According to sources on the trusted world wide web Nas recently paid $2million dollars for a Neptunes beat that he was after, a beat which Busta Rhymes commented was "Ah shit, thats the craziest beat, I ever heard! Those drums man, Those drums are fire! If Nas is gonna rap to this beat, its going to be over. This will be the biggest hit in the history of hiphop!" Puff Daddy, or P.Diddy as he is now called, sorry bit late here 'Diddy' as he is now called was also after the beat but lost out in the bidding war. Now I know the Neptunes come out with some good stuff but $2million? The next ten tracks after it will probably sound similar so shouldn't he just wait? Try making a profit on your album now Nas.

Eminem has cancelled his tour dates for the European leg of the Anger Management Tour, after suffering from exhaustion and other medical issues. According to a statement released by his management the cancelled dates aren’t expected to be re-scheduled. The tour was due to start in Germany on the 1st September and close in Ireland the 17th. The tour in America has been a success but not without it’s problems. Em’s DJ, Alchemist and recording artist Stat Quo were injured when their tour bus collided with tractor-trailers and G-Unit members Lloyd Banks and Young Buck were both arrested after being in possession of a gun after the show in New York.

Metropolis – The Voyage

If you feel that there isn’t enough soul music out there for your liking at the moment, then point your attention to a group called Metropolis. Hailing from Atlanta, this four piece group have had people waiting in anticipation for their full album after their sampler went down a treat in soul circles earlier this year.

The Voyage is a delightful mixture of R’n’B and Soul and has been picking up critical acclaim from all corners. With 20 sublime mid-tempo cuts the listener is spoilt for choice when it comes to picking out a favourite and can happily play from start to finish without the need to reach for the skip button. Now how many albums can you say that about these days.

Favourites Hit The Door and Soul Train still sound as fresh as ever and Summertime is the perfect soundtrack for a lazy summer day. Information on the CD sleeve is sparse but you’ll hear a hint of Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield while listening.

I’ll find it hard to not mention this in my favourite five albums of the year, it really is that good. This has limited availability and you’ll have to check out www.2-funky.co.uk for a copy.

Standout Tracks

Hit The Door, Soul Train, Play Ya Game, Found You, Summertime

It’s a jam packed month ahead as far as album releases are concerned as a returning hero comes back on the scene, a bright UK talent delivers his debut and the ego returns.

Nate James has created a massive buzz about him, with the singles Set The Tone and Universal, whilst wooing listeners with a sell out show at the Jazz Café. His debut album (Set The Tone) is out on Monday (8th Aug) and hopefully will show that the talk has been worthwhile.

Following on from debut sets from Roll Deep and Kano comes Lethal B with Against All Odds. After the smash hit POW Lethal has put the disappointment of More Fire behind him and the album is just rewards for his grind over the last couple of years. The lead single is Uh Oh produced by Sticky and the album is out on the 15th.

Back in 2002 Mike Skinner delivered his ground breaking album Original Pirate Material and since followed it up with last years A Grand Don’t Come For Free. Taking a break from releasing his own material he has got together his own label and his first signing The Mitchell Brothers release their debut A Breath Of Fresh Attire on Aug 22nd. Already they have created a bit of a buzz with the singles Routine Check and Harvey Nicks and despite not reaping chart success they have been picking up very good reviews from publications such as Hip-Hop Connection to less the Hip-Hop orientated NME.

Sticking with the UK and Craig David returns with his 3rd solo set, The Story Goes On. The lead single All The Way has been making all the right moves in club land and in the media and is a welcome return after being away for a couple of years. The album also sees Craig working more with producer Mark Hill (Artful Dodger & The Stix) once again. He produced just the track Hidden Agenda on his last album Slicker Than Your Average but will now take a more prominent role in shaping this album, out on August 22nd.

On the 22nd Kanye West drops the hotly-anticipated follow up to the College Dropout, with The Late Registration. The first single Diamonds, proves that Kanye has not lost his touch and has even improved his skills. Guests on the album include, Brandy, The Game and Maroon 5’s Adam Levine amongst others. Kanye being the quietly confident kind of guy has already stated that it’s another classic, and who’s to argue with him. The Late Registration is the second of his projected four albums, the next two will be Graduation and A Good Ass Job. Watch this space for a special preview of this hotly anticipated album.

