The Four Owls have been taking over the UKHH scene for sometime. Since Natures Greatest Mystery the Owls have been on a roller coaster ride with the ever expanding High Focus Records and also finding success with solo albums. Between that and touring the country they have managed to put the work in for new album 'Natural Order', due to drop February 2015. On the album they have teamed up with USA's finest Hip Hop producer and living legend DJ Premier, giving us the greatest UK/USA hip hop team up we have ever seen. Primo needs no introduction to any true follower of Hip Hop. He is easily the best that America has to offer and has been making beats for years now and is widely known for his work as one half of the legendary Hip Hop group 'Gangstar". DJ Premier's production skills are notorious world wide and he has exclusively produced 'Think Twice' for the new Four Owls album. The single is out now and you can grab it and the instrumental from the link bellow. There is also a link to pre-order a limited edition 12inch that includes 'Think Twice', a Leaf Dog Remix of the single, another track from the up coming album, instrumentals for all three tracks and an acapella of the title track. This comes highly recommended for all you hip hop fans and vinyl junkies. We don't have to tell you how big this is, just look at who is involved. The track opens up with a short introduction from the king of hip hop production then drops into his instantly recognizable 'Primo' style beat complete with cutz. Leaf Dog, Fliptrix, BVA and Verb T all give this absolute banger the justice it deserves with amazing bars and delivery.
This is a testament to how far the Owls have come and proof that they are among the few who are able to carry the torch across seas, showing the rest of the world what the UK is capable of. All rappers should aspire to one day be fortunate enough to work with DJ Premier, this is now a reality for The Four Owls and us their loyal fans. Get the download and pre-order now.
The album opens up with a short intro and then drops straight into 'Space Bitches', the first single from the album and the first track to get an official video. It starts with an amazing creepy piano hook and some slick drums complemented by a big bass that drops as Onoe starts his first verse. Brilliant track to kick off this release.The track is backed up by a video with an equally dark vibe directed by Taztron and Onoe Caponoe. You can grab the single including the highly recommended instrumental from the link bellow.
As stated earlier, having heard 'Space Bitches' before receiving the album I thought I knew what to expect from the full release. 'Lord Of The Light (Sun Riddim)' is where that thought went right out the window and stayed there. Here we have the first of many very different Hip Hop tracks from Onoe and Chemo, both artists fully pushing the boundaries of Hip Hop production and Emceeing. This down tempo track is completely different from the track that proceeded it but yet it fits perfectly with the rest of the album. Lots of electronic and eerie sounds throughout the beat help give the track a more chilled vibe and Onoe backs this up with great use of breaks in his bars giving the beat time to breath and completing the ambient vibe of 'Lord Of Light'.
'Moon - Galactico' is something I feel is missing from a lot of UKHH right now. It's is predominantly an instrumental only featuring Caponoe briefly throughout the track (with some cool voice effects) giving Chemo a chance to shine with this up tempo tribal sounding beat with well placed samples and guitar chords. Hip Hop albums always used to feature something like this, a little beat interlude or scratch skit from the producer, a nice nod of recognition to the guy making the beats.
Disappearing Jakob has a nice chilled beat interlude at the start and then kicks into a piano loop and vinyl crackle reminding me of that old dub sound. This is soon backed up by a crisp beat with bass and Onoe kicks off with the hook... "I wanna smoke with you" He then hits the verse with a laid back pace showing us how versatile he is and how he can adapt to any style of beat or rhythm. Space Jungles of Cattele is next and you guessed it, another different style of beat and Emceeing. It really is refreshing to listen to an album that keeps you on your toes, not knowing what to expect when the next track starts. This one starts with a vocal sample and then drops into a track that fully throws you deep into the trippy psychedelic theme of the album. Strange sci fi sounds and a guitar loop are accompanied by Caponoe's bars that go up and down in pitch throughout. Not to be listened to on a come down or under the influence of mind altering narcotics.
'Goth Bitches (The Serenade)' is the only track on the album to feature a guest MC and lets be honest, who better to feature on your debut album than Jehst. Chemo gives the beat a nice horror twist that is matched by the intensity and ferocity of the hook and lyrics from both Emcees. "A hundred Goth bitches dancing on my stone table while I light a fucking hundred candles to my own fable". Having Jehst feature on the track is just the icing on the cake and solidifies this as a stand out track on the album. 'Peace To The Godz' is up next with another short, trippy yet jazzy interlude that quickly breaks off into down tempo hip hop, big bass and snare with Onoe showcasing another impressive way to deliver his bars. Great use of samples late on in the track.
