Hip-Hop
MEET: We interview Safakash, The new face of Canadian Hip-Hop
What do Drake, The Weeknd and Justin Bieber have in common? They all come from Toronto, the largest city in Canada. They have dominated global music charts throughout 2015-16 with their catchy pop tunes. And they also love to praise their home city, making Canada sound like a cool new place to make music. But …
New Music: Stephen Marley Review – Revelation Pt. II: The Fruit of Life
Hip hop owes a debt to reggae although it’s one that is not always appreciated or acknowledged. Jamaican foundation DJs of the early 1970s, like U Roy and Big Youth, chanted over riddims that were usually instrumental versions of popular songs in Jamaica and individual sound systems battled to rule the dancehalls. Fast forward to …
New Music: Die Antwoord drop video for Banana Brain
Die Antwoord, the iconoclastic and divisive rap ravers from Capetown, have just dropped their latest video for track “Banana Brain” taken from upcoming album Mount Ninji and Da Nice Time Kid. Whilst not as bizarre some of their previous offerings the video ,directed by Ninja & Terence Neale, has come under fire from some for …
Album Review: Dan Loops – An Album
All music fans look for something different in the songs they listen to. Some are suckers for a guitar riff, whilst others like the big power vocalists. Me, well I’m all about the lyrics. As a teenager I spent hours pouring over the words to the latest Tori Amos or Alanis Morisette, trying to dissect …
Track: Kate Tempest – Don’t Fall In
She’s one of our heroes, is Kate Tempest. Rapper, poet, playwright, novelist – she’s working to get some kind of monopoly on words, so it seems. Following on from her recently-released debut novel, The Bricks That Built The Houses, she’s revealed the companion album to the book, titled let them eat chaos. Released on October …
Track: Taiyamo Denku – Gutter Noise
With the recently announced news that New York emcee L. Majestic and fellow Wisco artist Rambunxious have signed to the Cypha Den Music imprint, the crew wastes no time releasing a joint effort alongside frontman Taiyamo Denku titled “Gutter Noise”. As you may have guessed, the song focuses around the underground roots that molded the …
Soundtrack of our lives: River Nelson picks his all time favourite hip-hop playlist
Hot on the back of his third album, US hip-hop artist River Nelson has picked out some of his favourite hip-hop records into a playlist for us here at Backseat Mafia. ‘How to dream’ is the follow up to his acclaimed albums The Rise and Fall of River Nelson and The Shape of the …
Track: Swa Playmaker – Only One (produced by TOPE)
Miami MC Swa Playmaker has teamed up with Oakland/Portland producer TOPE for an EP, titled (if you will) No Title. Having already released a couple of tracks off the record, the pair have now released a third slice of the action in the shape of Only One. Over this breezy soul/funk backing, tightened up with …
Preview: 10 Bands to see at Tramlines 2016
It’s almost that time of year again, when Sheffield comes alive with hours of live music hosted in every possible corner of the city, bringing people closer to the bands they love. Tramlines is now in its 7th year and it’s bigger than ever; the Ponderosa Main Stage will host thousands of guests as they …
Album Review: Various Artists – Chris Sullivan presents The Wag – 4CD remastered
David Bowie, Keith Richards and Joe Strummer were just a few of the big names to frequent Londons Hotspot club of the 80’s ‘The WAG’, a ‘haven for misfits’ that would attract such a following it would fill the floors seven nights a week with its various themed nights. Over the years The Wag would host a multitude …