One of Jay-Z’s first signings Teairra Mari makes her debut with Roc-Fella Presents, the first single Make Her Feel Good has just started to receive airplay over here and the album is released this week.

Watch out over the coming weeks as there will be reviews on all these albums…

It’s always been a very typical thing of the British tabloids when we have a rising talent on our hands - to build them up and then knock them down. Whether it’s a musician or a footballer, movie star or politician there have been many cases over the last few years from David Beckham to Mariah Carey where the papers have celebrated their talent and then swiftly brought them down. It seems the writers would much rather slag someone off than write about someone doing well.

There was a piece in yesterdays Sun newspaper by their Bizarre columnist Victoria Newton about our very own Craig David and a photo with his latest female companion. The basis of the piece was basically saying she was only on his arms as he has a new album and single out and included pictures of pervious girlfriends in the months where he had material to promote.

Now it’s understandable for the paper a year ago to not publish any pictures with him and a girl (and I’m sure there were opportunities to do so) as he wasn’t in the public eye and the reader would have preferred to read about a member of Blue’s latest female conquest. Now it makes sense as yes he has his album coming out but to start saying that he has only been going out with these woman because he has something to promote is intrusive in his private life and an unfair assessment of his character.

Although I have never met the guy, whenever I’ve read, seen or heard interviews with him he doesn’t come across as some womaniser a la Calum Best but a genuine down to earth guy, who has done well with the talent he has. If his job enables him to meet these beautiful woman then you can only say fair play to him, us fella’s would be exactly the same.

When he burst on the scene five years back, everyone from the tabloids to magazines like Smash Hits were hailing him as a great British talent, now everyone one associated to the Urban scene will know that nothing has changed and he is still very talented and has a much anticipated album out soon, yet it seems that as an established act it’s time for the tabloids to pick fault and bring him down.

Hopefully the next time he is in the paper it’ll be on a more positive note.

A bit late on this but the list of this years Mercury Music Prize nominees have been announced with M.I.A’s long player Arular getting the nod from the panel as the only Urban offering in this years list. Her mix of Dancehall, Hip-Hop, Reggae and Electro will be up against the likes of Coldplay, Kaiser Chiefs and Bloc Party. In recent years Amy Winehouse, Jamelia, The Streets, Beverley Knight and Ty have all been short listed while both Ms Dynamite and Dizzee Rascal have walked away with the prize in 2002 and 2003 respectively. The awards take place on Tuesday 6th September.

Already one of the most destructive labels around with the ongoing feud between 50-Cent and The Game, G-Unit have announced the signing of M.O.P to their ever growing roster, but how long will we have to wait until we see any material released? The Brownsville duo had a massive hit in the UK with Cold as Ice in 2001 and released one of Hip-Hops all time anthems in Ante Up, but little has been heard of them either side of the pond since they signed to Roc-A-Fella, apart from a side project under the name The Marxmen. When Jay-Z and Dame Dash went their separate ways M.O.P found themselves with the latter under the Dame Dash Music Group moniker, but with no sign of ever releasing an album in the not to distant future, they were snapped up by G-Unit. Despite the possibility of some big name collaborations, this could easily go down the same route as the deal with the Roc, as G-Unit have just signed Mobb Deep, and have albums from Tony Yayo and Olivia to support.

After selling his mixtapes by the bucket load Sway continues his rise to the top with the release of Up Your Speed, featuring Pyrelli on September 5th. Sampling the Formula 1 tune, this was featured as the B-side to Flo-Fashion but now gets a release on its own. There is also a remix floating around with Skinnyman, Bruza and Triple. The video has just been added to the Channel U play list and sees Sway joined by 1Xtra’s Ace and Invisible and The Mitchell Brothers amongst others. Sway is destined for big things and never has an artist created such a buzz on the underground scene in the UK as he has. He is still unsigned, by his own choice, but has a distribution deal with Dan Greenpeace’s All City label, has sold thousands of copies of his successful This Is My Promo series and now you can follow his hustle in his monthly column for Hip Hop Connection. Remember 5th September, SUPPORT THIS!

