In the history of Hip Hop there is one artist in particular who has quietly shaped an entire generation of MCs and producers, and that’s Kamaal Ibn John Fareed, better known as The Abstract himself Q-Tip. From Los Angeles born Brooklyn residing mixtape king J. Period comes “The Abstract Best”, self-released in 2009 as a ninety minute […]
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Kowton joins a host of producers who are reiterating – and the point does need hammering home – that despite the contagion of brostep and family, there’s still place for imagination on the dancefloor. There was a time when you could layer a crudely chopped R’n’B sample onto a bland bed of bass and expect […]
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The last year was a good one for us: a lovely crew, two compilations (feel free to spend your Christmas money on a little donation to Save Darfur to download our last one here), the opportunity to do features on the artists we love, six events in five different cities and although some wiseacres beg […]
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Strains of Afro-Caribbean music have always been present on the UK dancefloor from the reggae and dub inflections of DMZ to the incendiary British dancehall scene, vigorously backed by enthusiasts such as The Heatwave. But in the past couple of years the ‘Afro-’ in Afro-Caribbean is rightfully laying claim to some of the attention from […]
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You’re probably thinking, “What the hell is V-Nasty doing on a Gucci Mane album?” and that’s a totally acceptable first impression. This collaboration is so left field on a scale that I’m not totally sure of its existence. Whose people approached who? Was this some sort of ridiculous industry money exchange? Or did these artists […]
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Most people are familiar with Schoolboy Q from his absolutely ridiculous verse on A$AP Rocky’s “Brand New Guy” but like most (if not all) of the TDE/Black Hippy crew, Q has been around for a minute and definitely falls into the hugely underrated category. Instead of getting into his album from earlier this year, “Setbacks”, […]
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As another Truancy Compilation Two prompt, we’d love to introduce you to the gifted Swiss producer Timnah Sommerfeldt, who will be providing us with two tracks: one under her solo project entitled “Feel One’s Way”, and one with a consort under the alias a e named “Be Strong” (previews of both will go up over the next few […]
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Mos Def (Yasiin Bey) and Talib Kweli work together again through the combined medium of Black Star, this time releasing a mixtape in honour of Soul legend Aretha Franklin entitled “Black Star Aretha”. Madlib’s younger brother ‘Oh No is’ taking the production helm and blending a velvety beat comprised chiefly of smoky high pitched tweaked stabs, […]
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After our last One on One feature on the wonderful Norma Jean Bell, we thought it was time to pull towards those long lost classics that are still begging to be played out once again in this current climate. Cue the work of man like Grant Nelson; born in London 1971 and heralded as one […]
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Every now and then searching for new music across different online stores leads to something unexpected. Despite its place among this week’s new releases on Turntable Lab, the “Steel Whirl/Empire Builder” Digi-12 from Boreal Network was originally released on Moodgadget in 2009. My bad for not hearing it sooner. “Steel Whirl” is a gorgeous number […]
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During the next edition of the annual Amsterdam Dance Event, Truants will be co-hosting a room at Boycott in collaboration with Guerilla Speakerz (event link). This event will take place on Saturday the 22nd of October in Club Up. The line-up is one that stays true to Truants’ ongoing thematics of combining settled favourites as […]
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“Got something for you haters and it’s in that glock” “The Real Is Back 2” is one of quite a few mixtapes Jeezy has released during what seems like the never ending wait for “Thug Motivation 103”, and they’re all over the place in terms of quality. “Trappin’ Ain’t Dead” and the aforementioned “The Real […]
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