Hip-Hop News

The latest project by "El Gusano", a moniker of the elusive Pablo Arrangoiz, aka Dj Fitness, Bauzer Vep, Señor Faxwater, Glue Boy, Goiz and too many more to list (seriously, check out his Bandcamp/discogs). Arrangoiz is a Mexican native based in Miami, known as much for his ever varying aliases as he is for his scrupulous production and sui generis live and DJ sets. Focused on incorporating Latin ritmos with contemporary elements of his other influences such as house, techno, free jazz, German new wave, electro, Miami bass, noise, and more, Arrangoiz’s production, much like the artist himself, is one of a kind.

Saka La Bolsita", the inaugural release on Impacto, the new label and love child of Miami powerhouse producers Nick León and Jonny From Space, is a sonic conglomeration of acid cumbia with slivering jazz chords, microtonal reggaetón constructed with a tuning system made by finding the overtones of air conditioners, demonic dembow with a dash of house, Autotune Festival sex music, and all out pure ratchet core with an El Chavó sample. Including collaborations with lifetime friend Matt Angel AKA "El Descarao".

Known for his viral video series Sexta dos Crias, Ramon Sucesso is a virtuosic DJ who crushes, reimagines, and rearranges songs to such a degree that the original tracks become virtually unrecognisable. He has turned his controller into a particle accelerator, creating firework-like bursts of classic funk carioca samples, his own productions, mainstream tracks, nonsense TikTok sound bites, and tons of his trademark beat bolha. All contained within an unparalleled, mischievously non-linear rhythmic flow.

‘Ramon’s social network profiles are as outrageously unpredictable as his mixes. He posts interactive emoji games, bountiful fast-food feasts with his family, comments about the Flamengo football team, and videos of him playing FIFA. He has a prolifically restless mind, constantly riffing and improvising; he does whatever it takes to get by, to navigate the reality of life in Brazil and overcome the daunting challenges of the music industry.

‘Sexta dos Crias is the culmination of Ramon’s DJ work. A LP that embodies the newest in funk carioca, a faithful transposition of the bailes to vinyl. Ramon has unpretentiously ushered in a new age of experimentation for the genre – making a daring and unprecedented foray into a territory where extreme and radical sounds abound.’

This tape contains a recording of a live of NPLGNN recorded at Human Razzmatazz (Barcelona) on March 2023.Everything you hear it comes from two Korg Electribe EMX1 +Pioneer DJM900 NXS + Traktor.

To describe the sound it makes sense to bring back what was thepress release of “Sigma/Tau” the first record of NPLGNN releasedin 2014 on Where To Now? (RIP): “NPLGNN creates a less pampered style of body music, stripping away the usual signifiers such as melodies and basslines to create something more utilitarian, brutal and pure.

This is the pre-babel language of dance music - it's cadences are rhythmic and its meaning is comprehensible to all on an innate, primal level.”Ten years later this tape makes those words still remarkable to describe the sound of the Neapolitan head. Among a bunch of unreleased sounds you can go through all the NPLGNN recent records for LavaLava, Youth, Hundebiss and its own lathe cuts series dubbed here and there with vocal cuts intersections.

Coming off like the rude son of early ‘00s breakcore heroes, quotingthe Manchester Boomy heads, NPLGNN delivers a 45 mins mutant soundsystem recording. It's acid dancehall punk, amorphed ragga riddimz, or whatever you want to call it. 100% dancefloor melting .Ask Aphex Twin for a couple of IDs

With releases that have been heavily rooted in Glasgow's Southside, Full Dose take things international for the next release and invite Jamaican dancehall artist I Jahbar (SKRS, Duppy Gun) to showcase their talents over two versatile Brollachan productions.

Smokin' is a celebration of marijuana in the truest sense, with I Jahbar's potent delivery perfectly connecting to the bouncy dance floor riddim.

UFO is an altogether different prospect, the spaced out percussive production serves as a blank canvas for I Jahbar to make a call for peace, unity and love to overpower the corrupt forces at large here in 2023.

To close on either side are dubbed out, free-form remixes from Lvchessi, Full Dose's brother in sound."

