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Knoc-Turn’Al
‘Knoc’s Landin’
(Elektra)
Introduced
on Dr Dre’s ‘Chronic 2001’ and showcased
on the recent hit ‘Bad Intentions’, Cali
native and ex-con Knoc-Turn’Al’s debut
provides the usual west coast mix of bouncy
cars, poor spelling (‘Str8 Westcoast’, Born
2 Hustle’) and synthesised sounds. ‘I
Like’ is eerie low-slung funk and the
orchestral menace of ‘Your Only Son’
provides the perfect vehicle for the artist’s
drawling wordplay, a blend of Snoop Dogg and
Detroit’s Royce Da 5’9, until ‘Knoc’s
Landin’ dips mid-way into a repetitive realm
of bitches n’ blunts that even an appearance
from rap’s original mack daddy, Too $hort
can’t salvage. Ultimately, Knoc lacks the bite
of the good Doctor’s earlier protégés,
covering the same ground that Los Angeles
luminaries like Above The Law and Compton’s
Most Wanted trod over ten years ago, but
nevertheless-expect to hear it booming from
lowered XR2’s nationwide this
summer.
Blak Twang
‘Kik Off’
(Bad Magic)
Gunners fanatic and perennial UK rap man of the
match Blak Twang made a name for himself, but
attained little commercial success with two
hugely influential albums, and his latest opus
is his most confrontational yet. Throwing
dancehall styles, Westwood-style club bangers
and political comment in the mix with all the
force of a Norman Hunter slide tackle, there’s
a dash of cheeky chappy club reps humour as Sir
Rodney P makes an appearance to pour lyrical
scorn on loose women for ‘Dirty Stopout
Uncovered’ and Est’elle evens the score with
a little female knowledge over a pulsating beat
on ‘Trixsta’. Cinematic rabble-rousers like
the storming title track and ‘Publik Order’
are set to cause mayhem, unleashing a steel toe
capped size nine to the faces of shoegazers and
backpackers alike. Instead of pandering to an
international audience with gor blimey guvnor
depictions of tea, pearly kings and the royals,
Tony Rotten namechecks Anne Robinson, Phil
Mitchell and The Sex Pistols, adding a
subversive edge to proceedings with scathing
attacks on our beloved Labour government. The
post match verdict? Flawless hooligan hip-hop.
Give this man an OBE.
DJ Yoda
‘Fisticuts’
(spinemagazine.com promo)
Hip-hop and humour have never made the greatest
bedfellows, but journalist, promoter and Fat
Lace don dada DJ Yoda proves that the essence of
a decent mix is still a stack of wax and a
diseased mind. ‘Fisticuts’ doesn’t follow
a set agenda either- the astounding lyrical tag
team track ‘Don’t Curse’ is incorporated
alongside the forgotten Warren G produced reefer
madness of ‘Indo Smoke’, and this isn’t a
tedious show and prove display of obscurities,
despite the presence of Omniscence’s
bragadocious ‘Amazin’, an ivory tinkling
rehaul of Masta Ace’s ‘Saturday Night’ and
the peculiar posse cut ‘Nuthin But The Gangsta’.
Bung in a cliché-busting intro, a Goonies
sample along with some Weird Science dialogue,
and you’ve got a welcome dose of turntable
anarchy that’ll slap you out of your
bling-bling induced snooze.
Jaz-O & The Immobilarie Family
‘Kingz Kounty’
(Rancor Records)
There comes a point in my listening habits when
complicated rhyme styles and adventurous
production don’t quite cut the mustard,
leaving me craving some good old-fashioned east
coast thuggery. Fortunately, Jaz-O is an old
hand at this genre, and his motley band of
aspiring ghetto Escobars are hungry for fame.
Chock-a-block with chunky beats, mob-references,
special guests (what’s a Brooklyn rap release
without DJ Premier?) and state of the art
cinematic sounds, while ‘Kingz Kounty’ is
nothing groundbreaking, give or take a couple of
shaky crossover attempts (namely the Timbaland
bootlegging ‘Take Me Papi’ and ‘Live It
Up!’), it’s diamond-hard stuff, peppered
with impenetrable slang and New York drama- a
recipe vastly preferable to the standard
underground diet of nerdy pseudo-scientific
claptrap.
‘Documenta 3.0’
(Agenda)
Given the toffee-nosed attitudes of a backpack
minority, and an ever-expanding ocean of
indecipherable indy titles, it’s little wonder
that the majority of casual fans favour
jewel-encrusted anthems over the inaccessible
output of lyrical boffins. With an impressive
overview of what the underground scene can
really offer, ‘Documenta 3.0’ provides a
variety of abstract hip-hop tapas- bite size
pieces from some of the scene’s major players
(Can Ox, Mike Ladd, Anti Pop) where even acts
from the smug Anticon stable deliver the goods.
A fair primer for some of the most visceral rap
sounds around. Just don’t press play
anticipating another ‘Bad Boy For Life’.
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