Saturday, November 13, 2010 at 5:31PM 
KanYe, Consequence & Talib on a Q-Tip beat. This is pretty much Hip-Hop perfection for me.
Consequence, KanYe West, Q-Tip, Talib Kweli in Aside Friday, November 12, 2010 at 3:07PM 
A lot of people have been saying that this is the album they have been waiting for since 2008. I disagree; this is the album I have been wanting to hear since 2007. 808s & Heartbreak was a decent album and we all understand why he did it, but for me it will never have the credentials to be mentioned in the same breath as this and his 3 other LP’s. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and the G.O.O.D. Friday series mark the return of one of the most important people in my life. Mr. West is one of the main reasons why I love Hip-Hop as much as I do and in the past 8 months I have come to realise how much of a genius he really is. I personally think this album could go down as a classic and maybe his best release to date.
Going back to 2005 when I saw him at the Manchester Apollo on The College Dropout tour; KanYe was a breath of fresh air who’s sampling style and take on rapping was something that we had never seen or heard before. Unfortunately we lost that person for a while, but it seems as though he has returned with the hunger to become one of the greatest artists of all time. He has really stepped everything up to another level this time round - lyrically he is definitely back to his best, making you dig out a dictionary at certain points in the album to understand some of the things that he is saying. For me there was a slight danger that he could overdo it with the features and the plethora of producers he decided to get on board; however I think he has found a happy medium which clearly works. For example; Minaj & Ross are two rappers that I have never really understood or liked, but they both fit in perfectly with the whole feel and concept of the album. KanYe is a very clever man who always does things for a specific reason - this is something I have come to accept and understand throughout the years.
One thing that has frustrated me during the build up to the album is the amount of people that have complained about the tracklist. After the album has been released, he will have given us 22 tracks (of real quality), which is A LOT more than any other global artist will ever dream of releasing these days. Too many people are ungrateful and fiend for new music, not taking the time to appreciate the amount of time and effort that has gone into creating all of this music that we have been blessed with. Along with Cee-Lo’s latest release, this is all I have been listening to for the past 2 weeks and it’s safe to say that they are easily two of my favourite albums of the year and will probably end up becoming two of my favourite albums of the 21st Century (for completely different reasons). He has created a Hip-Hop classic, which wouldn’t be out of place next to some of the greatest albums of the 90’s.
2010 has been a ridiculously good year for music thus far, but this album has blown pretty much everything else out of the water. After seeing the Runaway film/interview it was clear that he was back in the right mindset and was out to prove a point to all the people that doubted him. Granted he has said some ridiculous things in the past and of course he is a little crazy; but I think he’s doing pretty well as far as geniuses go. I feel like I have gone back in time 6 years and fallen in love with his music all over again. Below you can find the necessary links and ‘Hell Of A Life’, which seems to be one of the tracks that has been on constant repeat.
Friday, November 12, 2010 at 2:00PM 
Here is Yasmin’s debut single, ‘On My Own’, which is produced by Drum & Bass legend Shy Fx. Had the pleasure of finally meeting her on the Example tour and she is as lovely as she both looks and sounds. Have a feeling that this is going to do rather well - it will be released January 24th on Levels Recordings/Ministry of Sound. So happy for her.
Drum & Bass, Pop, Shy FX, Yasmin in Aside Friday, November 12, 2010 at 1:10PM 
Hypnotising new liquid Drum & Bass track from Lovelife. This is just beautiful.
P.S. I took that picture, believe it or not.
Friday, November 12, 2010 at 12:45PM 
Definitely one of the more anticipated tracks from Cole’s Friday Night Lights. Got a lot of time for this.
Friday, November 12, 2010 at 12:40PM 
Clean version of a track which will be featured on Banks’ upcoming album, Hunger For More 2. Genuinely excited to hear this record now - it could be one of the major surprises of 2010. Pusha’s verse is amazing, as always.
HFM2, Hip-Hop, Lloyd Banks, Pusha T in Aside Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 4:59PM 
After releasing one of my favourite House tracks of 2010 (Gonna Be Alright); Martin Dawson & Crom have teamed up once again to create something which is nothing short of spectacular. Most of you Hip-Hop heads will recognize the sample, but those of you that don’t - they have sampled ‘Summer In The City’ by Quincy Jones’ which was used by The Pharcyde on one of their most successful singles; Passin’ Me By. This track is available on their latest EP, which is called About You. These guys really know how to make music.
Crom, Deep, House, Martin Dawson, Quincy Jones, The Pharcyde in Aside Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 4:39PM 
Most of you will know the name Maverick Sabre from Professor Green’s latest single; Jungle. Well now it’s time for you all to appreciate him as a solo artist, because today he released one of the best Mixtapes of 2010. From start to finish it is an incredibly enjoyable listen, but it was this track ‘Memories’ that stood out for me. He has taken the instrumental from my favourite ever song by The Roots (What They Do) and put his own unique stamp on it. This guy has a ridiculous amount of talent and hopefully a really bright future ahead of himself. Now what you should do is go and download the Mixtape for FREE.
Hip-Hop, Maverick Sabre, Soul, Travelling Man, UK in Aside Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 4:06PM 
Quincy Jones’ new album, Q: Soul Bossa Nostra, is definitely one of the more interesting LP’s of 2010. A couple of the tracks and features are absolutely awful, but there are a few gems on there and this one with Snoop Dogg is a little bit special. Got me really excited for Doggystyle 2.
Funk, Hip-Hop, Quincy Jones, Snoop Dogg, Soul in Aside Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 3:52PM 
Not gonna lie; I found Tinchy’s new album quite a hard listen. His voice gets a bit tedious after a while and a lot of the the hooks/choruses sound far too similar for my liking. Taking away Game Over; this is easily my favourite track on the album.
Grime, Tinchy Stryder, UK in Aside 