Hustler Records announces THE DON as its debut release; a beast of a track, leaning more towards heavy breaks with a Ragga vocal and emotive strings. THE DON is all about remembering you are THE DON of your own life and you never walk alone.

THE RAGGA TWINS:
The Ragga Twins started out on London's Unity sound system, and are regarded as pioneer s of the scene. AllMusic called them "crucial cogs in the development of U.K. dance music.

LUSINDA:
One of the female DJ’s actively pushing boundaries and scenes forwards. Her eclectic taste in music overspills into her sets; ranging through anything bass heavy; House, old skool, Techno, Drum & Bass, UKG and Grime. She focuses on the raw end of the sound whilst still being both accessible and innovative. For more than 16 years DJ Lusinda has been djing around the globe; South America, Europe and USA.

Florentino announces Kilometro Quinze, a brand-new EP out 20 October. The five-song project will be Florentino’s debut EP on XL Recordings as part of the iconic house bag series. It includes the celebrated single “Constrictor (feat. BAMBII and KD One)” and a newly released single “Pressure” featuring the Mercury Prize-shortlisted multi-hyphenate, Shygirl.

Created over a three-year period between Manchester, London, Bogotá, New York, and LA, Kilometro Quinze features bold solo productions from Florentino (aka Yeshe Bahamon Beesley) alongside additional collaborations with Venezuelan-native Baby Cocada and fellow Sangre Nueva bandmate, DJ Python.

A direct reference to his grandfather’s farm near Villavicencio - a city in central Colombia where the Andes meet the plains of Los Llanos - Kilometro Quinze is a total realisation of the riveting, cross-culture club sound that Florentino has carefully constructed over the last few years. By drawing on the vast musical influences of his British-Colombian heritage, Florentino presents a unique sonic world where the darker acid tones central to Manchester’s underground club scene meet the irresistible swing of Latin American dance sounds. Kilometro Quinze is Florentino at the height of his powers as he releases some of his most captivating, innovative music to date.

2 jungle tunes, 1 drum & 1 dubstep. All ragga/hip-hop styles quiet old school tune. The F_king Finger is the masterpiece here. Good tune that would have deserved a better pressing. But that's not a mystery anymore...

Argent Sale welcomes Kaval for a strong third release on the label, presented in it's full artwork 12" vinyl copy.

Kaval has quickly risen among the heavyweights of the French bass music scene. Perfecting his MPC skills release after release, landing his productions on some of the finest outlets in the game: BBC radio, Rinse Fm, Boiler Room & Keep Hush.

Once again Kaval demonstrates his flawless control over percussion and rhythm as well as high levels of eclecticism: 'DRILL TOOL' is atmospheric and dark,

'WOODPECKER' is a straight up bongo-filled festival tune, 'MICRORIDDIM' is quasi- ambient, and last on the list 'SHAKER' built to mash up any club.

Enigmatic group known for their song Cumbia Del Desierto on a 12-inch vinyl they share with El Dragón Criollo at El Palmas Music. This song was played with fury by music lovers and collectors around the world.

Well, beautiful people La Jungla is back with the melody in this mini album titled De Borondo!!!

A cut of four songs where criticism, humor, experiences and good vibes are present throughout all the songs.



Come and we'll go De Borondo well, surely something cool is going to happen.

Amsterdam based Mausovic Dance Band make madcap music intent on expanding musical universes. Powered by elastic rhythms and some potent dub wizardry, the five-piece are synonymous with flipping global music traditions and creating new, sound-system stylised, synth powered, dance-floor experiments. Whilst their 2019 debut album on Soundway Records offered a frenetic mix, imbued by the Colombian champeta, Ghanaian highlife and spaced out disco, their new forthcoming album Buckaroo Bank, set for release on Swiss label Bongo Joe Records, feeds off the industrial sounds of New York City, post punk and early electronic explorers. At the very centre of the project is the dub, the Mauskovic echo chamber, guided by their universal hero Lee Scratch Perry and made possible by their studio friend Kasper Frenkel who provided the tools this new Mauscovic riddim philosophy. A proper family band (4 of them are related), and fronted by Nico Mauscovic who is also part of Zamrock touring band W.I.T.C.H., the group have released various singles since their debut album including on Berlin label Dekmantel and most recently, on experimental Swiss label Bongo Joe, their perfect home for brand new album Buckaroo Bank.

