Try telling Snoop ‘it’s not cricket’

I’m trying to think of a funny joke involving Snoop “gettin’ on the greenery” or “chillin’ in the pad” (as in cool-black-guy slang for “house”) but it’s all coming off quite lame so I’ll just let the picture do the talking.

GroundUp has the scoop on the Doggfather’s Sydney promo shoot for Australian MTV. I doubt Snoop could hit a six off a Warnie fast bowl, but then again Boony would never look this good in Crip-blue sweats. Enjoy.

Review: Jurassic 5 MySpace Secret Show, Brisbane

Don’t get it twisted: MySpace is the devil. However, the devil occasionally makes himself useful in the process of promoting his ‘brand’. So it was that Brisbane, the city voted most likely to miss out on sideshow gigs for any festival to come within 182 kilometres of its borders, was granted a free audience with the masters of modern throwback rap, Jurassic 5. True, feedback on their latest album (and first without Cut Chemist) has been lukewarm at best, but there’s never been any doubt that J5 could rock a show properly. All we had to do was line up for two hours along Ann St at 5pm on a Monday afternoon. With rumours that this could be their last tour as a group, we gambled that it would be worth the wait.

Following a warm up set from 2Dogz with assorted freestyles from DNO and Brisbane open mic mainstay Richie D, the LA happy rap crew hit the stage with practiced aplomb. With the Zoo at 500-head capacity, the crowd knew they were privileged to witness such an intimate performance, and J5 seemed genuinely happy to be rocking a club rather than a stadium. Chali 2na, Mark Seven, Soup and Akil laid down their flawless stage routine on what I imagine is a much smaller stage than they’ve been used to in recent years. DJ Numark got his couple of minutes to shine, marred only by a power cut to his handheld sampler. Otherwise, it was back-to-back feel good mic swapping. There were three or four songs I didn’t recognise, only one of which failed to capture the trademark Jurassic vibe. When they departed without performing the lacklustre Dave Matthews Band-guested single, it was obvious what the encore was going to be. However, even ‘Work It Out’ wasn’t all bad in the live context, and when they topped it off with a freestyle session over Pete Rock’s beat for Ghostface’s “Be Easy”, any easy listening indiscretions were forgiven.

J5 is one of the few hip hop crews I can envisage doing a reunion tour ten years down the track. They have finely crafted beats, don’t shy away from real lyricism and can still reach out to a general listening audience. When the 2016 Jurassic 5 reunion tour hits town, chances are all the people who really didn’t give a shit about music when they were 22 will be dragged along by friends with fond reminisces of a gig like this, and end up wondering why they spent the best years of their lives trying to pick up at clubs playing pusillanimous house music.

Mark Seven and Chali 2na hype the secret crowd.

Mark Seven freestyle over “Be Easy”

..and Justice for Oz: Scribble Jam 2005 gets local release

It’s been a minute coming, but the DVD of the 2005 Scribble Jam, featuring the MC battle won by Melbourne’s Justice, is finally hitting local shelves. The highlight is undoubtedly the MC battles, which find Justice evenly matched against the likes of Iron Solomon, H-Bomb and TheSaurus. The novelty of Justice being an Australian may have helped him secure what is a very close battle in the final round against Iron Solomon, but there’s no denying he brings an energy that’s lacking in his opponents. The rest of the DVD package is pretty tight, particuarly the mind- and back-bending b-boy competition, won by the Brickheadz. There’s also dope performances from Masta Ace and RA The Rugged Man, and Spankrock and Amanda Blank dish out a nice version of “Bump”, prior to it becoming a worldwide hipster favourite.

Check out this recent interview with Justice talking about his win and upcoming projects with Kaos.

…and here’s a clip of Justice battling The Tongue in Australian preliminaries for the 2005 SJ. Ironically, The Tongue threatens to send J’s ashes to Scribble Jam in an urn. Ha!

Good excuse to get out on a Tuesday night

Melbourne heads can get a dose of “that real black music” tomorrow night at The Spot, with performances from Boltz, Cherry P and Forthwrite in between DJ sets from Frank Force and Tommy Carson, who promise to spin everything from Daisy Age to Ghetto Minimalism to UK Grime. What better way to earn a Valetine’s Day hangover?

Hip Hop release guide: 03.02.07

Time for another look at what’s hit the shelves of your local CD emporium this week. It’s a pretty quiet one.

Distrbutor: EMI
Gang Starr – Mass Appeal, The Best Of (Virgin)
NWA – The Strength of Street Knowledge, The Best Of (Priority)
Best of compilations from two groups whose entire catalogues are virtually essential as it is.

Distributor: Inertia
Jazzy Jeff – Return of the Magnificent EP (Rapster): Vinyl EP featuring tracks from Jeff’s forthcoming album, with verses from CL Smooth, Little Brother and Rhymefest.

Distributor: Shogun
J-Rock – Streetwize: 15th Anniversay Edition (Traffic): Re-issue of the classic DJ Premier/Easy Mo Bee produced rarity.
DJ Green Lantern & Ludacris – The Truth Shall Set You Free (Invasion): Ludacris gets the coveted Green Lantern mixtape treatment.
Sean Price – Jesus Price Supastar (Duck Down): This was on last week’s release list as well, but I’m not going to argue – Sean P brings it with more personality than the rest of underground rap combined.

