Owner: PRANCEHALL URL:http://prancehall.blogspot.com/ Join Date: Sat, 07 Apr 2007 19:43:13 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A funny music blog about grime and other music stuff like crunk, dancehall, snap, dubstep. Site statistics:Click here
Won't let any mentally vacant z-list celeb ting get by me 2007-11-15 11:21:00 Dizzee Rascal went on a "hot date" with Chanelle from Big Brother last night. Big look for the scene. When Wiley wants to get some hype he calls out Ghetto's name, when Dizzee wants to get some hype he takes an ex-Big Brother contestant to celeb
rity nosh palace Nobu. Apparently they have the same management and "Flex" is out soon so I guess Diz can forget the fact he already has a girlfriend for a few weeks.
ยง 2007-11-13 00:00:00 Good song, good idea, pretty poor execution.Lethal Bizzle is slowly growing on me I think - maybe like an unwanted parasite, but he is definitely growing on me. I can't see Logan playing this but, hey, at least it's not grindie.
T2 Likes Terminator 2, Still 2007-11-11 22:18:00 Photo by James Pearson-HowesHello, hi. Below is an interview I did with T2 for the new issue of Vice. I don't have my laptop with me here in New York so I can't put up the full transcribe with questions about him ripping off speed garage and stuff like that. Maybe when I get back I'll upload the rest. He plays down the influence of speed garage etc. on his music, if you were wondering. Anyway, here it is with an intro:If you're a teenager living in a council estate anywhere north of Grimsby, you won't be spending your weekends at home practicing WCW wrestling moves on your terrified cat, smoking weed, and listening to Ghetto's new mixtape. No, instead the chances are you'll be riding in your 1992 Ford Fiesta down to your local nightclub with your Rockport loafers, fake D&G shirt and enough diamante encrusted jewellery to choke a murder of crows to listen to some banging bassline house. If you didn't know, bassline house (AKA niche after the club in Sheffield where the scene beg Read more:Terminator
Your chest, Britney 2007-11-11 09:48:00 Britney Spears has gone and made the best dubstep song of the year. Fuck "Night", they need to start dropping this at FWD>>. It would make a change from all the funky house they seem to play now. I'm gonna get Jammer to vocal it for my next mixtape I think. Has anyone got the instrumental?---I wrote something about juke for the Observer Music Monthly blog a few weeks back and they've just put it up to coincide with the release of the new mag today. It's been given quite a funky edit and toned down quite a bit (literally everything that was even verging on funny was taken out) but give it a read if you are interested in finding out about juke. I put some good links in there too. They took out my intro, which I thought was pretty fitting so I'm going to paste it below and then you can click through and imagine it was at the start of the piece. Please leave a comment if you read it.If you are a regular reader of obscure music blogs written by despairing failed journalists whose sole p Read more:Britney
Is this grimey enough? 2007-11-20 10:54:00 The new Kano video is good. I like it. The song not so much, but the video is well done. No one's going to buy the single though, are they? Let's be realistic.
Grime sighting in Sweden 2007-11-18 14:04:00 My friend Ben "Roulette King" Rayner snapped this recently when he was out in Sweden
. I guess UK slang doesn't translate so well over there.I'm playing at Dirty Canvas this Friday. Come.---Dizzee is on Rinse FM as I type. I'm still waiting to see if Wiley will show. Read more:Grime
"knologable and loyall" 2007-11-15 20:32:00 Here's a Diplo interview where he talks about and shows footage of his recent project with Switch in Jamaica working with artists like Elephant Man, Turbulence, Tanya Stephens etc. I'm pretty excited about hearing all this stuff.This summer, an Italian photographer called Joao Paulo Ribeiro approached me because he was coming to London and wanted to photograph some MCs from the grime scene. I gave him all my contacts and then he disappeared and I didn't hear back from him until today when he sent me a load of pics he'd taken. I've uploaded the best ones to my Flickr.
Who's coming to this? 2007-11-22 10:08:00 Stratford Rex this Sunday. Me and about six of my friends are going. Anyone else going?Also, my friend in NY just emailed me about a night he's putting on this Friday, i.e. tomorrow. It's Wiley's only scheduled US date and his first solo performance out there so don't miss it.