Tricked into a false sense of security from the ambiance of the last track Chemo and Caponoe turn things on their head again with 'Horse In The Hill', a track sure to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end as soon as the bass hits you in the face snapping you out of the dream like state caused by 'Peace To The Godz'. Back this up with Onoe's unique ability to switch up his flow at the drop of a hat and you have another instant classic. 'Under The Bridge' is a short interlude with a beat designed to leave you thirsty for more and Capone does the banger justice with his lyrics, once again using pitch adjustments on his voice to give the track a different feel. The album closes with 'Paint Your Body Gold', a track that sounds like classic hip hop from the likes of A Tribe Called Quest and J Live. The beat and bars are perfectly balanced with each other and seems to bring the album full circle with the raw hip hop sound of the first track. Another favourite for us at Locality reviews.
This album really is a work of art. Both Emcee and Producer have done their best to express themselves with music not made for the commercial masses, but a true statement of what they are all about. The release doesn't just break the mould of a conventional UKHH album, it re shapes it into lots of different variations of Hip Hop. I love this approach to making music and have been honestly surprised with how different this album is, and how well that has worked. It's always good to see Chemo dropping new beats for the High Focus crew and it is equally good to see this new pairing with Onoe Caponoe. Both artists fully smashed it with this one and have set the standard early in 2015 for UK Hip Hop. I wanted to include the biography that High Focus sent out with the album and press release because I fell it does a great job of summing up Caponoe and what to expect from the release. And if that is not enough to convince you to pre order now, I have also included some exclusive bars from Onoe. Check it all out bellow and pre order this banger now!
Biography. Onoe Caponoe, the Lord Catpissdelic myth is a earthly being possessed by the ghost of Jim Willow the Wizard. A Funkadelic sperm from the sexual organs of the 169 world Onoe Caponoe uses alien technology to record vocal crystals telepathically transmitted by his thoughts. Dwelling in a underground cellar some where in London, Onoe Caponoe joins forces with producer extraordinaire Chemo over the span many suns and moons to bring the tales, thought processes, feelings and sounds of the until now unheard of alternative dimensional planet knows as Planet Cattele.
The legendary DJ Q Bert has dropped an exclusive mix for Mass Appeal that you can listen to and down load from the link bellow. Jellyfish Lazer Face is a bass heavy mix from the king of scratch featuring Dubstep, Trap and a couple of exclusives from his upcoming release, Extramentals Vol 1. As expected, like all of Q Berts mixes you don't want to sleep on this one. Grab it from the link bellow.
Peterborough based producer Klimeks is kicking off the new year with the Nightglide EP, available for free down load from the link above. The four track masterpiece showcases how Klimeks has perfected his signature WAVEY style over the past few years and is a great new edition to his back catalogue of free EP's. It is also worth checking out his flawless 2014 remix of Born In The Cold by Wiley. Big up Klimeks, keep those bangers coming.
All the details for the compettion and full prize list are on the flyer above. This is a great opportunity to get your self noticed as a producer. The track is taken from his album Notice of Eviction released on RLD Records, you can buy the album and download the accapella from the RLD website.
Before you start, I am fully aware that these have been up for years, but I thought they were worth mentioning while we are on the subject of RLD. Leaf Dog is the UK's hottest Hip Hop producer right now. His amazing ability to dissect samples and re arrange them into instant classics is now getting him noticed over in the USA and has cemented him as top dog when it comes to beats in the UK. With a new Four Owls album dropping early 2015 we thought these might keep you going until then. Grab Lost Leafs from the link bellow.
After the recent taste of new Four Ours material featured on the 2014 Fliptrix LP 'Polyhymnia', we have been craving more and luckily didn't have to wait long. Silent Flight is out now and is the first track to be released from the upcoming album Natural Order. Check out the video below.
Great visuals from Ezpz and as expected, the Owls delivered the goods. The beat is immediately recognizable as a Leaf Dog production, which is definitely a good thing and the guys manage to re-spark the unremitting argument within my own mind and between friends as to which of the Owls is the best emcee. The answer seems to depend on who we're listening to at that moment in time. The single comes with an exclusive B side 'Old Earth' and instrumentals for both. Grab it from the link below.