Apart from a Bo Selecta caricature, we haven’t heard much from Southampton’s finest Craig David in almost three years. But that is about to change with the release of his new album, The Story Goes. Out on the 22nd August Craig is back with a bang if the first single is anything to go by.

All The Way is perfect club material while still being radio friendly and sees Craig re-united with co-writer and very underrated producer Mark Hill (ex Artful Dodger and The Stix for those that don’t know).

The song is on a very upbeat tip and reminiscent of Donnell Jones, Put Me Down. Yes we are talking big here and if this doesn’t put Craig back at the forefront of UK Urban music then there is something wrong.

If the sun actually surfaces soon then this is wind down the car windows/drop the top down music at it’s best. A perfect vibe for the summer and sets us up nicely for the album.

After the success of Born To Do It, Craig branched out and worked with the Ignorants production team for Slicker Than Your Average, only working with Mark Hill on the second single Hidden Agenda, but he handles the bulk of production on the new album and should see Craig back to making tracks as good as Fill Me In, 7 Days and Walking Away.

The single, All The Way is released 8th August and Craig will be performing his only concert date of the summer at the Somerset House, London on the same day. The album is out 22nd August.

Welcome back Craig.

Another favourite of mine, Rump Shaker was a massive crossover hit for Wrecks-N-Effect back in 1992. The New Jack Swing sound was in full flow thanks to Teddy Riley’s production and this track even had the influence of a young Pharrell Williams, who along with Chad Hugo had been taken under Teddy’s wing. Accompanied by a video set on the beach with an array of shapely woman, the track would go on to help the group secure platinum status for the album Hard or Smooth. Oh for the days of New Jack Swing to return...

After the success of last years event, the Brighton Hip-Hop festival returns for summer 2005 bigger and better. With block parties, workshops and film screenings, culminating with an all day festival by the beach, there is plenty going on during July on the South Coast to fill your Hip-Hop needs.

Things kick-off with the CD and festival launch party this Saturday and a B-Boy battle jam on Sunday, with events continuing right through July. The Hip-Hop film festival will allow people a chance to see classics like Wild Style, Style Wars and Scratch to the more recent Freestyle: Art of Rhyme and South Coast – a film all about the Brighton scene.

For budding MC’s, DJ’s and producers there are workshops being run by the Youth Music Group and on Saturday 23rd July you can sample some of that Brooklyn flavour by popping down to the Block Party at Tarner Basketball Court.

To promote the event a mix CD compiled by Clever Looking featuring local acts will be given away free with the July issue of Touch magazine and at the events over the course of the month.

Some of the acts performing on the festival day (31st July) include Salvo, Foulmouth, Mole & Iris, Southern Suspects, Skillmega and many more. In total there will be 13 live acts on display. For the full line up check www.brightonhiphopfestival.org and www.brightonhiphop.com

A day by the beach and Hip-Hop, what more could you ask for!

Jay-Z seems to have settled into his position as Def Jam president, as well as regaining the Roc-A-Fella name and re-shaping it’s roster he’s been signing some fresh new talent to look out for.

Rihanna, Ne-Yo and Teiarra Mari are all youngsters coming into the game but with Jay behind him have big futures ahead of them.

Rihanna impressed Jay so much that she was signed on the spot, and her debut album Music Of The Sun will hit stores August 30th with Pon De Replay as the lead single. Joining Rihanna is another seventeen-year-old Teiarra Mari whose been dubbed the Princess of the Roc.

After being discovered by producer Darryl Simmons she found herself auditioning for L.A Reid and now finds herself alongside Jay in the latest XXL magazine. Completing the trio of youngsters is Ne-Yo, who wrote Let Me Love You for Mario and can boast writing credits for Mary J Blige, B2K, Faith Evans and Musiq. Getting his name from the character in the Matrix, Ne-Yo will certainly be happy if his debut single can reach the heady heights of some of the those aforementioned artists.

Meanwhile after the split with Damon Dash, the Roc-A-Fella name will be held by Jay and he talks about the split in this months XXL magazine, following up on the interview they had with Dash previously. Staying with Roc-A-Fella are Kanye West, Young Gunz, Memphis Bleek, DJ Clue and Foxy Brown.

