Monday, December 20, 2010 at 6:57PM Maxwell performing ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’ for the president and a few other familiar faces. Absolute legend.
Monday, December 20, 2010 at 12:57PM 
My favourite track from Joell Ortiz’s 2nd studio album, Free Agent. Great beats, great features and great lyrics.
Hip-Hop, Joell Ortiz in Aside Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 4:49PM 
Here is track taken from Athens born producer Billa Qause’s 2009 LP, Jazzova. The album digs deep into vintage grooves, messing with obscure Greek sounds and voices from the 50’s, soul music, bossa and retro-swing, creating a simple and effective world which brings us back to all that is good about hip-hop, beats and head-nodding. Hip-Hop is the most beautiful worldwide culture out there - this proves exactly why. Love finding hidden gems like this.
Billa Qause, Hip-Hop, Instrumental in Aside Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 4:33PM 
Now this is something a bit different. Shawn Lee dons his Ping Pong Orchestra hat for an album inspired by the Hooked On Classics series of the early 1980s. This popular series of albums took well-known classical pieces and gave them a contemporary re-working, mostly adding a disco flavor. Lee throws his new musical twist on the idea, taking 12 favourite classical tracks and squeezing them through the Ping Pong Orchestra machine. The end result is an album that will introduce new listeners to legendary pieces of music, and is set to turn the heads of classical music fans. Below is the ever enchanting Swan Lake.
Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 4:26PM 
Suff Daddy (Berlin) and Lefto (Brussels) have re-edited the Charles Earland classic, Coming To You Live, from 1980. Suff Daddy turns the song into a typical Suff jam with sick vocal samples, airhorns and micro korg licks. This is class.
Charles Earland, Edit, Funk, Lefot, Remix, Suff Daddy in Aside Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 4:07PM 
Oyoshe is an Italian beatmaker and he just released a free download, The Re:Mix, that contains 13 remixed tracks. Here is my favourite from the mixtape, which is a reworked version of one of my favourite Das EFX tunes.
Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 2:59PM 
This is really special for me. Throughout the past year, Ed Sheeran has become one of my favourite artists in the world and now I have the privilege of bringing you the first review of his latest EP, which will be available for you to download on January 9th. He first told me about the project when I met him in Leeds earlier this year and ever since then I have had the opportunity to get to know him and see him grow as an artist. I love all of his previous material, but this is easily my favourite to date and it’s the perfect way to lead up to the release of his debut album, which will be out next year.
Ever since seeing him on SBTV, I have been fascinated by both him and his music. He isn’t a rapper, or a singer; he is something completely different to anything we have previously heard. Of course his style incorporates certain aspects from Hip-Hop, Soul, Folk, Grime and a number of other genres, but I truly believe that he has created a whole new sound which can reach out to a wide range of music lovers. Working with producer and good friend Jake Gosling, they have created an incredible EP that is both thought-provoking and extremely relevant. Some of the UK’s best MC’s are featured on the 8 tracks and they are all on top form; this is no coincidence. During a conversation with Devlin, he told me that meeting Ed on the Example tour has rejuvenated his love for writing and made him a more well rounded artist - a true testament to the amount of lyrical talent that this young man possesses. What you find on here isn’t necessarily the type of thing you can expect to be on his debut LP, it’s more a showcase of the music that Ed listens to and appreciates. However; there is a re-worked version of my favourite song of his on here, which is nothing short of spectacular. I love the whole idea and it has been executed to perfection.
I could break down every single track, but when you have an EP that features Sway, Ghetts, Wretch 32, Devlin, Dot Rotten, P Money, Random Impulse, Mikill Pane, Wiley & JME, then there is no real need to go into that much detail, is there? You can just take my word for it; this is guaranteed to be one of the most refreshing and easy to relate to pieces of music you will hear for a very long time. I sometimes have to remind myself that he is only 19 years old. He is one of the most genuine and talented people I have ever met and it’s good to see everything finally coming together. He deserves it more than most. Below you can hear a snippet of the track that features Dot Rotten, which is called Goodbye To You.
Follow Ed on Twitter and make sure you get yourself a lovely Christmas present on January 9th. See the tracklist and pre-order HERE.
EP, Ed Sheeran, Features, Grime, Review, UK Hip-Hop in Aside Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 2:58PM Cool video for one of my favourite tracks from Rahsaan Ahmad’s album, For What You’ve Lost. One of the most under-rated LP’s of 2010.
Hip-Hop, Rahsaan Patterson, Video Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 2:50PM A new video from one of the sickest rapper/producer duos in Hip-Hop, Blu & Exile. Both of these guys have so much talent.
Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 12:35PM Aloe Blacc is one of my favourite people in the world right now. Here he is smashing his Television debut on Jimmy Fallon last night. He is one cool mother fucker.
Aloe Blacc, Jimmy Fallon, Live, R&B, Soul in Aside 