Soul Jazz Records new ‘Life Between Islands’ collection coincides with the launch of Tate Britain’s exhibition of the same name. This landmark exhibition explores the links between Caribbean and British art and culture from the 1950s to now.

Soul Jazz Records album, sub-titled “Soundsystem Culture – Black Musical Expression 1973-2006,” focuses on the most important Black British musical styles to emerge out of the distinctly Caribbean world of sound systems. The album features an all-star line-up including Dennis Bovell, Shut Up and Dance, Cymande, Digital Mystikz, Brown Sugar, Funk Masters, Janet Kay, Ragga Twins and more.

The album is a lightning-rod journey across Roots Reggae, Jungle/Drum & Bass, Jazz-Funk, Lovers Rock, Jazz, Dubstep and more. Much of Soul Jazz Records’ catalogue comes out of these genres and this album is partly an overview of some of Soul Jazz’s earlier releases (including Digital Mystikz’ long-deleted groundbreaking and now highly-collectible single, ‘Misty Winter’) alongside some choice rare and classic tunes that span over 30 years of sound system culture.

Many of the tracks represent how Black British artists defined their own identity with songs such as Brown Sugar’s righteous ‘Black Pride’, ‘I’m In Love with A Dreadlocks’ and Tabby Cat Kelly’s powerful ‘Don’t Call Us Immigrants’. Aside from being musically rooted in the distinctly Jamaican-born phenomenon of the sound system, much of this identity is also shaped by the triangular relationship of being British-born, of Caribbean heritage, and with an equal love of African-American Jazz, Funk and Soul, as evidenced with many Lovers Rock tunes reggae covers of American soul tunes (such as those of Jean Carn, William de Vaughan and Rose Royce featured here). This stateside influence can also be heard in groups such as the Funk Masters, a group formed by reggae radio DJ Tony Williams, whose jazz-funk music successfully crossed over into New York’s clubland, as well as the great Cymande, whose unique street-funk became staple material for numerous US hip-hop artists in the years that followed.

In the early 1990s, jungle and drum and bass artists took the essence of reggae’s soundsystem culture – MCs, dubplates, crews – and applied them to their own music, applying heavy reggae bass lines to intense double-speed drum breakbeats. At the forefront of this new movement were the duo Shut Up and Dance, working closely with The Ragga Twins, aka Deman Rocker and Flinty Badman, both MCs for North London’s infamous Unity reggae soundsytem. In the early 2000s, dubstep, spearheaded by Digital Mystikz, became the latest instalment in this ever-evolving soundsystem culture.

Fresh in from the powerhouse that is Bokeh Versions, we have a first time vinyl issue of two (future)classic Dancehall EPs from Kingston - RDL Shellah's 'Showcase' on one side, and G Sudden's 'Bunout Boss' on the other, with the elusive / productive SEEKERSINTERNATIONAL on production on both sides.

Here comes the first vinyl release from King Doudou’s DSMG Label, a transparent 7 inch designed to make you dance .

Taking hints from old school reggaeton pioneers like dj Blass or dj Negro, the french producer and dj gives us his version of a future facing reggaeton, El Sonido De La Nueva Generación .

The white side is an action packed, bass heavy reggaeton hybrid, mixing classic dembow rhythms with glitchy modular synths for a hectic ride .

On the black side, dj’s can find the drumapella, ideal for quickly adding some reggaeton drums to any track in their mix.

Enter a world of post-IDM, ambient and reggaeton, with a progression of deep synths, reverb, and percussion whose rhythms are born from the southern hemisphere. This is the world of DJ Python, a.k.a. New York based producer Brian Piñeyro, who also sometimes goes by Dj Wey, Deejay Xanax, and Luis. Making his Dekmantel debut with an extended EP of contemporary electronica, fashioned in his cult unique style, Python brings his deep-reggaeton style to the Dutch imprint.