Looking out the window at work and seeing the beautiful sunshine has got me thinking about anything and everything other than work. As attentions turn to summer holidays, barbecues and sitting in beer gardens I thought I would drop a favourite summer track of mine every now again, for you to escape and reminisce about. If you want to mention a favourite summertime track drop me an email.

To get things going I have to start at what is undoubtedly the best summer track of all time, courtesy of Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince. Summertime was released in the summer of 1991 off of the Homebase album and still sounds as great as the first time I heard it. You know summer is here when you first hear this on the radio, let’s hope the weather does justice to it. Someone fire up the BBQ!

The first and last word in Grime DVD’s is back for a third outing. Courtesy of Hotheadz Promotions Lord Of The Decks 3 is now out with a 2 DVD + 1 CD package, well worth your money.

With over 3 hours of footage spread across the DVD’s anyone who is anyone is featured from Kano to Bruza, Roll Deep to Lethal B as we are treated to interviews, freestyles, videos and behind the scenes footage.

The CD is hosted by D Double E and features exclusives from Akala, Wiley and Crazy Titch amongst others.

There really are too many highlights on there to mention but particular attention must be paid to the extended footage of the trip to Germany where Lethal B, D Double E, Target, Kano and Jammer have all gone to perform. Not to give too much away as amongst the radio appearances and rave footage are some hilarious moments including Jammers show stopping drop kick!

If your local record shop doesn’t stock this then www.ukrecordshop.com and www.rhythmdivision.co.uk are worth looking at.

Toys aren't just for kids anymore! Walk into any streetwear fashion shop and you'll find a range of collectables but these have got to be two of the best. If you've been looking to fill that void since you put that action man down, or barbie if your a girl, Addict are releasing two 12 inch figures of their sponsored artists DJ First Rate and Rodney P. Both figures will come with a range of clothing and accessories like microphones and turntables and as you can see in the picture are very realistic. Retailing at £85 each, the release date hasn't been confirmed yet, but you can pre-order them from the Addict website http://www.addict.co.uk/index.asp

Crossing the line between boy band and R’n’B act, teen heartthrobs B2K seemed to have the world at their feet. After two albums and a successful film, which spawned the hits Badaboom, Got’s To Be and Bump, Bump, Bump the last thing expected was for the group to part ways. But early last year that’s what happened and it seemed obvious that Omarion would follow his brother Marques Houston and go solo.

O is his debut offering and although the album plays it safe and doesn’t stray too far away from his B2K days, some of the tracks display a more racy, raunchier side and overall O is a decent album.

The album opens up with the dreamy I Wish, about a friend who Omarion falls for, and then leads into the first of two cuts where heavyweight producers have been brought in. Touch is produced by The Neptunes and features Pharrell on backing vocals while Drop That Heater is another track from Rodney Jerkins welcome return to the scene.

Both tracks are up-tempo numbers ready for club spins and will likely feature as singles. In fact it’s the up tempo tracks that are the albums highlights. Take It off has another heavy beat behind it and sees Omarion in playa mode where he gets straight to it dropping the line, I don’t mean no disrespect/but a nigga really trying to fuck witchu.

Big Boi of Outkast fame provides the big name guest appearance on Never Gonna Let You Go but in truth, the funky track doesn’t really need his appearance as Omarion does a good job of the track himself. And that’s no disrespect to Big Boi, it’s just another example of marketing guys wanting to put an emcee on an R’n’B when it’s not needed.

On the slower material we get to see more of that maturity and the transition from teen heartthrob to young adult. While tracks like I Know and Fiening You lack the lyrics that Usher would deliver, Growing Pains is an interesting number where Omarion gets off his chest the B2K split.

The title track O and In The Dark will have the young teeny boppers going wild but the album is good enough to provide the older fans of R’n’B with value for money. Like the recent Mario release, Omarion isn’t the finished article by far but as is evident on his debut, he will have a long career ahead of him and has taken the jump from being in a successful group to going solo with aplomb.

When we first heard Amerie on the heartfelt, Why Don’t We Fall In Love, we expected success but despite delivering an excellent album to critical acclaim, she didn’t have the sales to show for it.