"Got no friends in the ends 'cos I don't believe in friendship" 2007-11-20 21:43:00 Photo by Alex SturrockListen: Ice Kid - UnknownI interviewed Ice Kid recently and he gave me a CD of new Hoodstars tunes to check. I was impressed by quite a few of the tracks - especially the production on them, which sounded a lot like the melodic early Ruff Sqwad stuff that first got me really into grime. Ice Kid hasn't really done much in a while and meeting him it's obvious why. He is brutally realistic about the future of grime. He doesn't expect to get a record deal, he doesn't expect to get famous across the country, he doesn't think grime will "blow". He seems to make songs as a means to let out his feelings rather than to get famous. And I like that. You're not getting any fake and unnecessary bragging from him because he has nothing to aspire to. It's kind of like when Dizzee was first starting out and eventually went on to make his first album. There had been no hint that he would get famous so he was just largely making songs for himself and letting out all his pent Read more:believe
Dirty Mumdance 2007-11-29 10:29:00 Durrty Goodz is playing in Brighton this Friday. I was thinking of going down and spending all night following him around asking him for another rundown about what prison life was like but I'm not so sure he'd be up for it.---Download: Jammer - Toxic FreestyleHere's Jammer's "Toxic" freestyle that was on my mixtape. I've been getting a lot of requests to put it up so here it is. I'm going to be giving away a lot of the tracks from my mixtape. I'll do a new download pretty much every day starting today. You're not getting the Ce'Cile dub though.
Stratford Rex: The dick inspector 2007-11-26 13:29:00 I didn't get any pictures or videos from the Mavado show last night. Pretty annoying. The whole thing was filmed anyway so maybe I'll get the DVD. When I got to The Rex around 10, the police had already shut off two lanes of traffic outside the club and lined up at least eight police cars and vans along the road. They also had police dogs and guys with M16s. Pretty insane for an event where there wasn't a hint of trouble all night. Total over reaction in my opinion. On the way in they were taking no chances: I got the metal detector and full search and then I was ordered to go and see a woman in the corner. I had no idea what was going on so I walked up and stood next her and without saying a word she put her hand between my legs and cupped my piece before nodding to the other bouncers that I was allowed in. I think that was her job all night: dick inspector. She checks to see if you're packing a big enough piece and if not she sends you out to be gunned down by the police. There w
Pull my finger 2007-12-04 12:06:00 Vice posted an interview with girl rapper Riskay on their blog yesterday. I came across her "Smell Yo Dick" track randomly before I went to NY but forgot to post it up. Possibly the most ridiculous song of the year. Riskay's not actually that bad. She had a good song called "Brand New Money" with DG Yola on the Fear Factor Florida mixtape from earlier this year. Anyway, here is the full interview:Vice: Why do you think "Smell Yo Dick" has taken off?Riskay: I think it's because a lot of women have thought about it but they never had the nerve to do it, and now they don't have to be ashamed to try it. A lot of men cheat because they can get away with it, but I feel like if a man knows a woman will go to that extent [dick-smelling], they probably won't cheat. Men have degraded women and acted like we're stupid for so many years, and they come up with songs about cheating, so why can't I just represent women? This is how I feel, this is what I've been through.How many times have you Read more:finger
"Who say Dominic, who say Dominic favour Boy George" 2007-12-03 17:18:00 My friend Richard showed me this video a few months ago and then I forgot about it until Fader randomly posted it on their blog last week. The soundsystem is the legendary Kilimanjaro - they had all the big DJs like Ninjaman, Lecturer, Nitty Gritty etc. The white guy is called Dominic
. He is some random guy from London who had a huge street track called "Boy George
". What's funny is that it's just some dude from Shepherds Bush on stage looking totally lost and out of place with Ninjaman and Lecturer.I'm DJing in Bristol next Friday. I played there last Saturday too at a night with Quiet Storm. I never knew he was Caspa. Is that widely known? I guess it kind of all makes sense now. I also DJed on Friday at 333 with a guy from Lucky Number records who told me that Skream engineered that Bi-Polar Men remix of Seventeen Evergreen.---Download: Statik feat. Slew Dem - Bad GuysThis is Slew Dem's vocal of Statik's reworking of a song from the Bugsy Malone soundtrack. Read more:Boy George
Back to 2000 2007-12-19 08:29:00 I was listening to some random pirate station last night and the guy played Wookie's "Gallium" followed by Coki & Benga's "Night" really pitched down and then Apple's "Mr Bean". Pretty great 10 minutes of radio right there. The DJ then ruined it by playing loads of boring male vocal funky house layered with really bad drops and sound effects. I then switched across to Rinse FM and Hatcha was playing "Night" and about 10 minutes later it was on Mary Anne Hobbs's show in a Skream set she was repeating. I've heard that it has been signed to a major and they are getting a vocal - probably by Baby Katie, the girl on NG's "Tell Me". I wonder how the dubstep fans will react to that? Apparently "Gallium" might be coming out on a major too, with a female vocal on top. There's a pretty amazing Badness vocal that I heard today but Scratcha is the only person who has it.I also heard this great new dancehall rhythm last night. "Planet Rock"-style electro beat with an auto tuned Vybz Kartel v
