The main man; Mys Diggi returns - before the dust has settled on his much tweeted about recent offering - The F.D.T EP - with more for our already spoiled ears in the form of one track, 7 minutes long - summing up 2009's events - good, bad and ugly. The track is produced by Black Einstein who does a terrific job with the beat that perfectly suites the tracks concept.
Mys manages to fit in references to everything in the list below;
Dizzee Rascal Dappy of N-Dubz & his appearance on Never Mind The Buzzcocks LaRoux Tinchy Stryder George Michael X-Factor England Qualifying for The World Cup & Thierry Henri's handball incident against Ireland Tinchy Stryder missing out on a MOBO I'm A Celebrity; Get Me Out Of Here Sabrina Washington Peter Andre and Katie Price MySpace FaceBook and Twitter Chipmunk The recession and the governments large pay outs to save UK banks Jamelia and Maxwell D The Sugababes Speech DeBelle Take That Jedward Bashy Reggie Yates Tiny Tempah Professor Green Noel Clarke Taio Cruz Estelle Mutya Buena Big Brother Derek B Mista Jam Shortee Blitz Sarah Love David Haye Leona Lewis Amir Khan Charlie Sloth SBTV DJ Gone Diversity Flawless Mister Hudson Dynamo M.I.A Amy Winehouse Alexandra Burke Jay Sean Industry Hater Snow in February JLS Craig David Sway Westwood Michael Jackson Susan Boyle
It's everything you would expect from Mystro - clever, witty, funny and damn impressive; the perfect end to the year.
Don't take my word for it though.
I'm told that the MP3 is on it's way - i'll update this post with the link as soon as i know more.
For now, you can listen to the track on YouTube HERE
You can follow Mystro on Twitter HERE Black Einstein too; HERE
Thanks to everyone who visited the blog this year, everyone who sent me stuff to post and everyone who's shown support either through Twitter or just word of mouth. Thanks also to the excellent blogs like BEATS LAYING ABOUT, CERTIFIED BANGER, the forum of beat makers and producers over at CRATE KINGS,HHC DIGITAL,BRITISH HIP HOP.CO.UK and anyone else who has helped me out this year, especially anyone who has sent me accapellas for the remix project i'm working on.
The blog has come along massively since i started it as what was originally just supposed to be a way for me to get some free music!
Keep it up and here's to another year of independant goodness!
SlickMouth set the international Hip-Hop world alight with his brilliant single ‘I Made It’ which recieved great support on a specialist radio campaign, and positive meetings with labels in New York. He was also a finalist in the BBC 2009 performing arts fund, and has amassed a large following from shows in london(Supporting Jagged edge) , Sweden (Along side Kano) ,belgium, and the USA.
Check out the video interview below for some more info from SlickMouth himself.
This twenty one track mixtape is anything but. With an overall fresh sound - lots of bright synths and clean, crisp drums - Slickmouth is clearly confident enough to be able to release this kind of effort and label it a mixtape. My favourite aspect of 'Travelling Star' is that the beats are quite mainstream and accessible but it's refreshing to hear an MC like Slickmouth over them.
"Warning" sees Slickmouth send...well...a warning to lesser MC's in the game. The beat is a banger, sampling Ten Wheel Drive's "Ain't Gonna Happen" but flipping it in a different enough way to Jay-Z's "1-900 Hustler." "The Takeover" got my head nodding once the drums dropped and the track is something I could imagine hearing in clubs, as well as 'Around The World" which features excellent vocals on the hook by "Naye Forsythe." When "How Many" dropped i have to admit i was a little unsure how the track would pan out, but when it hits 0:11 it all comes together. The track is a little reminiscent of "Swagger Like Us" which could be seen as a good or a bad thing depending on your preference. Even so - I liked it. Slickmouth gets a little deeper on "Cool vs Cool" which is probably my favourite track on the Mixtape. The falling strings that drop in and out over the plucky harpsichord notes is haunting and fits the subject matter perfectly as Slick takes on the persona of a bully and a drug dealer in verse one. "Homecoming" is another banger of a beat with Slick displaying a switch up of flow to spit nice and quick over this one. "Uninspired" utitlises a pretty simple vocal sample - "Sometimes I feel so uninspired" and keeps it simple all the way through with nothing but some piano keys, drums and bass accompanying Slick speaking on feeling uninspired which is a subject I'm sure all of us have som knowledge on.
A Travelling Star is an assuring promise of what is hopefully to come from Slickmouth - well thought out, well executed and well made music.
Get A Travelling Star HERE Add Slickmouth on MySpace HERE Follow Slickmouth on Twitter HERE
Yes yes! MysDiggi A.K.A Mystro, mutha luvaz! One of the U.K's finest and definitely one of my favourites is releasing the 'F.D.T EP' on December 14th this year on Don't Bizznizz.
