Bonafide Magazine @ MSN: Premiere: NxxxxxS – Even When I Lie

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1. Premiere: NxxxxxS – Even When I Lie
2. Listen: Cannibal Ox – The Blade of Ronin
3. 90s hip hop albums dissected: Brian Coleman’s Check The Technique Vol. II
4. DJ Spinna’s 5 favourite Chicago house tracks

Premiere: NxxxxxS – Even When I Lie Posted: 26 Feb 2015 01:01 PM PST We’re delighted to present you with the worldwide premier of Even When I Lie, a fresh track from Parisian producer NxxxxxS (pronounced N five X’s). After the release of his second full length Fujita Scale, he has done mixes for i-D (Music to…Creep at night), played boiler rooms, and even earned a shout out from Flatbush Zombies saying he was one of their favourite producers. With a sound characterised by drowned out baselines, sleep-heavy 808s and slithering snares that is interspersed with 8-bit notes and intriguing vocals, we’re starting to think he’s one of ours, too.

Listen: Cannibal Ox – The Blade of Ronin Posted: 26 Feb 2015 12:20 PM PST Bonafide favourites Cannibal Ox have been teasing their new album for the past month or so, and to the delight of hip-hop fans everywhere, their new album The Blade of Ronin featuring the likes of DOOM and U-God from Wu-Tang Clan, is now available to stream. Listen to it below, and read our review of Cannibal Ox’s classic first album The Cold Vein here.

90s hip hop albums dissected: Brian Coleman’s Check The Technique Vol. II Posted: 26 Feb 2015 06:28 AM PST One of the greatest things about listening to hip-hop—or any lyrically-focused and sample based music for that matter—is the moment when you hear a phrase, a chord progression, or even a coupling of words and you smile to yourself because it dawns on you that you "get" it. You got the reference, you recognise the sample, you suddenly understand what the musician's trying to get at. But the subtle nature of producing and writing hip-hop music leaves fans with little to go on at times. Like Madlib says in Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton, Dilla used to sample things he knows nobody but only Lord Quas himself would get. That's why, for someone like Brian Coleman, writing Check The Technique Vol. II was satisfying not only in the writing aspect, but also from a perspective of a knowledge-thirsty fan eager to learn about what went on behind the makings of their favourite albums; what these musicians as people—not just as the personas they portray—were going through. "It's basically me as a nerdy hip-hop fan, [being] like, this is what I wanna know," he tells me. And he's not alone. "Finally someone has put in perspective the stuff I have been dying to know about," Questlove praises the book, "My circle of liner note junkies run deep, and we spend many hours dissecting the chapters in [this book]." Ice Cube commented "It's good to see somebody going in-depth in hip-hop, not just surface shit." You'll find similar commendations from Chuck D, Peanut Butter Wolf and major publications for Coleman's work. Hip-hop albums, since the beginning, did not have liner notes. Listeners are left to make do with a list of producers, couple of publicity photos, credits and some shout outs when it came to learning about the makings of their favourite albums. What Check The Technique manage to fill in, are detailed chapters of these missing information. The book in its 525 pages of glory, doesn't leave anything out. "I didn't cut down much, that is for sure," Coleman laughs. And reading it as a fan, every bit of information to do with albums like KMD Black Bastards is what fresh green grass must be like for growing calves, meals you hastily gulp down out of curiosity, then regurgitate over and over to catch any missed details. Sometimes you just kind of capture a moment in time and it just it touches so many people, including the artist themselves. The DOOM we know today, guarded physically with the famed gladiator's mask, was formerly known as Zev Love X and one part of KMD. His brother Subroc, with whom he formed the group passed before their second full length was released, and he was subsequently dropped by his label. This is what is widely conceived but the chapter goes deeper. "That one I kind of felt a bit of extra responsibility," Coleman says, "I wanted to make sure I got it as close to correct as I could." With an interview from ten years back when it was a "less complicated time to [DOOM]", it shares details like the two brothers' interdependent, mutually complimenting producing process, Subroc's budding growth as an MC, and the reality of the music industry that led to DOOM's transformation from his former persona. The same process goes for the chapter on Talib Kweli and Mos Def's 1998 album Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star. Coleman starts from the beginning, unearthing what the two rappers and the producers on the album experienced at a ripe age, the Spike Lee/Malcom X inspired movement that was going on in Brooklyn at the time, and how all of these factors led to produce the album that it was. "I go back to the prequel, you know," he says. And if it weren't for his investigation, the significance of Brooklyn bookstore Nkiru to the album would have been left untold. "[That's] really where Black Star was born," Kweli says of the space where spoken word poetry embraced hip-hop unlike others of its time. And fittingly, too, as the dense intellect of their rap—no doubt influenced by the community and open mic events of the store—is what set Black Star apart from its contemporaries. "I love that chapter especially because those guys are just so different. Sometimes you just kind of capture a moment in time and it just it touches so many people, including the artist themselves. I mean, they all look back on that record as a very special kind of comet passing, and they harnessed it and made something great," Coleman says. A reader willing to dive deep with him will be rewarded at the end of the volume with a chapter on Wild Style Breakbeats. For those that haven't seen the 1983 film, it is arguably one of the best illustrations of hip-hop in its budding stages, on top of laying the grounds for Nas' The Genesis, Beef Rapp and other noteworthy rap classics. In this chapter, Coleman tells the story of the core reason why him and many others love this genre, this movement: "It's not about how much money [or] equipment you have, but if you have ingenuity and passion, you can make something really beautiful out of what you have available to you." When film director Charlie Ahearne set out to make movie about this emerging youth culture called hip-hop, clearing songs with a limited budget made compiling the soundtrack difficult. Ahearne's solution was to make their own soundtrack—with the help of scenester Fred "Fab 5 Freddy" Brathwaite, who wasn't a producer but had "funky friends". The chapter tells of how he gathered the talents of instrumentalists Lenny Ferrari and Chris Stein and made it work—at times using a magazine as a snare drum—resulting in capturing some of the most original sounds of the time. When asked if he's thought about writing someone's biography, Coleman replies yes, it's what he would prefer to do next. "I've covered 66 albums up to this point, I would really love to dive deeper with one artist, one scene, a record label, or some kind of movement." We would love to see that too. Words: Grace Wang

