Maiden

Stumbled across this little shop called Maiden last week and I must say its a bloody fantastic spot. Selling all those little pieces which make a house a home, or a desk a place of pleasure that can take you to a far away place.

Selling a whole host of independent artist's design pieces and crazy creations. This shop is one of the very few out there at the moment which seems to give back to what its seems to love, creativity.

With affordable prices and a enormous selection of different items you didn't know you needed or wanted, you'll keep going coming back for no reason (trust me)














location:
188 shoreditch high street
london
e1 6hu

Holdtight Noah for letting me take the flicks
For more information on the Maiden Shop just (click)
or follow the shop on twitter by just a (click)

Loving bntl like a fat kif loves cake.

"I'm Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Bob Backlund, Paul Akin."

To mark the very recent release of ‘Speaking in Tongues’ and the recent reigniting of the Dipset hype, with the discussion of a third Diplomatic Immunity album, I felt it was about time to put together a quick post on the man in the centre of it all; Cam’ron.

From the early stages of Cam’ron’s career he was never short of meeting and working alongside leading figures in the rap industry. He went from rapping in the mid 1990’s alongside one of New Yorks’s all time finest; Big L and being introduced to Biggie’s manager to being signed at the turn of the millennium by Roc-A-Fella Records.

Before the signing at Roc-A-Fella, Cam’ron released S.D.E. on Epic records headed at the time by ex-husband of Mariah Carey; Tommy Mottola. This album most notably featured ‘Let Me Know,’ and ‘What means the world to you,’ which featured the main sample from the classic hit; ‘Roxanne,’ by The Police.

In 2002 he came with the most successful album of his career; ‘Come Home With Me,’ which hosted the hit singles, ‘Oh Boy,’ and ‘Hey Ma,’ both which featured Juelz Santana and reached top 5 positions in the US Hot 100. The album itself charted at number 2 and sold 1.7 million copies in the US alone.

Two years later he released my favourite album out of his discography, ‘Purple Haze.’ Although it didn’t sell nearly as many singles or albums as his previous release, I think overall it definitely had a lot more hard hitting rap tracks. Pitchfork Media even claimed it was the second best rap album in 2005.

After the release of ‘Purple Haze,’ Cam’ron’s focus moved more towards his side projects such as his work with The Diplomats on the ‘Diplomatic Immunity,’ volumes, his acting career and his departure from Roc-A-Fella Records for the Warner Music Group under the Asylum Records imprint.

Furthermore in the years following the release of ‘Purple Haze,’ Cam’ron more often than not found himself caught up in various feuds with other rappers, in potentially life threatening shootings and acting in a number of films alongside a stack of other projects.

To conclude here’s 3 of my favourites from Cam.





And finally if only just for the Araab Muzik production ... 'LA LA LA BAMBA'



Follow Cam'Ron on TWITTER

Roaming v.4

Sounds of the one like Brey

BNTL family member Brey has been hard at work recently in the studio building beats.

The outcome has been very successful and he's had a number of DJs playing out his tracks such as Rinse Fm regular ; Brackles and Sub Fm's mighty O-Dessa.

Here's one thats getting a lot of attention right now ...

Brey - Double A Side With A Side Helping Of Talapia With White Wine & Lemon Sauce by Brey

To check out the rest of his stuff head over to his Soundcloud < HERE >

Drop The Truth 02: Rob Whoriskey

This week's selection comes from bad ass illustrator Rob Whoriskey, check the noise here. Rob has an illustration in the newly curated show The Gainsbourg Catelogue (curated by Sweet & Sound)

Living Proof's Dj Khalil - mix

As some one said in my office, "its a f**king good mix down listen to it"

Don’T Stay In Mix Of The Week Volume 046 - Khalil (Hip Hop) by Don't Stay In on Mixcloud

For track list just (click)


Loving bntl like a fat kid loves cake.

Diddy & Skepta - Hello Good Morning (Grime Remix)

Following on from yesterday's post and last night's utter madness on Logan Sama's show I felt there were two relevant items to bring to the table.

I'm sure you get the point that I am making ...

