Long Live Fat Beats

THIS is good news.




http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2011/02/fat_beats_is_op.php

Big Dave's 40 Ounce Review : Re-post and Epilogue

*Prologue*

What up people. Just a quick heads up; this is actually something lifted from the blog I wrote while my wiz Lil' Tika and I were travelling the world from September '09 - March 2010. This particular entry is from October when we were in San Francisco and I had access to an abundance of cheap, strong liquor sold in large containers. Even if you've read this before, scroll to the bottom for the epilogue, an add in that I thought worthy of mentioning if only to promote the magnificent strength of some of these beverages. Enjoy.

*The Story* (10/2009)

Ok, having made a point of trying to sample as many 40's as possible while G-ing it out in Cali, I ran a little contest (in my head), that you may find informative if you were ever trying to drink large bottles of cheap liquor in the US. I will list the contenders, their pros & cons and give a short write up of their in-bloodstream performances. Just so you know, all of these beauties retail at less than $4 each, which is the equivalent of about 2 pound 40. 5 contestants, only one winner.... WHO WILL TAKE IT???

1. Miller Genuine Draft/Miller High Life ('The Champagne Of Beers')

The funny thing about a lot of these brews (as previously mentioned with the colt) is that there is no ABV on the label, so you don't know how strong the beer actually is. With that in mind -

PRO : Nice and light, great for beach/park/sunday afternoon drinking.

CON : Blatantly 4% or less, which is not strong enough for me (although it still shits all over fosters, carlsberg etc).

2. Colt 45

As previously mentioned, Colt is the shit, so maybe this comparison is slightly biased. Its 10+%(? - still not totally sure), used to be advertised by Billy Dee Williams and has a massive stigma attached (ie only useless bums drink it - great cover for an amazingly cool and successful guy like me). Despite the high ABV its actually surprisingly mild on the pallet so its a win win for me. The only con is maybe 10+% is a little too strong; but that's a dubious but.

3 & 4. Old English 800 & Mickey's Malt Liquor

I was wondering why these two were snapped together; i can only assume that i drank them one after another and wanted to economise on the photo taking. Mickey's is a 5.6% and the O.E. (made famous by so many of my favorite rappers) is at a hefty 7.5%.

Rather than proing and conning, ill simply just tell you that the Mickey's was mad boring and just didn't do it for me. The OE however was nice and strong and gave me a feeling of geeked out pleasure as i poured it on the street outside screaming "BIG L REST IN PEACE!!!!!" with tears streaming down my face. Mick was a bit watery, a bit wishy washy. OE was strong, tough and not to be fucked with. Think Frank Spencer vs Mike Tyson. No contest.

5. St Ides Malt Liquor

The promise of a "High Gravity" beer was too much for me to pass up; this coupled with the fact that Wu Tang, Ice Cube, Cypress Hill, Mc Eiht, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Eric B & Rakim and EPMD did adverts for St. Ides caused me to invest in this strange looking concoction. And strange it was; at 8.2% i figured it was an auto winner, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Imagine pouring half a jar of honey into a bottle of white spirit and theres your drink, in a nutshell. High Gravity? More like complete bollocks. Do not touch under any circumstances.

AND THE WINNER IS???

Despite putting up the most valiant of efforts and very very nearly stealing my heart away, a choice had to be made and someone had to finish in second place. Weighing in at 7.5% and making me extremely drunk, the silver medal goes to Old English 800. Which means, the grand prize goes tooooooooooooooooooo (drum roll) -

THE COLT 45 (As if there was ever any real contest). Complete rankings as follows -

1. Colt 45

2. Old English 800 (very very very close - sorry OE)

3. Mickey's (based strictly on ABV)

4. Miller Genuine Draft

5. St Ides (oh HELL no)

And there you have it people. Need a 40 in your life? Follow my guide and we can all get lean in the hood the right way.

Pour a lil' liquor out for your homies fool!