"You know you're my lady (lady) / You drive me crazy (crazy)" 2007-12-17 17:13:00 Forgive me father, it's been a week since my last entry. Annnyywwaaaayyy, above is a live PA of DJ NG's "Tell Me". Look at all the girls in the video down the front dancing and giving gunfingers while their boyfriends are (presumably) at home desperately searching the internet to find where they can download The Movement's new mixtape for free and threatening to violently assault people on the RWD forum. When grime nights were effectively banned in London, a lot of people turned to funky house clubs to go to and now you've got producers like NG making this pretty dark funky house stuff because of that. If you were out in Napa this year or if you go to nights like Freaky Fridays at the Stratford Rex, you should've heard this song about a hundred times. I've been pretty addicted to it for the last month. I didn't really get it at first but then someone randomly played it at the last Dirty Canvas and I couldn't get it out of my head. I can't see why this can't go at least top 20 Read more:drive
"ITZ ALOT" 2007-12-09 18:32:00 This video falls somewhere between this and this with some definite echoes of this.This was done at the room right at the top of the Stratford Rex a few weeks back. If you pause it in the right place you might be able to catch the shadow of the end of one of my fingers on the wall to the right of the screen. You might also have seen the side of my head for 1/10th of a second on Channel 4 on Friday night on the Nike Supersonic programme. So famous right now.Here is my new regular feature where I list events that grime MCs have been booked to play but were too busy to show up.Last week the MCs who were otherwise engaged when they were supposed to be performing were:*Trim in Brighton*Boy Better Know in BristolHave you booked a grime MC who hasn't bothered to show up? Let me know below in the comments or email me. The best story wins a plastic clothes hanger with the words: "Grime's not dead, it's just resting its eyes" scrawled across it in Tippex.---Download the Damage Control tribute
"Receipt in the bag, sir?" 2007-12-24 14:34:00 It wouldn't be a Prancehall Christmas without a message from Jammer. Last Xmas eve Jammer was showing off his presents and doing karaoke with his dad. This year my friend Jack was round at Jam's getting a 16 for a Black Lips re-work he's making for his forthcoming mixtape. He managed to get this video before Jammer had to rush off.Ears in some nylon Adidas dungarees. Photo by James Pearson-HowesMy friend James Pearson-Howes AKA Queenie has just put some old school Jammer / Jahmek Da World pics on his blog. Says Queenie: "Dude, I found some great old pictures of Jammer and his crew back in the day - proper '04 business. Jammer still owes me 200 Ps for that shoot." Read more:Receipt
14 reasons why the new Burial album isn't as good as everyone says it is 2007-12-22 17:56:00 1. I was in a shop on Carnaby Street today and I heard a girl telling her friend that for Christmas she had bought her little brother "a box set of Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps and a copy of the Burial
album."2. Every song sounds the same3. Keeping your identity secret is gay unless you are me4. It sounds like Enya doing dubstep5. The first album was better6. The best song he's made this year ("Unite") wasn't even on the album7. The picture on the cover looks like something an autistic 12 year-old UK hip-hop fan from Luton would draw at an after school art class and then plan to print on a T-shirt (but never actually get round to doing it)8. The drums are too awkward9. People get really precious when I slag it off10. No one sent me a free copy11. One of the tracks is called "In McDonalds", which is actually a good name but considering he calls most songs things like "Archangel" and "Ghost Hardware" makes it look totally out of place and achingly forced: "I make music tha Read more:everyone
Fading away 2008-03-07 14:11:24 Dexplicit. Photo by James Pearson-HowesToday is Friday, but Thursday is the day when my FADER column goes online. Once a Thursday, every Thursday.This week it's all about Dexplicit and his dad. Last week was about my friend Melissa's cats. Read them / don't read them / do what you want with them. See ya. Read more:Fading
Hang about 2008-03-06 13:00:17 I was aimlessly cruising the BBC website today when I came across a familiar face - that of the singer dude from Hot Chip. Turns out he's been making prank calls to the police in Wales. They got his name and sex mixed up, but it's definitely him. Look at the picture above."[He] agreed to electrode therapy which left [him] screaming in pain every time [he] dialled the third '9' of 999.""But the court heard that it failed and [he] rang police claiming a bomb had been planted in [his] local supermarket.""Prosecutor Richard Ace said [the bloke from Hot Chip] had called police control alleging there was a bomb at the Iceland store in Mountain Ash." Read the full story here.