With his first LP Dulce Compañia released in 2017, Python extended his cult status in the electronic music sphere with motives of ambient, and tropicale, all the time keeping his music deeply rooted in classic underground dance music. Along with a Breaking Through feature on Resident Advisor, an almost legendary appearance on Boiler Room — in which he ignited the room in Santiago with bellowing reverbs —, extensive touring, and a residency at New York’s Nowadays (healthy programmed by the team behind Mister Saturday Night), Python has dutifully snaked his way in today’s cult artist category. Making his next step with this six-tracker on Dekmantel, Python aggrandises his prestigious drum sequencing, merging the world’s of drone-driven electronica, cerebral synths, and steely out-of-this-dimension-dancehall.

The EP’s pening track 'Lampara' snakes and twists, like a rugged 90s London broken-beat, electronic exploration, evoking nostalgic feelings a la Boards of Canada. The retro aesthetic flows through with second track 'Tímbrame', where the tropical reggaeton percussion floats through wafty, deep synth melodies and chimes, like a vibey, emotive, come-down, get-down, post-party dancefloor filler. 'Cuando' steps up a gear, as the digital percussive rhythms go into overdrive, while 'Espero' goes all Gaussian, by offering a transportive, meditative expression. 'Be Si To' pulses into full Phython territory, chops-and-cuts-and-slices across a sleuth of Warping, proto-drones. The record’s final track 'pq cq' is a singular question mark about darkness, feeling, and trans-dimensional thinking, as the track shifts in-between kicks that feel one and the same between past, present, and the dub.

Repress Soon!

From the creator of Deep Reggaeton and the hit record "¡Estéreo Bomba! Vol. 1", DJ Python, returns with the first masterful full length album "Dulce Compañia". Comprised of eight ethe-real, banging hits of the most unique and thought provoking calibre - mixing Deep House, Shoegaze, Trance, and of course, Reggaeton - these songs-not-tracks slide over the Dembow in the unique way only Python can dream up. Rated E for Everyone.

Taking the tradition of Jamaican music to utilise the same rhythm tracks for infinitum, here, as an accompanying release to the boogie version of I've Been Waiting For You (ERC081), is a twist on that ideal, not using the riddim but an actual remake of the song, with a digital reggae cover of Glen Ricks' classic.

Released some 8 years after the Seraff Rec
ords single in 1991, the re-titled I Have Been Waiting saw Ricks team up with dancehall legend Philip "Fatis" Burrell and his Xterminator label.

Starting with the Kings & Lions label to release the likes of Sugar Minot and Tenor Saw, Burrell soon launched the Vena (1985) and then Exterminator (1988) - later Xterminator - labels as vehicles to the rising dancehalls stars, to much acclaim.

This limited 10" release showcases perfect digital re-versions, using Ricks' soulful vocals across a simple bells and horns topped "casio" riddim. The transference comes in traditional vocal and version, so who better to craft a special extended "digimix" than returning to the 'cut'n'paste' skills of DJ Duckcomb. Again he steps up, mixing seamlessly between originals, adding desk dubbing when required and bringing a new flavour to Emotional Rescue.

Dub, raggae, dubstep, dancehall... MC Taiwan under all influences ! Another groovy Chinese Man !

Repress – Raggatek power featuring Mandidextrous, Suburbass and... Vandal:)

Absolutely fire showcase of St. Lucia’s Kuduro Soca or “Dennery Segment” sound, a local style notorious for slack lyrics and its hi-NRG pace, here served up spicy as fuck by one of the Caribbean island’s premiere DJs for Uganda’s Nyege Nyege Tapes.

Packing pure heat from the town of Dennery in St. Lucia’s Mabouya Valley, DJ Chengz’ mixtape extends an unmissable introduction to Dennery Segment, a fast and grimy offshoot of the Angola “Hard ass” style of Kuduro that’s been banned in the region for its blend of salacious lyrics and rave-inciting rhythms. Also incorporating strong influence from Zouk and Lucian drums, Dennery Segment is a super strong example of punkishly road level party music from the Afro-Caribbean diaspora that highlights the pronounced, technoid Portuguese accent dominating global dancefloor dialogues right now.