*Epilogue*

Ok, so as you may or may not know or may or may not have realised by now, not only I am a fan of alcohol, but also a fan of getting absolutely ripped on the stuff on occasion. Funnily enough, on the occasions when I sampled each and every one of these brews, I ended up more than a little leaned. However, the irony is as such : the night that I drank the 2/3 bottles of Colt I had also competed in the 'Beer Olympics' with some fellow Britons; the hostel we were staying in ran the contest weekly and involved all sorts of drinking games, and the booze was free. So, after getting through the best part of a keg and a six pack during the contest, I then proceeded on to drink the Colts and got absolutely fucking blotto. Went to bed late and had a pretty standard killer hangover the day after. No dramas there.

The night after this, despite spending the entire day absolutely riddled and swearing I that I would never touch another drop of booze again, funnily enough I ended up draining 2 bottles of Mickey's and 2 or 3 bottles of the Old English over a few games of pool and a few zoots with my girl and a couple we had got pally with over the previous two nights. For some unknown reason I started regaling them with stories of friends from the UK (no names, don't worry boys) who had got drunk as all fuckery and then proceeded to not piss in the toilet while sleepwalking, favouring instead laundry hampers, expensive electronic equipment and, in one particular case, a girlfriend's parents dressing table, which involved stumbling into said parent's bedroom completely bollock naked and flopping it out, oblivious to the animated protestations of the poor, terrified couple. How embarrassing.



So, cutting a long story short, after getting pretty fucking lean (but nowhere near as smashed as the night before) I hit the sack, only to be woken up by one of my roommates while I was busying myself taking a piss in the corner of our room. My only conceivable explanation for this behaviour is that due to my storytelling I somehow planted a seed of uncertainty in my own head, resulting in me hosing down the radiator and carpet instead of the crapper, which was obviously 30 feet down the hall. I spose I kind of woke up out of my trance at this point and stomped off to the bog in a mood. When I got there, I quickly realised what it is exactly I had done, but I was so fucked that I didn't really care at all. So, with that same I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude, I chucked my soaking boxers in the bin and walked the 30 feet back to the room bollock naked, equally scaring and impressing a few people in the process.



The moral of the story is A) I don't really give a fuck, hence me telling you this and B) despite the fact it placed second, the OE 800 is obviously not to be taken lightly. Given a second chance (please God) I would like to re-enact the 40 Ounce challenge over a period of a week or so but ONLY involving the OE and the Colt. I couldn't call it a tie at the time, but god damn if that OE wasn't a good, strong beer. It made me piss myself. That's got to count for something, surely?

Brain Basher (Produced By Scizzahz)

FU Music Presents

Enlish

'Brain Basher'

Produced, Mixed and Mastered by Scizzahz

Dropping Very Soon......

Deezy's Saturday Jam #7 - On a SUNDAY!?

Peace y'all. I been gone for a minute. Had a super mash up gig in Manchester thursday night which then led to me drinking all day on friday, got back to the smoke late friday night then had to get up and battle at this Don't Flop event yesterday, which inevitably led to me spending the entire day, once again, drinking and being an absolute tard.

Sorry for not keeping on it, but the god body is back now. I'm taking it super easy today, Lil' Tika taking me down to Nando's then I will come home and listen to this while doing exactly what Devin would like me to do.

I'll be back.

1

Team Hate Road Trip - Manchester

Right. Off with Stig Of The Dump and DJ Manipulate to murder a show in Manchester. We don't get back till late tomorrow night, so don't wait up.

Pray I don't get too fucked and lose my voice, I've got a rap battle to win on saturday.

Holla at your boy, I'll be back on friday night/saturday morning.

1

Pete Cannon : The Man, The Legend (+FREE D/L)

What can you say about Pete Cannon (other than he's northern AS)? The man has been steadily making moves on 'the scene' for a while now, smashing up the Louis Den Beat Battles in Birmingham and producing for a lot of well known UK heads including Sonnyjim & the Eat Good Records camp (big up), Stig Of The Dump & Dr Syntax (who he also tours with in a DJing capacity), to name but a few.