For those unaware;
The E.P opens with 'The Truth,' starting off with some looped keys which gradually evolve to include some nice horn hits that give a nice sense of progression to the tracks. Mys spits effortlessly over this one with couplets that seem to go on forever! And just when you thought the track couldn't get better, the hook drops which i guarantee you'll find yourself humming/whistling/singing to yourself at a later date. HE AINT LYIN!(you'll get it when you hear it!)
The first of 3 skits which are nicely spaced out on the E.P comes in next with Mystro skipping through radio stations until he comes across 'F.D.T Radio' hosted by a familiar sounding chap! The characters that crop up in the skits such as Stelios; CEO of 'SqueezyJet' and Giles Freeman are mad funny and instead of being filler for when the artist has run out of ideas - the skits serve their intended purpose of injecting some humour (of which Mystro has a tremendous sense of) and providing a narrative for the listener to follow. This, along with the variety of sounds, samples and topics displayed make the E.P seem very mature and far more accomplished when compared to other so called 'efforts' by emcee's who wouldn't even know what E.P stands for!
'Banishment' is my favourite. The beat (HEAVY!) drops and Mystro comes in with "I'll smack you in ya teeth, jack you for ya sneaks, put some shackles on ya feet and then drag you through the streeeet!" And you know it's a banger. I always hate when people call things an 'instant classic' as the word 'classic,' by definition is something that has been "judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of it's kind." Meaning that it has to have existed for a significant period of time before it can be judged in comparison with anything of it's kind. That being said (rant over) 'Banishment' really is an instant classic. Something that i can easily see being played in years to come which really says something about the quality of work being put out by Mys since a track like this is on an E.P. Once again, a VERY catchy hook on this one. RUN HIM OUT THE HOOOUUSE!
Things get darker now with some church bells leading the beat for 'Live & U Learn' as Mys spins yarns for us about a racially confused boy called Jack, a two faced girl called Jo and pregnant Jenny among others. There's a nice mix of humour and subject matter contrasted well with the beat which is kept pretty minimal for Mystro's lyrics to take centre stage.
It's back to pure bars next on 'Thorish' which is a monstrous beat consisting of some hard drums and rapid fire keys before the beat breaks for some horn stabs that reminded me of the Dragnet theme tune. Again, Mystro continues with rhyming couplets long after most would have run out of places to take it!
"Maintain" is a very close contender for my favourite track. Not only as the beat is BEAUTIFUL but the subject matter is something i've always tried to get across in tracks myself but it's done here perfectly. The first time i listened to it, i found myself nodding along to it agreeing with Mystro's descriptions of us independant artists with an actual LOVE and respect for Hip-Hop as a culture.
Just read the lyrics from the second verse... "Shout out's to the rapper who loves to maintain...
Though he's up all night, creating bombs that make you wanna turn it up more high, and he don't really wanna fuss or fight, just touch more mics and make sure that every one's all right and keep the future stayin much more bright - with no stressin but the few that make enough doors slide just won't let him still he's treating it like a profession, knowing doors soon will open up wider - no question, time for no restin - just putting in work foot in the dirt - all good if it hurts, could have been worse, he cant fret since the rookie has learnt, to never treat his last step as if it should have been first, shoes in the mud but always moving above, using his mind to keep him shining more than jewellery does and like the last man standing in a pool full of blood, claim the task as handled cos he'll do what he does to maintain." * *(apologies to Mys if I got some of the lyrics wrong!)
Like I said - couldn't have said it better myself.
"Aquarius" brings the mood down as the E.P comes to a close; not down in a negative sense, just more relaxed with some nice rhodes chords and a strolling bassline as Mys drops nice verses touching on alot of social issues from weapons of mass destruction, to 911, underpaid NHS workers and the legitimacy of medication. It's another solid track among several and closes as we go into the final skit before 'The Urge' drops.
"I'm not a killer but i do get the urge!" As Mystro runs through alot of life's problems that we all have to just deal with day to day; it's easy to identify with the feeling of 'getting the urge'. The beat is nice and aggressive which obviously fits the mood perfectly and is an interesting choice to finish the E.P off but as you end up wanting more as soon as it fades out; it was a good choice.
Keep in mind that you will constantly have to remind yourself that this is an E.P - it really is that good. Every track would sound perfectly at home on a full length album. Not only that but Mystro is able to captivate attention here with no other artists featuring on tracks for support. For those key reasons and for all the reasons listed above - this is music you need to hear. I know there are people out there that want good British Hip hop - it was the reason i set up this blog.
Well, i have good news. Good British Hip-Hop exists. And it's name is Mystro.
The F.D.T. E.P will be available from all major digital stores from December 14th 2009 on Don't Bizznizz.
You can follow Mystro on Twitter HERE Add him on MySpace HERE Watch his videos on YouTube HERE Check out the Natural Born Spittaz blog HERE and become a fan of Mystro on FaceBook HERE
The home of Independant Creativity. If you have something you want to share then send us a link and we'll post it here for all to see. You can contact myself (Figment) at - mashupfigment@hotmail.co.uk. Any material posted on this blog has been done with the artists full permission. If you see your material here and want it removed - please feel free to contact me at the above e-mail address.
