Despite (and, to some extent, perhaps because of) Covid, DC’s Fort Knox Five keep the creative flames alight on new single Playin’ With Fire featuring Emily Molloy. A steady 96 bpm chugger, the track has the bedrock of a nineties hip-hop beat adorned with seventies funky guitar picking and horns providing the perfect musical accompaniment for Emily Molloy’s by turns sweet
…MORE
Tag Archives: Fort Knox Recordings
OMEGAMAN: Rebel Rocker
Given the way Covid has negatively affected the music industry in the past year, you’d expect the system to have made rather more people into a ‘rebel rocker’ than just Ikenna and Omegaman. Or maybe it has and they’re just not singing about it yet. Whatever the truth of the matter, Oz-breaks-maker Omegaman is back with his fat new breakbeat reggae riddim, Rebel Rocker, atop
…MORE
FORT KNOX FIVE: DC’s Finest Volume 1
Fort Knox Five haven’t been sat on their hands during lockdown and in their munificence are shortly to be re-releasing Volume 1 of DC’s Finest, a collection of their mash-ups, remixes and edits from 2006-2008 at a ‘name your price’ rate. Which makes it perfect for all those whose income has been affected as a consequence of various governments’ failure to follow-up basic pandemic
…MORE
MUSTAFA AKBAR: Attracted EP
The Attracted EP consists of the last five studio recordings by Mustafa Akbar, lead vocalist for Fort Knox Five, Thunderball and Nappy Riddem as well as vocal collaborator with Basement Freaks (among others), until his untimely passing last year. That he left a huge gap behind goes without saying and this release only provides yet further evidence of the extent of the gap, showcasing
…MORE
FORT KNOX FIVE: McGuire’s Audio Shop
Inspired by a vintage sign they once picked up while out and about in a seedy back alley of Dupont Circle in Washington DC in the 90s (and which has graced their studio wall ever since), Fort Knox Five’s next single is McGuire’s Audio Shop. Less a full-on dancefloor bomb than an evocative mid-tempo head-nod, this funky instrumental strut is characterised by almost Mexican horn melodies
…MORE
FORT KNOX FIVE: The Brazilian Hipster (Vinyl 7″)
Back in 2004 when Fort Knox Five’s fifth release and signature cut The Brazilian Hipster first came out, the vinyl 12″ was still king of DJ formats, digital was a dirty word and the 45 was little more than the province of die-hard spinners of old wax. Fast forward to now and the 12″ is a rarity, digital’s huge (but still a dirty word in some parts) while there’s nothing hipper than a vinyl 7″. What
…MORE
OMEGAMAN: Babylon Don’t Interfere
Always worth checking out, Fort Knox Recordings Oz’ signing, Omegaman, has a new EP out – Babylon Don’t Interfere. Do I sense a reggae vibe? I certainly do. Cue the chugging feelgood rootsy anthem of the title track which features Desi Hymon on vocals delivering a righteous message. Also present is tropical heat of Happy Ending Whisper Song
…MORE
FORT KNOX FIVE: I Know Kung Fu (DC’s Finest Remint) + free download
There was no turning down legendary DC beatmakers Fort Knox Five yesterday when they asked if MB would like to do a free giveaway of FK5’s I Know Kung Fu. Lost in the vaults for years, the track had been gathering dust among jade statues and ancient scrolls until it was unearthed in the quest for material to include on the FK5-curated Bomb Strikes comp. Funk N Beats Vol. 4
…MORE
QDUP feat. AWOKE: Sonic Drop
Sonic Drop – not the latest battlefield weapon in Trump’s arsenal but the latest dancefloor weapon in Qdup’s – and shit is pretty newfangled sounding. Boom-bap this ain’t. Although it does qualify as hip-hop. What we have here my friends is an 808-charged, super-heavy bass payload with stutterfunk percussion and an emcee in the shape of Awoke on the mic? Did I mention her yet? No?
…MORE
BACKBEAT UNDERGROUND feat. AARON ABERNATHY: She Don’t Love Me (Like I Do) (2017)
True-school soul releases have been flooding out of both the Daptone and Big Crown labels Stateside this year and now Fort Knox Recordings are getting in on the action by welcoming Backbeat Underground to the fold. The latter’s new single is the Aaron Abernathy-featuring She Don’t Love Me (Like I Do) and is a smouldering slice of a horns-toting groove that will particularly
…MORE