In recent times, however, our Peter has extended his reach across the Atlantic to work with some known and up-and-coming names on the NY underground circuit. Featuring Nutso, Panchi (NYgs), Torae (Duck Down) and Punchlyne (EMC), Street Corner is like your ex girlfriend.... a motherfucking SLAPPER that, when heard, makes you want to kill someone. That may be a slight exaggeration but the tune is genuinely banging, and you can download it for FREE from Pete Cannon's Bandcamp page ----> HERE <----

http://petecannon.bandcamp.com/

Not convinced? You're a fucking duck. This track has been cosigned by the one and only DJ Premier, who funnily enough PREMIERED it (see what I did there?) on his radio show a couple of weeks back. Peep -



Mr Cannon has been dropping gems for Nutso (Queens, NY) for a while now, who recently put a couple of Cannon bangers on his new EP entitled 'Guilty, Your Honour', which is available right now. There is also a video for the 2 tracks, conveniently spliced into one, featuring both of the man's heaters. Nutso obviously has impeccable taste and a good pair of ears (no homo, if necessary).

Track 1 is named 'Broke' Ft. L.I.F.E. Long, and at 3 minutes and 55 secs it switches up into 'Rock Out' Ft. FT. Turns out FT stands for FUCK THAT. Contender for greatest MC name of all time? I'd say.



So, as you can see (or, more poignantly, hear), Pete Cannon is not to be trifled with on the boards. The man is constantly on his grind churning out new music, and not just Hip Hop at that. Be warned though, don't let him hear you say that he's 'not Hip Hop'. There are 2 reasons for this - A) It's simply not true and B) Pete is a certified badman and is always strapped. Why the fuck you think they call him Cannon, stupid?



He's been criticised for using synthesisers too much (but only by fags who want all of their beats to sound like rejected tracks from Black Moon's first LP), which is ridiculous. I'm a massive fan of HIP HOP - you can't confine the entire genre into one single type of 'sound' and I personally listen to all different types of Hip Hop music as a result. Pete Cannon is an extremely progressive producer who is always down for not only pushing the envelope, but trying to shove the motherfucking jiffy bag through a letter box all the while knowing it won't fit unless you smash it into pieces and restart from scratch. Thats a true musician for you (can you tell he's my boy yet, and i'm also begging beats off him? Have I made that obvious yet?).

Now, it would of course be remiss of me to finish this post without somehow giving myself a little shine at the same time, so here's one (of many) joints that Pete Cannon produced off of Stig's debut LP Mood Swings (go cop it) entitled 'Planet Hollywood', featuring myself.



So, as you can see, in HIS OWN WORDS - "See? Not just a pretty face, an average willy and a stack of wax not many can fuck with."

Among many, many other Hip Hop collaborations and projects in the pipeline, Pete Cannon has an instrumental 12" (nice to know someone is still pressing up vinyl) dropping on a brand new label, Prism Records, in the next couple of months. The man does it all (pause?). Keep checking his bandcamp and, indeed, this blog for any further updates.

So, Pete.... What you saying about those beats then? HOLLA haha

Peace 1

Impulse Buying...Beware The Dark Side

Impulse buying. We've all done it. When I was younger I literally couldn't hold on to money; it had to be spent, and 99% of the time I regretted it immediately. This youthful foolhardiness that I applied to nearly every transaction I made in my teenage years was thankfully brought under control in my early twenties, but to an extreme. Due to the fact that I had previously so freely spent money on things that I neither wanted nor needed, I restricted myself to a position where I denied myself the permission to purchase virtually anything, regardless of whether it was needed or not. For example, there were weeks on end where I would go without any food at all ( a slight exaggeration).



Thankfully, in my new found state of economic awareness and brand new self-control abilities, I am now able to mix the practicalities of frugalness with the occasional flutter of a seasoned high street spender. This enables me to stay looking fly, get most of the shit I want but still have cash in the bank that doesn't roast my leg on some third degree burn shit. It really is a test of self control in my particular case; being constantly tempted by material goods, Jordans, Polo, New Era Fitteds, retro 80's action figures and of course more instantly available and gratifying purchases such as alcoholic drinks and various other forms of ingestable intoxicants (truth be told, I'm a little less restrained when it comes to the latter).



Anyway. My overall point is that despite my apparent ability to restrain myself when considering making potentially completely unnecessary purchases, even I am only human and liable to slip from time to time. Every so often I will go out, get drunk, come home and find myself still drinking and/or smoking with nobody to join me and no hint of bed time approaching. It is usually at these intoxicant induced times of momentary insanity that I inevitably gravitate towards the internet, having decided (after spending a wad of cash on alcohol and weed) that 'there will always be more money, you can't take it with you when you go' and the classic spender's justification, 'that's what it's there for'.