Now three years on and with a number of release from the likes of Ciara, Beyonce and Mariah Carey there is a lot of competition in the female solo world. But when the single 1 Thing hit, not only had Amerie returned with a bang, the soundtrack to the summer was set.

Produced by the much under rated Rich Harrison, 1 Thing is so different from anything on the radio at the moment that you can’t escape it’s heavy drum beat and enthusiastic vocals.

The partnership of Harrison and Amerie has brought together an album that sounds unlike anything currently out there at the moment. Touch is a classy affair with it’s soulful retro R’n’B stylings combined with Hip-Hop beats which you could see your favourite MC’s spitting over.

The album also lets us get to know Amerie a little better as she unleashes a sexier side on the track Touch, produced by Lil Jon, and this Crunk and B number sounds much better than recent singles by Ciara and Brooke Valentine.

But not to disrespect those two artists, Amerie sounds more like a seasoned vet than one of the new school coming though, such is the superiority of the songs.

If hard pressed to name highlights than the b-boy feel of Man Up, which features
Nas, Like It Used To Be and Rolling Down My Face. Enough evidence that the future of R’n’B and modern Soul is in good hands.

As time goes on, and despite what music is available at the current time, we will always have albums that are looked back upon with great fondness. Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goin On to the more recent Illmatic and Blueprint albums from Nas and Jay-Z respectively have all stood the test of time, and are just some of the albums that have shaped music’s growth.

Now one of Hip-Hop’s most respected sons can add his offering to that collection.

In a time where Hip-Hop albums are quickly forgotten and stick to the same tired formulae of club smash, ladies joint and filler, Common’s sixth label release is much needed, perhaps not just for Hip-Hop but for the Chicago MC himself.

After the release of the Electric Circus, many had questioned whether Common had fallen off, had the relationship with Erykah Badu really softened the man who had brought us such great social commentary on tracks like Sixth Sense.

In all fairness the album was misunderstood by those who weren’t used to the switch up in style, Common has after all never been afraid to touch on the softer subject of love with classics like, I Used To Love Her, the metaphor speaking ode to Hip-Hop and more recently his biggest hit to date, The Light.

That hit was supposed to escalade Common into the realms of MTV rotation and platinum sales but was never forthcoming, Be however is set to change all that.

The albums first single, The Corner takes it back to the Windy City over a boom-bap driven beat provided by Kanye West, as he reminisces about the Chicago corners that were a part of everyday life. The track is so unlike anything on the radio at the moment and confirmed to us that Common is back with a bang.

The track Go is a more softer affair as Common raps about a particular fantasy over a more R’n’B beat, reminiscent of Musiq Soulchild’s Forthenight. The track Chi-City is as the name suggests about his beloved Chicago and addresses a number of topics on his mind from so many raps about rims/surprised niggas don’t become tyres and I’m back like a chiropract/with b-boy survival rap.

With Kanye West behind 9 of the tracks, Common will become more accessible for listeners who before would have given his CD a miss. But Kanye’s inclusion is no marketing ploy as he provides some of his careers best production and only heightens the anticipation of his soon to drop Late Registration album.

The albums only other producer is J-Dilla, who provides Common with the heart warming Love Is, which samples Marvin Gaye’s God Is Love, and the final track on the album It’s Your World which features the vocals talents of Bilal.

It’s hard to choose a particular track as a highlight as they are all exceptional whether it’s talking about hustling to make ends meet on Food or the John Legend assisted They Say.

With only 11 tracks the focus is on just the best material and won’t leave you wanting to touch the skip button, a nice change from albums that provide too much filler and leave the buyer short-changed.

With artists like Chingy and 50 Cent giving us syrupy love songs, raps about how much money they’ve got and portraying the role of a gangster in a hero like fashion, Common’s words are needed more than ever in the mainstream environment. Loyal fans will love Be and hopefully enough newcomers to Common’s music will pick it up as it’s a bona fide classic.

Caught Skinnyman live last night at the M Club in Southampton, first time I'd got to see him and got to say my respect for him went even higher. So many times when you see a US act live and pay £25 you get ripped off with a half-assed performance but with Skinny, you really felt the passion in his delivery. As a side note they also had an open mic afterwards which my mate Lavvi took part in. It was a bit of a free for all but he did his thing. It was his first time up on stage and is currently hard at work getting material together. One to watch out for. But then I would say that!