March 2008-03-05 19:26:25 NorwichBristolCamberwellFun times. Read more:March
Africa 2008-03-05 05:49:29 The new issue of FADER can be downloaded by clicking here. It is a special focused around a place called Africa
. My feature on Buraka Som Sistema can be found in there, or there is a direct link to it here.There is also a really good podcast to accompany the issue. One song sounds a bit too Gilles Peterson for my liking, but there is loads of amazing stuff in there to make up for that.
Hate is a Strong Word / Love is a Beautiful Thing 2008-02-21 17:25:39 DJ NG. Photo by James Pearson-HowesIf anyone is interested, you can read my article on funky in last week's NME here. I have taken the liberty of writing my own headline this time to save any other 40-year-old silk shirt-wearing funky house DJs out there from having a hernia. To be clear, I will say again: I did not write the original headline. Grime and funky are two totally separate scenes with a tiny bit of crossover here and there. Maybe in Don't Panic they let you choose your own headline, but not in the NME. BTW, I have put up a lenghty interview with NG in my Fader column this week. I've also got something in this week's NME on footworkin', jumpstyle, Tecktonik, etc. Look out for it. At the end, I talk about all the weird guys out there who make videos of their Lego men doing the Read more:Strong
, Beautiful
, Thing
YOU ARE FUCKING KIDDING ME 2008-02-20 13:37:46 WHAT THE FUCK? WHAT THE FU-UCK? WHAT THE FU-UHH-UCKKKKKK?This has to be a joke. Who else plays their remixes apart from them?Seriously, what are they gonna do to it? Add a few seconds of silence to the start and call it a remix? Maybe convert it to a 128kbps mp3 and cover it in drops from other people's mixtapes so it will match everything else they play out?I've gone off the song now. This is a very sad day for music.
Self-fulfilling prophecy? 2008-02-20 05:46:05 I was scanning dubplate.net just now when I noticed something very disturbing. Tempa are releasing a 12" by conscious d&b MC, SP:MC. I remember when dubstep was pretty new and people were calling it slowed-down drum and bass, and now that is just what (most of) it has become. There's no denying it. They are even letting sub standard d&b MCs produce on their supposed 'gold standard' label at the drop of a camouflage baseball cap just because they are big in the d&b scene. SP:MC is the white GQ. It wouldn't be too bad if they were amazing tunes, but they are totally inane, anonymous "wobblers". Listen to clips here and here.I've been listening to "Stung" by Kode 9, my Martyn 12" and that new Appleblim and Peverelist 12" on Skull Disco on repeat for the last hour to try and block out the pain
Clarence & Quentin 2008-02-17 20:15:54 When I first saw the lineup for this I was a bit confused. It looked like someone had stolen the name I used to use in my Grimewatch column days, Clarence
. I was offended that Dirty Canvas would have the audacity to support someone who would commit such a cunning, heinous crime. I told myself that me and DC were FINISHED. But then I realised it was actually me on the flyer. I forgot that I'd agreed to do a reggae set with my friend James under a new alias. I think I might start using Clarence more often - I might as well embrace my imaginary public school roots. FYI, I will be dressing in some smart chinos, boat shoes, a gingham shirt, a cravat and a cable knit sweater slung across my shoulders for the night.-----------Some things by me out this week that you can read: A DJ NG interview in
Crossed the line and you crossed the border 2008-02-14 17:31:01 Photo by Alex SturrockMy friend Alex just developed an old roll of film he took when Riko played 93 Feet East in late 2005 and found the above pic. I think I remember this incident. A group of guys bumped into Riko (or maybe his car) on the way into the club and instead of apologising, they starting having a go at him. Anyway, Riko went insane and was shouting at about 20 people at the same time. I think things cooled down when he went up to one of the guys and said something like, "If I take you down that alley way over there you will never walk again." Fun times.Photo by James Pearson-HowesIn other news, my friend James tells me that the Niche night club has secretly been opened up again under the guise of a shop near Columbia Road Market. He said as he walked past they were playing Adel
Spotted 2008-02-14 17:28:55 Alex Sturrock spotted Skepta outside the (good) bagel shop on Brick Lane today. He was apparently on his way to Roll Deep's studio to do some new tracks with them. I swear someone needs to do a grime documentary in the bagel shop. Or maybe Dubplate Drama could dedicate a whole episode to it in their next series (if there is another series). There could be a story line about one of the old women in the shop bootlegging mix cds or something. Just a suggestion.
Dexplicit in NYC 2008-02-13 07:39:32 Dutty Artz TV got some footage when Dexplicit played in NY at Trouble & Bass and also filmed a short interview with him. Check the Dutty Artz blog for more good stuff and their MySpace page to listen to some of their forthcoming releases.
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