Cue The Internet. Ebay, whatever. I don't know about you lot but sometimes I wake up, open my computer only to find that I spent the couple of hours before I passed out bidding erratically on a bunch of things (usually Polo) that I neither want nor need, consequently spending the remainder of the time that the auction is running for praying that someone will outbid me, all the while still trying to find a way that I can justify the purchase and explain to Lil' Tika that another package will shortly be arriving in the post. Difficult times for a capitalist pig like me.

My point is, the last time I made an irrational impulse purchase on the internet whilst under the influence, this is what arrived in the post a couple of weeks later :

THE SEAN PRICE FITTED CAP



Now, I am a massive fan of Sean Price (a good reason as to why he appears on my LP, dropping soon) but this is a step too far. I immediately regretted my decision the morning after and have only worn the hat in public once; on that one occasion, I had two unrelated strangers ask me at different times if my "name was Sean Price". I haven't worn it since as a result, although it remains in my collection as a testament to my stannishness/drunken retail stupidity. The worst thing is that I had the choice between this fit and a standard Duck Down Records joint, and I chose this one. Idiot.

It has become my official 'house fit', in that I only wear it in and around the crib, always changing lids before stepping out into public to avoid any bizarre looks. I wouldn't even wear it to a Sean Price show. I can hear the whispers now.

"Wow, look at him, he must be a reallly big fan". I know this because I have scrutinised other people in the same vein myself. How very Ironic.

So, the moral of the story is, in short, don't go shopping when you're drunk. Or, don't let me go shopping when I'm drunk. It can only lead to shame and anger, which will all inevitably lead you further down the path of retail regret and your consequent, unstoppable seduction by the dark side of The Force. You have been warned.

'Arrogance Is Bliss' Ft. Sean Price & Stig Of The Dump

My debut single will be dropping soon on F.U. Music.

Enlish

'Arrogance Is Bliss' Featuring Sean Price, Stig of The Dump and DJ Manipulate

Produced By Ido

Watch This Space....



Props to ..Beast on the design.

1

I'm Out

Got to link Adam The Rapper and then go eat home cooked Bolivian food. Back later/tomorrow.

HOLD TIGHT

Thats What Eye See #4 - Remember LOST?

For those that didn't know, I used to work for The Dharma Initiative. This photo was taken at the Bi-Annual Dharma dinner and dance. Shortly afterward, Ben Linus and I went out to the swings and smoked a Dharma blunt with Ethan and got high as hell. Good times.

Anyway, I used to work in the Swan station waaaay before that punk ass motherfucker Desmond. As a keepsake of all those happy times pushing the button, I nicked a saucepan from the crib and bounced before Big Ben gassed up all of my co workers. It now lives in my Brixton kitchen and is used to cook an assortment of foods. If you didn't want to wait till the end of the series you should have asked me. Need to get back to the island, still.

OFWGKTA

Odd Future Wolf Gang. Kill Them All.

As previously stated, I didn't start this blog in order to just post every single new video/song/act that pops up, but seeing as My Life Is Real I will post up anything that appeals to me in particular, and this gang of bizarre, fucked up rapping skater kids from LA are just the ticket. They really don't need anymore shine, they're blowing up right now, but if you haven't heard these guys then you need to.

I used to be a skater rat back in the day. I was never particularly good. I just used my deck for a seat in order to roll up, then just roll around on it, high. Those days are long gone but these crazy motherfucks make it seem like yesterday.






http://oddfuture.com/

Info/Discography on Wikipedia

Your Mum Is At The Club (WOW)

WOW.



WOW.

http://yourmomisclubbin.tumblr.com/

WOW.

Ruff Snippets "Stealing Words Vol.1" Remix LP FREE DOWNLOAD

My man Ruff Snippets, operating out of Brighton, has just dropped this FREE D/L EP featuring him recreating Hip Hop tracks using his own masterful skill on the boards. I'm actually doing an EP with the man himself, due out this year, tentatively titled 'Slumdog Hundredaire'. Keep an eye out for that.