Simon Reynolds's review of 'Run The Road Volume 1' for The Observer - Sunday 14 November 2004

Grime is our hip hop, the final coming of a Brit rap that's not merely a pale reflection of the original. To American ears reared on 'the real thing', grime sounds disconcertingly wrong - the halting, blurting MC cadences don't flow, the gap-toothed grooves seem half-finished and defective.

But if grime doesn't have a hope in hell with America's hip hop heartland, right now it's got the edge over 'the real thing'. The records sound cheap'n'nasty next to US rap's glossy productions, but grime's way with rhythm and sound is far more jaggedly futuristic. More crucially, grime has a feeling of desperation that American hip hop has largely lost. Individual rappers may still follow rags-to-riches trajectories, but as a collective enterprise, hip hop has won. It dominates pop culture globally. The music oozes a sense of entitlement, something you can also see in that lordly look of blasé disdain that's de rigueur in rap videos nowadays. In America, rising MCs rhyme about the luxury goods and opulent lifestyle they don't yet have because it's also so much more within reach.

As a sound, grime is still very much an underdog, and so its fantasies of triumph and living large are much more precarious and affecting. There's a definite ceiling to how much money can be made on the underground scene. Selling 500 singles is a result, shifting a thousand is a wild success; nobody in grime, not even Dizzee Rascal, has really mapped out a crossover career path yet.

You can hear all this in the music, in those pinched, scrawny voices - the sound of energy squeezing itself through the tiniest gap and grabbing for a chance that no doubt will prove to be a mirage. All of the guys (plus occasional gal) on Run the Road already feel like legends in their own minds. Standout track 'Chosen One' by Riko & Target distils that sense of destiny and destination. Over sampled soundtrack strings, Riko imagines himself as a star on satellite TV, then offers counsel that applies equally to other aspiring MCs and to street soldiers dealing with adversity: 'Stay calm/ Don't switch/ Use composure, blood/Use your head to battle through, cos you are the chosen one.'

Read the rest HERE


Logan Sama - Kiss 100 - Tuesday 3rd August 2010



LISTEN AGAIN <<<< HERE >>>>

Present

Some new interesting pieces have dropped over at the Present store. I think a trip is in order very soon.

Diemme

Vans

rrl

For further information on each of the new products just check out the present website (click)
or pop in store.


Loving bntl like a fat kid loves cake.

From City To City, From Town To Town ...

As is the case in any musical genre certain influential figures within a scene have their time and then all of a sudden disappear to never be heard of again.

This is no rare occurrence when it comes to grime and over the years it is safe to say that a whole host of MC’s, DJ’s and producers have put out mixtapes and appeared at raves but their whereabouts nowadays is unknown.

The same idea goes for grime compilations that have been released in the past, evidently received positive feedback but have then been discontinued. As far as I can see the ‘Run The Road’ compilations are a perfect example of this.

With the release of volume one in January 2005 on 679 recordings and the release of volume two almost exactly a year later on the same label it seemed evident at this stage that potentially each year there could be a platform to release and promote a varied collection of grime’s biggest tracks that would then be distributed worldwide.

However these compilations never reached a third volume despite the fact that the previous releases had clearly helped in the consolidation process of grime in what was a crucial period.

Without dwelling too much on what could have been, I merely aim to use this post to remember two forgotten gems that will go down in history as musical milestones within the grime scene.

The first of the two volumes hosted so many classics that you will undoubtedly still hear some on Rinse fm from week to week. Tracks such as ‘Cock Back V1.2’ and ‘Destruction VIP’ both boast MC rosters of a very high calibre along with Kano’s hit ‘P’s and Q’s’ which was evidently one of the initial sparks that ignited his successful career.

Much in the same way as volume one, volume two also featured a number of tracks with huge MC line ups such as ‘Get Set’ and ‘Saw it coming,’ that to this day still have the same impact as they did back then.

Both volumes serve as a great indication as to the extent that grime has progressed and in particular the progression of certain individual MC’s and producers as well. With this idea in mind it’s apparent that these compilations had a positive effect and clearly without them, it might not have the same worldwide recognition it does today

















Compiled by Dan Stacey & Martin Clark

Photography : Tim & Barry

Art Direction & Desing : Ben Sansbury

Bright Trade Show Pt 4

Stussy

Amos

Alife

Lakai

Gravis/Analog