DJ Spinna’s 5 favourite Chicago house tracks Posted: 25 Feb 2015 02:44 AM PST DJ Spinna is an interesting proposition. The 90s was a time where, especially in New York, there were very clear divisions between house and hip-hop factions – you were either one or the other, a Pete Rock or a Louie Vega. Spinna was assured enough to dip his toe into both ponds, releasing on house labels such as Nervous Records and working with Tortured Soul, as well as remixing artists such as De La Soul and Stevie Wonder, and more recently, working with Stones Throw rapper Homeboy Sandman. For his 5 favourite selection, he has plumped for an old classic; Chicago house. With such a rich and diverse history it’s no enviable task to distill a whole cultural evolution down to five tracks, but here are Spinna’s personal highlights from what was, and still continues to be, one of the most unifying musical movements of modern times. Tyree – Acid Over (Original Mix) I always loved the experimentation of Acid sounds in House music. Many of the championed Acid House records released during late 80′s by the likes of Armando, Adonis and Lil Louis etc were repetitive entrancing tracks that would beat your body down to the bone on the dance floor. This track however managed to give you the best of both worlds, beautiful jazzy chords combined with that raw energy that balances things out nicely. It always stood out and remains to be a special record till this day. Jeannette Thomas – Shake Your Body (House Shaker Version) I remember picking this record up at a small record shop in the Greenwich Village called Decca Dance. It wasn’t easy to find back then. This a great example of a track that changed it’s position of legacy throughout time. I recall the vocal version on the A side getting played initially but the B side became the classic. I NEVER hear the vocal version anymore. The record is a powerhouse that never gets old. After that 8 bar kick drum intro… when the baseline hits and the synth line drops it’s always game over. Gershon Jackson – Ya’ll Be Easy‎ I’ve always been very particular about Hip House records. Some would come off a bit more on the cheesy side. I’m sure many of the Hip Hop artists that had their tracks remixed into House back in the days felt the same. Usually I would head straight to the dub or instrumental mixes. The New York Instrumental version on this Mike Dunn produced track is an absolute burner. The drums are hard and skippy, reminiscent of Todd Terrry’s classic drum programming, but everything else about it is Chicago. It’s a sleeper. House To House Featuring Kym Mazelle – Taste My Love (She’s Gotta Have It Mix) Marshall Jefferson is the king, his baselines are colossal. He’ produced so many of my favorite Chicago house records and he may may very well be one of the first to bring orchestration and full on composition to the genre (think about the string section on “evotion” by Ten City). This release came out two ways, first in 1987 as a single release, then re-released the following year with another track “I’m a Lover’” as the B-side. I’m not sure what the story is behind this but in my opinion the latter version is so much better, most notably for Kim Mazelle’s vocal performance (she recut the vocals). It’s also the version I heard the most. She killed it on the ad libs. The song is powerful yet sexy as hell, and the groove is classic Marshall vibes. I love a good song, no matter the genre. Mr. Fingers – Can You Feel It It’s still boggles my mind to know this was released in 1986. Larry Heard was ahead of his time with this. I felt it back when it came out, and I still feel it today! This entire EP is a game changer, especially this track. Although it a tried and true classic House record it really crosses genres. You can play this today and it can go against any new age post Dilla generation hip hop instrumental or experimental beat. The tempo is only 112 which allows for you to make that transition into faster tempos in your dj sets. Larry Heard is one of my biggest heroes. He’s a huge inspiration to the older House generation as well as forthcoming producers in dance music. If you don’t have this record, you’re doing yourself a great injustice. DJ Spinna’s The Sound Beyond Stars is now available on BBE Music.