection of some true Pete Rock gems. DMX : Slippin' Five years after hiw passing, we close the episode with a radio version of one of the singles from DMX' second LP "Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood". DJ Shok hooks up a moody soul-jazz sample as the basis for the instrumental, and DMX tells the story of a difficult early life and his efforts to survive and elevate. This track was apparently so powerful, so soul-baring, that when the video was shown to a judge before X was to be sentenced for tax evasion, the judge gave him a single year rather than the recommended five. That is writing. Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!
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