First off, Happy New Year. 2015 will see a couple of new bloggers joining our team and we look forward to working with them shortly. In 2014 we had some great UK Hip Hop drop from the High Focus team and others and it looks like this year will be heading in the same direction. The UKHH scene seems to be at an all time high and with a Four Owls album promised for early in the year I think it is safe to say, I am excited!
It's a new year and already we have a new member of the ever expanding High Focus rosta. Onoe Capone makes his debut in style with a visual impressive video directed by Taztron Delix and Onoe himself accompanied by another banging beat from Chemo. This is how you showcase your new talent. Space Bitches is available now from the link bellow and is the first track to drop from his upcoming release on High Focus Records Voices FromPlanet Cattle.
Next we have Gorilla Growers taken from the debut Smellington Piff album Notice of Eviction, available now on R.L.D Records. This track features Leaf Dog who also produced the beat, BVA and Son Doobie of Funkdoobiest. You can find all the other videos from the album and details of a remix competition at the R.L.D website. You can also buy the album from the website.
Body Gold is the second video to drop from Born Lupers EP by The Mouse Outfit & Mattic. The Ep wasreleased on December 30th and is available from the Bandcamp link bellow. A great way to wet your appetite for the rumored 2015 Mouse Outfit album.
This one is for the Grime heads, Fully Fledged VIP By Problem Child. This banger features Dabbla, Buggsy, Illaman, DRS, Rawkid, Dubbledge, Onoe Caponoe, Marger, Lunar C, Foreign Beggars & Black Josh. WOW. You can pre-order the track on vinyl from the link bellow including the instrumental on the B side.
Reflections is easily my favorite UKHH track of 2014. It is taken from Polyhymnia by Fliptrix and features all off the Four Owls in action. The laid back beat was produced by Chemo and is a perfect example of why The Owls are at the top of the UKHH game right now. If you don't have the album check out our full review and buy it.
Not long after releasing the Fresh Flesh ep, Jam Baxter is back with a full solo album produced by Chemo, So We Ate Them Whole. This release tells the story of Baxters highs and lows on his surreal journey through the past year. Most of you will be familiar with Jams previous work from groups like Contact Play and Dead Players and previous albums such as Rinse Out Friday and Gruesome Features. Jam Baxter manages to achieve the impossible by elevating his already high standard even further showing how even the best can still evolve. Using a distinct style of lyricism, cleverly layered like watching a film for the second or third time and finding details within details that may have been missed the first time around, generally enhancing and enriching the overall experience. Throughout all of Jam Baxters'work, this use of clever language and story telling has been a main factor into the appeal towards audiences and artists who enjoy a putting a little more thought into the listening process.
This is an album that demands your attention. Not due to it being inflated or hard to follow, but because there is literally so much depth to his writing and deliverance that it has to be absorbed fully by the listener; and our interpretations will never do this incredible release justice.... but we will try.
Wings Cost Extra opens the album with atmospheric sounds building slowly into a very DJ Shadow-esque drum beat, nice work from Chemo on production to start this epic and versatile release. Jam injects his vivid vocab as he articulates his journey through a grim landscape.
"Disembodied heads in dusty corners,headless bodies inject liquor directly into their organs.
The never ending crux of a very strange performance, the beauty's in the gutters, this entire world is flawless."
Track 2, Caravan switches the vibe almost instantly with a broken, snare heavy drum track, allowing a more aggressive Jam Baxter to flow and unleash his raw energy all over the track. A nice contrast between the chilled flute samples and Baxters' rowdier deliverance is cinematic and if your not already hooked by this point, then there is clearly something wrong.
Bringing the vibe down to a more ambient, personal level, Incoming starts with creepy guitar samples and even creepier low-fi vocals (maybe?), enhancing a feeling of a nightmare-state; using his descriptive tongue to almost slap the blood in your face. This track is the second on the album to get an official video.
Leash was the first single to be released off of the album, and is accompanied by a twisted video to furtherintensify the graphic nature of the track. The beat boasts elements of trap, dub and 50's horror sound effects. Long sub shots and a tight snare reign throughout, swallowed whole by Baxter as he spews an impeccable flow that increases in pace and savagery, only to ease you back down again. A perfect promo for the album and shows just how willing Jam is to experiment with new sounds.
