Saturday, 4 June 2011
Monday, 25 April 2011
The “OG” Niki show; an encapsulation of ‘Broken Britain’?
I writ dis on da twennyuf of april, innit.
Having first got wind last week of the furore surrounding “OG” Niki, the new young female rapper from Birmingham on everyone’s lips, it’s only today after 3 times of asking that I’ve actually brought myself to watch and listen in full to the cypher that’s simultaneously polarised opinions and got the majority of the underground talking.
The thing is it’s almost hard to know where to begin with my response, both to the cypher and to the responses it’s received. The UK has in recent years been very fortunate to have some of the finest female ‘urban’ artists the world music scene has to offer; acts like Estelle, Ms Dynamite, Stush, and most recently Lioness and No Lay, have all achieved recognition and varying levels of success; in achieving these things, none of the above have proudly paraded their promiscuity for the world to see in the same way that “OG” Niki has done. One could look at that as evidence that the current hype surrounding this girl won’t last, but the many descriptions of her as being a “legend” and “the UK’s answer to Lil’ Kim” (like that last one’s something to be proud of anyway) make me worry that a lot of impressionable young girls will see “OG” Niki as having set some sort of precedent in the UK which they must follow, not least when they see underground opinion leaders such as DJ Semtex and Wiley openly lending support to her and, in fact, publicly criticizing the many folk speaking out against the content in her cypher.
The cypher itself is nothing much to write home about, content aside; the flow is average at best and lost in places at worst, but what stood out for me overwhelmingly was the unabashed pride with which a girl younger than my little sister told the tale of (I hope I’m not, but expect I’m wrong on this) all her sexual escapades. Now look, there’s nothing wrong with sex, and there’s nothing wrong with making tracks about sex, I’ve done it myself in my time. Promiscuity amongst youths is wrong however, and I find “OG” Niki’s pride in her lack of sexual self-control to be disgusting. Worse still is the proclamation: “I don’t give a f***, my mum knows, why you telling’ her?” Sorry? Your mum’s aware of this behaviour? I give up.
But that’s just it; I can’t give up, and neither should the many contemporaries I know making fantastic music with relevant messages. In fact to conclude, I should stress that I find myself in something of a Catch-22; as much as I don’t want to help the hype surrounding “OG” Niki to rumble on, I can’t sit back and watch this madness unfold without doing my best to belittle it.
Monday, 27 September 2010
Morning
All! Hope you're all good and thaaat. I'm writing this from my living room as I prepare to draw up a schedule for the coming weeks and months. Because I've rejoined the unemployed massive!*doesn't punch the air in celebration* The only real positives to be derived from this are:
- I can give you all much more music between now and next spring, aand
- Truth Hurts will be out sooner than soon, being as I've got fuck all else to do but promote it and then bring it out!
Had an encouraging chat with Sean D of UGM yesterday regarding the mastering; by the sounds of things all's going well with that, and I'll be visiting tomorrow to hear the progress for myself. You can expect an official release date once the mastering's complete, and I'm led to believe that that's no more than a week or so away. Is it worth the wait? Unquestionably yes. Have I said that before? Yes, quite a few times. Do I care that I'm repeating myself? Fuck no.
There was a lot of grime going on last week, and illness prevented me from updating you all with my movements.Last Monday we had the MOG Mayhem set which fully lived up to its moniker, featuring Nico Lindsay, myself, Rockz, Avalanche, Krason and Darkos on mike, and DJ Scope providing the live mix. Shouts to V, Mz AG (haha), Hij, Joell, and Jack Daniels in the place, and TJ of ADHD TV providing the visual recording, which you should look out for in the coming days. Wednesday saw me down at Ard TV with a bag of MCs and Fewie on the 1s and 2s. Total hype ting lyricallll. Big shout to everyone involved in that one and all, that was a lot, though I fear it may have contributed to my feeling so fucked up for the past week or so. Never mind though. Grime over everything.
- I can give you all much more music between now and next spring, aand
- Truth Hurts will be out sooner than soon, being as I've got fuck all else to do but promote it and then bring it out!
