Just got sent this from Gavin himself.
Hey Everyone
Check out the Radio documentary I just did with BBC Radio Scotland. Its airing tonight (20th Feb 2009) at 11.30 If you cant get it on radio then listen to the live stream.
Its a mental story and its very hard to get the best bits into a 30 minute doc, its also extremely hard to summarize things quickly for radio and I believe everyone interviewed including myself spoke for hours. There is just to many big moments in the story but i heard there are plans for it to be turned into a series down the line and closer to the release of the book, We’ll see. Oh and ignore any recent tabloid press on the story as usual they get everything wrong, they are useless. Pick up Jane Graham’s Article in the Big issue this week or read Decca Aitkenheads Guardian piece which broke the story, I think its still on the website.
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Some of you that were in the know will remember the two Dundee musicians Billy Boyd and Gavin Bain aka Silibil and Brains who were aspiring rap artists. The duo, who were sick and tired of being ignored, simply because they were Scottish, by record industry fat cats decided to take matters into their own hands and dupe the industry by pretending to be Americans. The plot lasted a year before the duo finally decided to come clean after a series of delays in the release of the debut album.
Following the creation of a book, California Schemin’, based on their story and authored by Gavin, their story is to be made into a feature film with Irvine Welsh at the helm.
Full story and more reader comments
Now, where did I put that early demo CD?
It seems an age since we had the taster track Strange Fruit from M9 to whet our appetites for his imminent album release 144,000, which drops on the 10th November 2008. Among others M9 includes names such as Nas, Tribe, Dead Prez and The Roots as influences. Without being overly political M9 focuses on giving the listener a reality check through intricate story telling and compelling imagery in his rhymes. Read the rest of this entry »
Immortal Technique, also known as Felipe Corone, is an MC of Afro-Peruvian descent and grew up in Harlem, New York City. He’s also a political activist and the majority of his songs heavily feature political view points and messages.
His latest release is The Third World, which is more of a mixtape than an out and out album release, but it’s one of the hottest mixtape releases that you’ll come across this year. It also happens to be his first official release in over 5 years and one of the most eagerly anticipated ones too, and it definitely lives up to the hype. Ask anyone into hip hop if they heard the track ‘Dance with the Devil’ and you’ll see them flinch. This is the impact he has on people through verse and not many people can do that. It’s also a release that proves that there are still producers and artists out there who are not afraid to speak what is on their mind for fear of upsetting the establishment. Read the rest of this entry »
Rap group Atmosphere release their sixth studio album, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold, and its the kind of album that will sit somewhere between hip-hop hardcore and casual fans.
There is a slow, thought out approach which sometimes fails to ignite parts of the record, especially on the piano driven tracks. The best example of this is during the album opener, normally on most hip-hop albums the opening track is upbeat and heavy hitting, yet WLGYL,YPTSG chooses to produce a track which borders on lullaby rather than a hip-hop track.
J-Live a.k.a Justice Allah is one of hip hop’s most slept on emcees. He’s been around the scene since 1995, the year he first featured in The Source magazines ‘Unsigned Hype’. His delivery rivals that of the likes of Guru, Nas and Common but his name is probably not as prevalent in hip-hop-head circles as it perhaps should be. The transition from mouth to microphone is polished; he delivers his message with ease and with the message he brings possibly his best album to date. This is his 4th LP. Having released two EPs also, this is his first proper outing since 2005’s The Hear After. Read the rest of this entry »
Skandal, formerly a member of Chain of Command, just dropped his debut e.p. on Kilamanjaro under Chemo Production and boy is it heavy. The E.P. contains dubs and clean edits of three tracks from Skandal; Dark Times, Venom and Warning. As well as the fantastic production provided by Chemo (JOE BUDDEN / KOOL G RAP / ROYCE DA 5’9) Skandal is all about crystal clarity when it comes to lyrical delivery. This is evident right from the off and not to mention the fact he’s supporting the likes of Immortal Technique, one of my favourite emcees of modern times. Read the rest of this entry »