Leash (Cont.) is track 5 and from the get go, Chemo has laid a landscape of sound reminiscent of a western showdown and although the beat is distinctly different from the preceding track, it manages to almost become a reflection of it. Packing a similar flow which switches from laid back to full on aggy, Jam smashes this one with his trademark fashion of razor sharp wit and brutally tight execution.
Eulogy is an absolute banger from start to finish and is contender for our favorite off the album. Chemo lays a hypnotic beat for Jam Baxter to unleash some of his best work to date. Personally we were lucky enough to catch these bars during the High Focus Records 4th Birthday Party where during an interlude Jam performed an acapella that we were stoked to hear made it on the album. It was then dropped on his SBTV Skooled By Bars feature, which we have provided above. We could quote this track all day and found ourselves pulling the track back over and over, not for clarity, just because we wanted to hear the bars again.
Staples is another example of how experimenting with sound can create moods that compliment the themes of the lyrics and elevate its overall product to a new height of visceral sonic disposition.
This is carried on through to Husk, which presents us a melodic steel drum intro, adding a percussive element to layer over a laid back, minimalistic beat and a sub heavy bass-line. "You aint the same at all, melt down and face the wall.The young child chewin his leg with those pendulous eyesballs makes you crawl like, What's the price on the eighth? Your star prize awaits, let it prise your face apart. How does that blood in your saliva taste?" Baxters ability to create head bending images is on full display, the insane amount of content he manages to fit into one track would take any other artist an entire album and he uses every opportunity to make every word and sentence count.
Everything has a glitchy-electro beat and deep spacey chords with bass stabs to boot. Combine this with creepy demon-like overlays of some of Baxters bars and the raw lyrics makes this one feel slightly darker. Intended or not, we like it.
Vines starts with an eerie intro followed promptly by the most beautifully ambient beat we've heard in a while and Jam is simply hypnotic throughout this one.
Upping the ante with his vocal delivery on Clockwork with a more merciless approach, each bar cutting deep and leaving its mark. Chemos finished product gives the listener elements of suspense, similar to that of watching a horror movie where clever use of sound effects can be used to make whats happening on the screen seem more intense.
The is so much to like about Menu. The slow winding start, Dirty Dike, great beat, Dirty Dike, Baxters bars and Dirty Dike. We love anything that features both of these artists, and you gotta hand it to Chemo for crafting a beat so hench it can support them both. We love how there is a delay in the bass drop during Jams verse and how it builds during Dikes bars. There is just something about Jam and Dike that works so well, and we would love to see an entire album by the two of them at some point in the future. If anyone can keep up with Jams high caliber performance its Dike, so it kinda makes sense that he is the only feature emcee on the album. We gotta lot of love for this one and it is sure to be a highlight of the album for many.
Fantastic Man begins with a trippy intro where on an auditory level, there is a lot going on, before dropping with an old school style break. With humor peppered throughout, this is a nice way to bring the intensity of the album down to a more chilled plain of sound allowing the final track, Breakfast to play us out. This track is another highlight for us as it shows how diverse Chemos production is by bringing something completely different to the table than everything that preceded it. Jams adaptability over any beat is why he is the rising force that he is, commanding every bar and turning everything he touches into pure gold.
Your opinion may differ to ours in many instances, from the sounds featured to the themes and content of Jams lyrics. But that is what makes Jams work so interesting and relevant to so many people. One thing we can all agree on though, is that this feature confirms to all of us what we already know, Jam Baxter is pushing the envelope and evidently, the scene into a new level of thinking and word smithing. Truly, Baxter is at the top of his game and when all is said and done, will have left a massive imprint of the UK hip hop scene fore years to come.
One of our favourite UK Hip Hop bands "The Mouse Outfit" have started a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for a tour bus. The nine piece hip hop group released their debut album "Escape Music" back in 2013 and have been busy touring and getting ready to drop a new album. The kickstarter page gives you the chance to donate money towards the bus and receive a nice reward for taking part. Depending on how much you donate you can pick up exclusive T Shirts, Sweatshirts, Pictures, CDs and lots more.
Here is Dr Syntax to explain why they need the bus.
So make sure you check out the kickstarter page from the link bellow and get yourself some exclusive stuff while helping out the group get a bus for the next tour. "Escape Music" is still a personal favourite here at Locality Reviews and the live shows are next level, trust us. We look forward to hopefully hearing some new material from The Mouse Outfit soon.
