Viral Listening Session (Part Four) – DJ Spinna

Spinna talks about working with Little Brother’s Phonte on his forthcoming album “Sonic Smash”.

Black Milk Broadcast (Part One) – Black Milk

Footage of Black Milk on tour in Europe.

For The Record – The Alchemist

Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg interviews The Alchemist about his upcoming album “Chemical Warfare”.

High Life – Keelay & Zaire

New EPK from producers Keelay & Zaire promoting their recently released album “Ridin’ High”.

Sample This! – DJ Spinna

Footage of DJ Spinna working on the track “Lyrics Is Back” from his forthcoming album “Sonic Smash”.

Make Ya Head Nod – Marco Polo

Audio of Marco Polo interview on NodFactor.Com.

The Formula – No ID

No ID speaks on working alongside Kanye West for Jay-Z’s “Blueprint 3″ project.

Dream Merchant – 9th Wonder

9th Wonder on SoulCulture.Co.Uk talking about today’s oversaturation of internet-age ‘producers’ and the art of sampling.

Songs In The Key Of Life – 88 Keys

Interesting interview with  producer / rapper 88 Keys on Emilio Sparks’ radio show.

Code Of The Streets – DJ Premier

Interview with DJ Premier on StrongIslandHipHop.Com.

Part One

Part Two

Summer Madness – DJ Spinna

DJ Spinna gets busy creating a track for his forthcoming “Sonic Smash” project with assistance from a few friends.

Part One

Part Two

Philly Funk – King Britt

Eclectic Philadelphia-based producer King Britt talks about his involvement in Digable Planets and the impact of new technology on the music business.

Rest In Peace – Tony D

Footage of New Jersey’s Tony D reminiscing about his work with YZ, Poor Righteous Teacher etc – the producer tragically passed away following a car crash this past weekend.

Quik’s Groove (Part Two) – DJ Quik

DJ Quik speaks on Dr. Dre, the importance of young artists paying their dues and the problems with commercial radio.

Time To Get Ill – Illmind

Emilio Sparks interviews producer Illmind.

Wonder Years – 9th Wonder

Footage of 9th Wonder working in the studio.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Dert Off Your Shoulder – Dert

Footage of West Coast producer Dert at LA’s “Boombox” beat showcase event – this guy definitely has some nice material.

Part One

Part Two

Album Review – Nick Wiz

Nick Wiz

“Cellar Sounds Volume One (1992 – 1998)”

(No Sleep Recordings)

Ask any self-respecting Hip-Hop fan to name their favourite producers from the 90s and you’ll no doubt get the same predictable yet totally understandable answers – DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor, Showbiz etc. However, if those same boom-bap aficionados dug in their crates to check the credits on some of their vintage vinyl, they might be surprised by how many other talented producers were also around at the time who don’t necessarily get remembered during today’s debates about who was nicest on the MPC or the SP-1200. Case in point being Nick Wiz, a New Jersey native who spent the 90s donating his atmospheric, drum-heavy studio creations to the likes of Mad Skillz, Rakim and, most notably, Brooklyn’s Cella Dwellas, whose 1995 Loud debut album “Realms N Reality” remains a largely slept-on East Coast classic.

This extensive 44-track double-CD package finds Wiz digging deep into his archives to blow the dust off a huge selection of previously unreleased cuts and alternative remixes from artists both known and unknown. Immediate standouts include a dope reworking of the Cella Dwella’s “Good Dwellas” (based around Gwen McCrae’s timeless “90% Of Me Is You”), Rakim’s horn-filled head-nodder “Once Upon A Rhyme” (a lost track from Ra’s “The 18^th Letter” project), and Ill Mentality’s “Lovin’ U 4 Dayz”, a cocky mid-90s cut previously released on the Phat Wax imprint and packed with serious back-in-the-day jeep beat appeal.

Pudgee’s melancholy “Inner City Blues” features an uncharacteristically restrained DMX caught in the everyday struggle with only Wiz’s filtered melodies for company, whilst Ran Reed’s excellent “Whutcha Want” offers mildly offensive rhymes coupled with a Method Man vocal sample and hazy keys. The demo tracks included here from New Jersey acts such as LSD and Nautilus are also of a high standard, hinting at a local scene that perhaps didn’t reach its full potential during a time when Naughty By Nature and their affiliates were dominating and defining the area’s sound.

At over 40 tracks deep, it’s to be expected that not every cut included on “Cellar Sounds” is an absolute must-have, but with contributions from the likes of Shabaam Sahdeeq, Lord Have Mercy, Chubb Rock and Channel Live, it’s a solid body of work from a producer who perhaps didn’t get his rightful props the first time around.

Flavour Of The Month – Cook Classics

LA-based producer Cook Classics is HipHopOfficial’s Artist Of The Week.

Album Review – Lord Finesse

Lord Finesse

“Rare And Unreleased Volume 2”

(No Sleep Recordings)

Having already blessed back-in-the-day rap fanatics with retro releases from the likes of Godfather Don, Buckwild and Kwest Tha Madd Lad, the No Sleep label teams up once again with the Funkyman himself, Lord Finesse, for another collection of unreleased and hard-to-find dusty-fingered joints from the D.I.T.C. member’s heavy crates.

With the majority of the tracks here dating back to the early-to-mid 90s, virtually every cut is packed to bursting with golden-age flavour, bolstered by Finesse’s trademark blend of heavy bass, thumping drums and piercing horns. Big L’s unearthed banger “Unexpected Flava” will have NY die-hards ready to do the East Coast Stomp with its chanted hook and witty punchlines, whilst Grand Puba’s “Untitled” is a near flawless example of how effortlessly dope the Brand Nubian emcee sounds over the right production (something he’s struggled to find in recent years).

One of Finesse’s strengths behind the boards has always been his ability to craft beats that range from the hypnotically mellow to the gritty and menacing, and both sides of the Funkyman’s musical personality are on display here. The “Laidback Bounce Mix” of Kirk’s 1994 joint “Uptown Style” stirs memories of warm summer nights with its Keni Burke snippets and dreamy keys, whilst God Sunz’ “Sub Sidewalkers” revels in its downbeat moodiness and evokes images of piss-stained project building stairwells littered with discarded blunts.

Finesse’s own catalogue as an artist is also well covered here, with previously unavailable versions of classics such as “Isn’t He Something” and “Hey Look At Shorty” sitting alongside vinyl-only cuts like the vibe-filled “Soul Plan” with jazz legend Roy Ayers. Yet the real gem amongst the Funky Technician’s own material has to be the 1991 demo mix of “Fat For The 90s”, which finds an agitated A.G. putting heads to bed with Finesse over a relentlessly vicious guitar lick.

More refined and focused than its predecessor, this latest collection from the D.I.T.C. vaults is a welcome reminder of a period in Hip-Hop never to be repeated, where genuine talent and creativity met with a desire to record timeless music purely for the satisfaction of being known as one of the illest to ever do it.