Distributor: Warner Music Australia
P Diddy ft Christina Aguilera – Tell Me (Atlantic): Okay, it’s a dead week for rap releases. Apparently, this guy used to work with B.I.G.

Triple J adds 07.02.07

New hip hop being added to the national radio airwaves this week includes Busdriver’s “Casting Agent and Cowgirls” and K-Os’s “Sunday Morning”. The Busdriver jam is hot, but the last time I checked Canadian son-of-some-Jehovah’s Witnesses K-Os was 2004’s reasonably okay Joyful Rebellion which did an admirable if uneven job of channeling influences from Bowie to KRS. “Jane Fonda” by MySpace darling Mickey Avalon has also been added, but the less said about him the better.

Meanwhile both “The Punch” and “Bad Education” by The Tongue continue to receive a thorough flogging from the youf broadcaster. JPlay says “The Punch” is the fourth most-played joint on the Js for last week. Word!

Tony Starks meets Whispering Jack

Hot on the heels of Biz Markie sampling Little River Band’s ‘Reminiscing’ for his ‘Throw Back’ joint (from 2003’s Weekend Warrior), ya boy Ghostface Killah has gone and done the unthinkable – pillaged the John Farnham back catalogue for his More Fish album!

Yep, apparently the track ‘Blue Armor’ (sic) (featuring D-Block hitman Sheek Louch) rides a (whispering) jacked loop from the Farnsey banger ‘Always The Same’ (from 1993’s Then Again). I didn’t cop More Fish so I can’t check the liner notes to verify if this is true, or to see who the producer was (great taste!), but as you all know net gossip is rarely inaccurate.

Even so, this is a victory for the Aussie crooner and will see his music live on through the hip-hop generation. I’ve put the track up for a sneaky download if you’re keen for a listen (link will self-destruct soon though):

Ghostface feat. Sheek Louch – ‘Blue Armor’

Exclusive: Clandestien MP3 download

In the mood for a shiver down your spine?

The new Clandestien album is less than a month away. Chasms of the Citadel will be the third full-length from Perth mainstays and SBX-affiliates Mortar, Tomahawk and Graphic. A three-track sampler distributed to hip-hop radio suggests that while the distinct Clan flavour is still in effect, they’ve made a conscious effort to expand both their sound and subject matter. While the first two cuts on the sampler are signature clan bangers (check the beat on “Harvey Wallbanger”) , the third joint is a chilling head nodder, with each of the MCs narrating a disturbing chapter in the life of a troubled young woman.

Get this exclusive download for a limited time only. When it’s gone, it’s gone.

Download: “Her Choice” from Sendspace

Chasms of the Citadel will be in stores February 24 on DoubleBeef through Shogun Distribution.

Clandestien on MySpace
DoubleBeef on MySpace (yes – Mass MC is on MySpace and the world is one step closer to apocalypse).

360 signs to Soulmate Records

Young rapper 360 has made a lot of noise in his short career – from a stint as Trem’s protege to various fiery battle appearances to his place as one half of Forthwrite with Pez. Now, it looks like he’s inked an independent deal for at least one album. Groundup has the scoop on his signing with burgeoning label Soulmate Records, who also have an album by Boltz waiting in the wings.

Melbourne rap phenomenon 360 has been confirmed as the latest signing to Soulmate Records.

360, best known as one half of controversial hip-hop duo Forthwrite, will release his long-awaited debut solo album What You See Is What You Get through Soulmate in 2007.

Although renowned by hip-hop audiences for his hilarious put-downs and reckless attitude, the gifted 20-year-old emcee claims his debut long-player will reveal many as-yet-unseen sides to his personality.

360 was the subject of much net chatter when he switched from the Trem/LC camp to rhyming over Weapon X beats. Regardless of his affiliation, his abilities are undeniable and this will be one of the most talked about albums of 2007. At this stage, it’s set for a mid-year release.

360 on MySpace
Soulmate Records website

Bias B back on the block

Who is the webmaster over at Obese? The label has premium banner space on the Ozhiphop.com forums where it advertises its forthcoming releases, but a click through to the company website for more info frequently disappoints – no updates for months, nary even a mention of the advertised product. Why? It’s not like they don’t have the resources.

But I digress. Having visited said forums today, I noticed an ad for the new Bias B record (and Obese’s 50th release) Been There Done That. Is it out? If not, when is it coming out? Who knows? All the info we have at this stage is that Bias has been in the lab with not only the usual suspects (Bigfoot, Ciecmate, Optamus) but also some exciting new collaborators (Brisbane soulstress Miss Brown, Art Of War producer Burna) to craft his latest endeavour.

Now I’m not a huge fan of Mr B’s nasal (and arguably simplistic) flow, but his status as an early pioneer of the Australian hip-hop scene (at least in the sense of recording and releasing music on disc) can not be denied, so I’m looking forward to this record all the same. Will he be able to come correct over a synth-laden Burna club banger though? Only time will tell.