Here followeth the blurb, written by the man himself. Download link is at the bottom. Go cop that.

I started making hip hop about 8 years ago, around the time when there was plenty of ill shit coming out. I got into it mainly through DJing and learning about beats that way. I started on my old laptop just choppin' loops up of old soul and jazz shit on reason. Then about 5 years ago i discovered the magic of the MPC. It allowed me to chop samples and lay drums in a way that i could never manage on just software alone. Since then i've just been trying to develop my style and come out with something new and original, which is always the challenge of making good music. I was inspired by a new way of making hip hop from the likes of Madlib, Dilla and Oh No. That rugged style of production just gave me that extra push i needed in terms of inspiration.

For the remix album i just had to look to the library for some beats that i wanted to put out, both old and new. On the album is a variety of styles from purely choppin' loops the oldschool way, to playin around with synths and instruments. There's a variety of techniques using software to mix digitally, but also sending shit through an old analogue mixer. Then it was just about layin' some dope acapellas on top. I selected some of my favourite bars and verses from legendary rappers and singers in the game. And that's about all there was to it. I wanted to provide some shit for people to listen to for free, just for the love. Give it a listen.

You heard the man. "I wanted to provide some shit for people to listen to for free, just for the love. Give it a listen."

What is you? Ig'nant? GO DOWNLOAD IT RIGHT NOW ----> HERE <----

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SAOKNXXS

1

Illuminati Got My Mind, Soul & My Body

Just dreamt me, Jay Z, Nas and DJ Manipulate were having brunch at the House Of Lords & discussing the property market.... the Illuminati are crow barring their way into my dreams... Time for drastic action.

Cypher Outside the EPMD Gig last night/Show Review

Big up my man Waxer DiscoScratch for having the presence of mind to A) Have a recording device and B) turn it on while me, Joker Starr and a really sound brer that I also met for the first time last night, Original One, were spitting some darts. We were freestyling, but that must have been before my man started the recording. Pity, but its nice to have a lil document of these things. Especially seeing as I was, once again, off my tit drunk. Surprise surprise.

It's downloadable so knock yourself out with a large bat.
Freestyle cipher Joker Starr,Original One,Enlish by DiscoScratch

Although I had a wicked time last night, unfortunately EPMD were not the highlight. They only played for an hour tops (and thats being generous, it could have been closer to 45 minutes) after keeping the crowd waiting wayyyy too long, the DJs played 'Witness' by Roots Manuva at least 4 times (AND they played 'Watch Out Now' by the Beatnuts, don't even get me started on that one, just ask Daps), Erick and Parrish just kind of mumbled through a selection of hits all the while constantly saying "Yo, we got to go soon", or words to that effect. Parrish could barely hold the beat. Check the vid below and you'll see.

Oh well. Had a good time with Deejay, Lil' Tika & Alex Young, linked with Jehst, Cutmaster Swift & Jonzi D, met some sound people and got pissed. Knocked into a few heads from Brighton too, my mans dem Joe Foly & Big Muffin. Nice one lads. Talking to Cutmaster Swift was a laugh, I told him the tale of the first time I got on stage to rap (which was at one of his gigs when I was 15), which I posted on this very blog a little while back, and which you can read right ----> HERE <----Overall it was all good; just a shame that some of these American acts still think they can get away with palming off lacklustre performances on UK crowds. Bait.

Me & Jonzi D. As you can see, I'm rocking a Starter cap, POLO tee and a vintage Early 90's Tommy Hilfiger Jacket. Real.


Big Dave and Bigger Alex Young


EPMD 'rocking' the stage


The Gaff


Props to Lil' Tika on the photography. Cheers babygirl x

And this was probably my EPMD highlight of the night -

EPMD Now Stands For.....

...... Enlish Possibly Might DIE





Gimme an hour or 5.

If You Like Basketball, Watch This

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK

Initial EPMD Gig Review

I'm drunk and high. But really, they should have put this up as the flier for tonight:



I chose the 'Double Limited Edition' cover.

Spent most of the set saying "Oh damn, we got to bounce soon"

Fuck that

For real

Do a good live show

I still had a dope night with Lil' Tika & TEXT though, it's all good