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Admittedly Rocafort Records new heavy funk comp., Funk For The People, did come out about a month ago but when those autumn release gates open, trying to stay on top of them is like trying to hold back a storm surge with a rizla. Still – that’s no reason to give up battling onwards especially when a release in question contains the sort of gems this one does, compiled
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ROCAFORT RECORDS: Funk For The People
DJ FILTHY RICH: A Clan Called Wu – Enter The Marauders (A Blendtape by DJ Filthy Rich)
Another mixtape inside a week and from DJ Filthy Rich again to boot? Whatever is going on? Well, like the monkey keeps saying, so many release submissions come in, there’s only time and space for the dopest mixtapes and is it the monkey’s fault that Mr Rich decides to put out two such entities so close together? No indeed, and you will be thankful when you hear – deep breath – A Clan
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SAVAGES Y SUEFO: Brotherhood
At last, the long-promised Savages Y Suefo LP, Brotherhood has dropped. Surely, this was first rumoured, oohh, two years ago when the Ashley Slater-featuring single Revolution! appeared. And since that track appears on this, it now seems, in retrospect, to have been the lead single. Two years? Man, that is a long lead time. Mind you, better late than never, and the implicit call to unity
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WHIRLWIND D feat. DJAR ONE & SPECIFIK: ‘Labels’ video
Labels, the first track to emerge from Whirlwind D’s new EP bodes well for the full release as it finds him taking a nostalgic spin through all his old twelve inches and holding forth for anyone who’ll listen about his love for hip-hop and how he got sucked into it. Naturally, if you’re going to do that sort of thing, you’ll need a good beat. Step forward Djar One who provides a mighty funk-
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MADISON WASHINGTON: Facts
If you caught the phenomenon that was the Pan Amsterdam LP The Pocket Watch earlier this year, you’ll have heard of the Def Pressé label. However, the other jewel in said label’s crown – the two of them linked by dint of having the same producer – is Madison Washington. Where Pan Am is the inspired teaming of Leron Thomas and thatmanmunkz, Madison Washington is the
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BOOG BROWN: Boog Brown
While producer Tom Caruana is well-known to MB readers for a string of epic mash-up albums and his live hip-hop band, Son Of Sam, the name of rapper Boog Brown is not one that has previously graced the virtual pages of monkeyboxing. Nevertheless, the Queens-based (by way of Detroit and Atlanta) emcee has an impressive CV including previous work with Apollo Brown and
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COOKIN’ ON 3 BURNERS: Lab Experiments Vol. 2
After their success with the funky alchemy of Lab Experiments Vol. 1: Mixin’, what was there for Aussie Hammond funk veterans Cookin’ On 3 Burners to do but return to the laboratory to cook up even more goodness? As with its predecessor, Lab Experiments Vol. 2 turns in eight tracks though this time there is an equal balance of vocal and instro cuts. Arguably chief among the former
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DJ FILTHY RICH: Black Moon 25th Anniversary Mixtape
If you’re a long-time reader of the monkey, you’ll know mixtapes are rarely featured so when one is, it has to be especially dope. Which is why DJ Filthy Rich regularly gets repped. Previous featured mixes have been parts 1 and 2 of his tribute to the 90s reggae/hip-hop phenomenon and a tribute to the mighty Craig Mack. So who got da props this time around? Enta da stage Black Moon with
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79.5: Terrorize My Heart (Disco Dub) b/w TALL BLACK GUY Bounce Remix (Vinyl 7″)
If you know Big Crown Records at all, you’ll know they’re not just on a parallel mission with Daptone to keep the funk soul flag flying but also cast a wider net that includes the woozy indie fusioneering of The Shacks and the summery psych-disco-jazz-70s pop shimmer of 79.5. Which is where this release comes in since, 79.5 have just released a new vinyl 7″ of earworm Terrorize
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CYRUS MALACHI feat. LONE NINJA: Street Art
…aaannd in the second slice of street darkness today it’s Street Art, a minimal downtempo slab of Brit-hop from Cyrus Malachi featuring one of the monkey’s favourite voices in contemporary hip-hop, Brooklyn’s Lone Ninja. The track joins the dots between the abstract paint splashes of expressionism, the graceful spray of blood on the pavement and, of course, hip-hop. It finds Mr Ninja commenting on the defeated, “You get
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