Catching 67’ of rudely stripped down drum loops and hooks locked with MCs chatting sexually charged filth in Kwéyòl (Saint Lucian Creole), the mix arguably recalls the energy of Carnival as much as the grime and Soca that went into UKF, and bristles with the electric rawness of early Marfox and classic Príncipe. But the defining feature is really the raunchy lyrical content, working in a long tradition of XXX-rated Soca styles but with a bang up-to-the-second sense of economy and directness touching on everything from alcohol problems to “Sex like spaghetti”, and galvanised by the jabbing, gruffly rhythmelodic urgency of the productions.

Little known beyond the region, perhaps aside from diaspora carnivals in US and EU, the infectious percolations of Dennery Segment are bound to incite fervent reactions with all discerning dancers and listeners who love it as rugged and rawly stylish as it comes. DJ Chengz’ expertly selected and blended mixtape is the ideal entry point to Kuduro’s latest mutation for anyone with hips and ears attuned to thrilling new music from the tropics.

"Guitar/Rebellion

Darkside Kuduro continuum styles from Lisbon’s PML Beatz, racking up the heaviest Angolan-Portuguese gear this side of Nazar on their debut for Príncipe Lobbed from their respective bases in Lisbon and Luxembourg (one of the countries Portuguese have traditionally sought a better life), the three tracks of ‘Pedra de 800 Kg’ hustle a strong introduction to siblings Lisandro and Ivan aka PML Beatz.

Drawing on a shared Cape Verdean and Angolan heritage, the duo started producing in their early teens back in 2010, but got distracted, as teenagers are prone to do, before returning to the software circa 2017 with a little help from their their former neighbour and mentor, DJ BeBeDeRa - whose grinding tarraxhos have been issued on 7” by Promesses - to finally produce this killer trio of club workouts.

Hypnotic and hard in a signature Príncipe style that firmly resonates with SA Gqom, strains of syncopated UK Bass and mutations seeping out of all corners of the internet, the EP kicks off with a mesmerising mix of New Beat-esque choral drones with synthetic Berimbau-like riffs and flinty rhythm in No Cubau’, before ‘Manganza’ doubles down the darkness with murderous bass drones and distorted drops recalling Durban taxi techno vibes, and ‘Pedra de 800 Kg’ - so titled after their father’s motivational expression “That’s easier to lift than a 500 Kg rock” - recklessly pushes the dance to a steely, uptempo frenzy.

Thrilling dancefloor subcurrents from Egypt’s Mahraganat / Electro-Chaabi scene on this incredible compilation showcasing the main players and their percussive dialogue with the likes of Nervous Horizon’s DJ Plead and DJ Haram of Hyperdub and the DiscWoman collective. It’s a vital survey of some of the most thrilling and forward dance music you’ll hear this year - if you grabbed that insane 1127 LP on Nashazphone, DJ Haram’s Hyperdub debut, or any of Eek & Islam
Chipsy’s mad LP’s - this one’s pure fire.
Cairo Concepts is the first series dedicated to documenting the trajectory of the current, road-level Egyptian subculture known as Mahraganat. Like Nyege Nyege Tapes at the other end of the
Nile, down in Uganda, Cairo Concepts reveals thrilling club heat some from way off the usual roadmap, and the way in which it is directly influencing club music’s international hotspots. In a double refraction of influence, the local and international artists on ‘Cairo Concepts’ offer a global exchange of rugged bass pressure, ornate percussion and autotuned rap vocals.
Nervous Horizon’s DJ Plead provides two big highlights with the tucked 2-step and killer hand-drum fills of ‘Battiekh 3’ recalling Mutamassik’s classic ‘War Booty’ 12”, while her vinyl-exclusive
‘Ana Ho’ features Cairene MC Alaa 50 on a prime, Timba-style flip of Dr. Dre. And fresh from her wicked Hyperdub debut, DJ Haram follows suit with a strong vocal cut ‘Blessed’ starring a barking
Nustaliga over sizzling hi-hats, quaking bass and snake-hipped flute melodies, also included as a stripped down and useful instrumental.
Nustaliga also serves solo highlights with the swaggering nstrumental ‘Mezmar’ and the hard hunch of ‘Mahragan El Share3’, whose combo of buzzing horns and trilling drums should recall the street rave sound of Eek and Islam Chipsy, while 3Phaz tends to the set’s wildest moment with a blown-out banger ‘Phazbaz’ reminding of that amazing 1127 LP on Nashazphone, and Tor5y absolutely slays it with the stuttering drum and vocal edits of ‘Wala3.’