Had an encouraging chat with Sean D of UGM yesterday regarding the mastering; by the sounds of things all's going well with that, and I'll be visiting tomorrow to hear the progress for myself. You can expect an official release date once the mastering's complete, and I'm led to believe that that's no more than a week or so away. Is it worth the wait? Unquestionably yes. Have I said that before? Yes, quite a few times. Do I care that I'm repeating myself? Fuck no.
There was a lot of grime going on last week, and illness prevented me from updating you all with my movements.Last Monday we had the MOG Mayhem set which fully lived up to its moniker, featuring Nico Lindsay, myself, Rockz, Avalanche, Krason and Darkos on mike, and DJ Scope providing the live mix. Shouts to V, Mz AG (haha), Hij, Joell, and Jack Daniels in the place, and TJ of ADHD TV providing the visual recording, which you should look out for in the coming days. Wednesday saw me down at Ard TV with a bag of MCs and Fewie on the 1s and 2s. Total hype ting lyricallll. Big shout to everyone involved in that one and all, that was a lot, though I fear it may have contributed to my feeling so fucked up for the past week or so. Never mind though. Grime over everything.
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
ENJOY THAT SPIN FUCKOS?
1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4
SOUR GRAPES MUCH MATE?
SOUR GRAPES MUCH MATE?
Monday, 20 September 2010
It starts here! Truth Hurts starts here!
Yeah, I've been holding off blogging for a bit, just to make sure I got over the finishing line with this Truth Hurts project. Now, not only is everything recorded, the first promotional video's here and ready for your listening and viewing pleasure! Get that one in right this fucking second!
Now you all see why I've been gassing up the place with regard to Truth Hurts. It's a strong, strong debut mix CD, I promise you. Look out for that when it lands, and check back HERE for FIRST NEWS of the OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE, which I'll have for you all in the next few days.
Watch how I ease through the promotional gears. Jump on and get involved, you'll not regret it.
Now you all see why I've been gassing up the place with regard to Truth Hurts. It's a strong, strong debut mix CD, I promise you. Look out for that when it lands, and check back HERE for FIRST NEWS of the OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE, which I'll have for you all in the next few days.
Watch how I ease through the promotional gears. Jump on and get involved, you'll not regret it.
Friday, 10 September 2010
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
It's almost here!!!!!
You know when something's so close that it's faintly brushing your nose?
That innit.
Were it not for the mysterious phlegmy illness my friend's contracted, Truth Hurts would be a wrap. As it is we're now one skit away from completion! Please don't let me hear anyone say "Fuck the skit, just bring it out now mate"; you can't rush excellence yeah. Thanks.
Now, Truth Hurts might not actually be wrapped, but all the tunes are now completed so that was more than enough excuse to do a gassed-up freestyle to show the levs. If you've not already heard it you need to stop reading this and click that link NOW. If you're somebody who's already heard the riddim, again, STOP reading and LISTEN AGAIN. GET IT IN, GET IT IN, GET IT IN etc.
P.S. I can see the talk about the "new wave" of grime doing the rounds; all's I'll say is, you ignore me at your peril. Hold tight everyone who knew wha gwan years ago though. 'Cos it is that.
That innit.
Were it not for the mysterious phlegmy illness my friend's contracted, Truth Hurts would be a wrap. As it is we're now one skit away from completion! Please don't let me hear anyone say "Fuck the skit, just bring it out now mate"; you can't rush excellence yeah. Thanks.
Now, Truth Hurts might not actually be wrapped, but all the tunes are now completed so that was more than enough excuse to do a gassed-up freestyle to show the levs. If you've not already heard it you need to stop reading this and click that link NOW. If you're somebody who's already heard the riddim, again, STOP reading and LISTEN AGAIN. GET IT IN, GET IT IN, GET IT IN etc.
P.S. I can see the talk about the "new wave" of grime doing the rounds; all's I'll say is, you ignore me at your peril. Hold tight everyone who knew wha gwan years ago though. 'Cos it is that.
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