Apologies for the lack of updates the last fortnight. I've been away on work experience at FHM which was great fun, but am back to update you on the latest music. We have singles from The Mitchell Brothers, a return for Donell Jones and the new album from future star Bobby Valentino. Coming up very shortly will be reviews for the much anticipated Common album, Amerie and Omarion's latest sets.

Bobby Valentino - Give Me A Chance




Already a smash in the US and looking to do the same on these shores is the debut album from Bobby Valentino, Give Me A Chance and the label behind its release is from an unexpected output.

Ludacris Disturbing The Peace camp aren’t who you would expect to release an R’n’B album but they have and what a scorcher it is!

From the opening single Slow Down, about spotting an attractive female to the slow ballad Love Dream, it’s clear we have a real talent on our hands.

Bobby used to be in R’n’B group Mista but after that didn’t work out he got to work on securing a solo deal and being from Atlanta, its made sense to sign with one of ATL’s finest Luda.

Luda has only got involved with album creatively by featuring on the title track Give Me A Chance that hopefully will be the next single.

On the slower side of things Bobby gives up his playa card by saying there is One Girl For Me and the falling in love vibe of My Angel.

Other highlight include Tell, Come Touch Me and Gansta Love.

Unfortunately like any other new R’n’B star, Bobby will have to live with the comparisons to Usher but he is his own man and although not as strong vocally he has gone about crafting his own style. With producers Tim & Bob handling the bulk of the production the album has a nice coherent sound.

With Mario’s recent release, and albums coming out this year from Donnell Jones and Joe, there is a lot of competition in the male R’n’B market but Bobby more than holds his own and shows what a future he has. An essential album.

Singles

The Mitchell Brothers follow up their account of being stopped by the police with more tales of London life on the excellent Harvey Nicks. Featuring Sway the three lads tell us of their trouble when popping into the popular department store over a Mike Skinner production. There are plenty of lines that will raise a smile but it’s Sway steals it with a “little girl with a pen ran up to me and said I know who you are/and when I gave her my autograph she said mum is this how you spell Lemar”. All three of these guys look set to have a big year and it’s original material like this that will have lovers of grime and Hip-Hop appreciating them.

After people downplaying the R’n’B scene for trying to be Hip Hop or too many poppy tracks being released 2005 looks like the year that it slams the critics with so many quality releases already this year. Joining that list and a welcome return after nearly three years away is Donnell Jones who gives us a taster for his new long player with Special Girl. This is a quality slab of R’n’B that oozes class as Donell lays down what a woman must have to get with him over a slow tempo jam of the highest calibre that we have come to expect from the man. Perfect for playing at home relaxing or with your girl. Special Girl is the perfect taster for a new album due later this year.

After getting their wish to leave Bad Boy granted 112 dropped a disappointing first album for Def jam but are quick to follow up with a new album and are back to the high standard we have come to expect from a group who released classics such as Only You and Peaches and Cream. You Already Know sees the group getting back to making that sexy, sensual music we like with lyrics on the more descriptive side detailing how they are going to put it down form the bedroom to the kitchen floor. Hot stuff indeed.

The Black Eyed Peas return with Don’t Phunk With My Heart. The track further moves them away from their sound we had become used towards a more accessible pop sound, which will no doubt bring more success ahead of the release of their Monkey Business album, collaborators on the set include James Brown and Justin Timberlake.

Jon B's Everytime gets a reworking with a remix featuring Beenie Man and Ferena. More on the dancehall tip than the original that featured the late Old Dirty but no will doubt have you 'thunder clapping' on the dancefloor.

R.Kelly is out to put the dramas of the Best Of Both Worlds fiasco behind him with a new album. First offerings have been the original and remix of Sex In The Kitchen which lyrics don’t leave much to imagination. Word is that neither of these will feature as a an actual release though.

The next single from the queen of Crunk & B, Ciara is Oh featuring Ludacris, verging on a chopped and screwed style while John Legend supports his live shows with the release of Ordinary People. Hot off the release of No.1 Spot Ludacris will be releasing Pimpin All Over the World with a video to follow shot in Africa.

More reviews on the way...hold tight.