Another sure fire 7" from Home Hitters, bringing 2 more pure party starters to wax - this time focussing on when hip hop meets reggae

LTD to 300 / SPLATTER VINYL. Planet Mu Recording artist, Gobstopper label boss, and Boxed club night founder Mr.Mitch provides the third PRESSURE release of 2019. This strictly limited, blue and yellow splattered vinyl platter is futurist dancehall at its most exhilaratingly demented. Random synth patterns, chaotic bleep emissions and all round oscillating madness ensures this furiously fresh track, flows freakily, like a bogle frenzied droid transmitting from Kingston, Jamaica, year 2049. Kevin Martin aka The Bug, nagged Mitch into submission, to release this Acid Ragga killer, after the PRESSURE label CEO, heard ‘Not Modular’ standing out clearly from Mitch’s gobsmacking one hour ‘Techno Dancehall Mix’ at the end of 2018. And as a tribute to South East London don dada Mitch, The Bug himself decided to slice, splice and dice ’Not Modular’ into two additional atomised remixes. The Bug’s ‘Straight’ remix, is sub aquatic bashment, pulsating deeply from the bottom of the ocean, buried in a blizzard of white noise and disembodied, hypnotic chimes, with panic sirens set to stun. Whilst the ‘Raw remix’ is no less disorientating and funky, sounding like Lenky’s classic ‘Diwali’ riddim rewritten by an 808 clap addict, with hips set to full rotation. Conclusively alien and ridiculously infectious.

After teaming up with label boss Coco Bryce early last year, Dead Man's Chest aka Alex Eveson goes in for his first solo release on Diamond Life.

Drum Shanty is definitely the more rowdy one. Going straight for the throat with a ragga chant and gritty lofi drums, it'll surely get any party started in no time. It's rough and rugged, but still retains Eveson's trademark subtle style and flair.

Blue Mountain is a whole other beast. Its low pitched breaks and quirky melody make it sound more like a double tempo trip hop tune than the junglist skank outs you might expect from Dead Man's Chest.

Authentic 80's roots capturing the 70's vibes in solid manner. Female vocal on "Declaration of Rights" rhythm calling for repatriation although on the other hand a slick dancehall cut by Super Black on the very same rhythm.

Channel One artist The Jays' big dancehall tune for King Tubby. Although its pop element is clearly heard this one also consists of tougher side. Skillfully arranged in dancehall fashion yet deeply resonates with the spirit of roots reggae.

Tubbys, as well as Jammys tunes after the digital revolution, you can find many that sounds great but not all of them will stick to your heart forever. However this Michael Prophet digi killer comes with absolute presence and confidence reflecting his true soul.

Another unreleased material from Tubby's studio. Although dancehall was the thing back then this tune is going to another direction by drawing a great roots vibes.

Arguably one of the best King Tubby's digital known to mankind. Going through his tapes this was one of the earlier digital sessions took place at Tubby's dated 19th November 1985. Inner Vibes a.k.a. Dilly Dally lyrically unleashing his strong observation towards one woman. Tracks laid by King Asha and engineered by Peego & Fatman.

Pressure Sounds has thankfully made such a move away from the tired Record Store Day formula, to release a funk-alicious reggae box - for sale in Record Shops, at sometime near the end of April: Five stonking 7" from the house of Herman Chin-Loy.


Starting play with a Jamaican Funk banger, the wah-wah led, Temptations infused Medusa by H2O; the wild fuzz guitar of James Eastwood - a sublime cut of the Soul Vendors' Darker Shade Of Black; Chin-Loy himself as The Teacher, with a DJ cut of Augustus Pablo's East Of The River Nile; and Pablo in person performing two gracious gestures with his pipes, making this a box of sevens to cherish.

Pressure Sounds' screen-printer has gone into overdrive on this package, embellishing the box itself, also an enclosed poster, and a towel (tea towel to you). All this handiwork, and killer-no-filler sounds justifies the eye-watering price, there won't be many available, so get them while you can.

Washing the dishes will never be the same.