Foundation

Here in the UK, October is designated 'Black History Month'. Personally, I'm quite ambivalent about the whole thing. On the one hand, I totally understand the reasoning behind it. As an Afrikan (my preferred expression for 'Black people') myself I am well aware of the injustices and disparity suffered by Afrikans throughout the ages and that things have hardly improved even today. I also have personal experience of the so called 'education' shitstem in this country and, from this experience (and I accept that this was a good few years ago), I know that in History lessons Africa and its inhabitants were only referred to in connection with slavery and the 'Scramble for Africa'. Perhaps things have moved on since my school days but I seriously doubt it.

On the other hand, by adopting this one month per year to highlight the historical achievements of Afrikans, we're almost giving permission for 'Black History' to be ignored for the other eleven months. Also, those that have a genuine interest in 'Black History' will seek it out regardless of what the calendar says, and those that have an interest in keeping Afrikans down will use 'Black History Month' as fuel for their Fascist fire - "Why do the niggers get their own month?" "What have they done to deserve it?" et cetera, et cetera...

Anyway, regardless of my personal misgivings, I'm still pleased to see a group of (comparatively) young folks making the effort to change history back to mystory. I would have been even more pleased if they'd managed to include contributions from some of our sisters but you (or me in this case) can't always get what you want.

On a completely different subject, you may recall me telling you about Dray Delta and his Flow Reel Two mixtape earlier this year. One of the tracks on it was an amusing beseech by Dray to the women who wear ill fitting Ugz (or however it's spelled) to stop it. Fdot1 took it upon himself to inject a layer of quality into the production that was lacking from the original mixtape version, which leads us neatly to the video above.

I confess to being very ignorant when it comes to Scottish Hip Hop, so I have no clue whether Madhat Mcgore is a big name, small name or no name at all up there. However, I don't really give a fuck about a person's reputation, especially in the music game. While I don't think that this is the best thing I've ever heard, it is very far from the worst and, IMO, is at least worth a listen or two.

Enough from me for another week, but please feel free to keep me up to date with whatever project you're working on by hitting me up on Twitter or Facebook.

One Love, Spy!

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Web 2.0

It's been a long while (too long?) since I've posted anything to this blog. The reasons are several (most of them Federal © P.E.) and include the disappearance of Melody One, the internet station that I was broadcasting on. However, before the station disappeared, I had already stopped broadcasting (albeit only temporarily, or so I thought) due to a combination of poor health and problems with my ISP.

During this time out my wife and I had a little discussion along the lines of me agreeing to completely redecorate what was the 'control room' of my 'studio' and in exchange I would be able to move the whole kit and caboodle into a larger room at the back of the house. So that's what happened; I completely emptied and redecorated the smaller room (from carpet to ceiling) and then proceeded to put my 'studio' back together in a one room scenario, i.e. in future the vocalists/performers and I will be in the same room together.

Being the king of originality that I am, I called the 'old' studio "The Web" - Spy da Man, geddit? "Web 2.0" will be more productive, if you'll pardon the pun, than the old one was, certainly toward the end of it's days anyway. As the images depict, I am also ready to pick up where I left off in terms of internet radio - much easier access to my records and much more space and comfort all around.

So my next quest is to find a station that will take me as I am or, if I'm not able to do so, set up my own station. The problem with the second option is the consumption of time and money that it will require in order to do it properly. I don't want to start something and then not be able to see it through. On the other hand, if I'm controlling it I won't be subject to the whims of others.

We'll see how it goes but in the meantime I'm going to concentrate on putting some more beats together and see where that road takes me.

As you know, if you've paid any attention to my previous posts, I also have a day job and, without giving away too much, it involves working with disadvantaged young people. One of the things that we do to redress the balance is to organize group activities for them. So, combining my love of music with the work that pays for my music was a no-brainer for me.

During my hiatus from the blog world I arranged for a small group to visit and record at Fdot1's "Lil' Rock Studio" over the course of a couple of days. It's one of the best experiences we've had in a group activity and that's all down to the wonderful hosting (and producing) skills of Fdot1. I seriously can't big him up enough for all the time and effort he put into those two days, especially considering his personal discomfort at the time. So partly in way of thanks and partly because I love this track to the bone, here is the video for the Vivid Beatz produced 'She's So...' from the album 'Money MusicK'. Enjoy!

One Love, Spy!

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The Unclean

As the anticipation for 'Money Musick' heightens, Fdot1 attempts to appease his fans with the release of his 'So Grimey' E.P., which contains 'Gal Ah Bawl', 'Fyaahh..!!!' and, my personal favourite from the set, 'Put It On Ya' alongside the title track.

The above video contains many cameos which include a name that readers of this blog should recognize, Configa, who has worked with Fdot1 many times before on each others' projects. This is the version without the questionable rubber utensils. Thankfully, I haven't seen the other one yet and long may that remain the case...

Anyway, below is the video for 'Fyaahh..!!!' taken from both the EP and the album and on a completely different tip from 'So Grimey', illustrating the diversity of sounds and styles that have gone into 'Money Musick'.

I know it seems like only yesterday that Cyclonious dropped his 'Escape To Reality' mixtape and he's already released another one, this time in collaboration with producer 42nd Chamber called The Warrior & The Blacksmith'. 'Never Lose Your Passion' (below) is one of only nine tracks on this mixtape, a much more compact offering than the aforementioned previous effort, but what it lacks in quantity is made up for in quality.

As you will see or have (not) heard, I was unable to broadcast on Friday. This pissed me off as I was dieing to drop some of the new Pharoahe Monch album I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully, everything should be back to normal this coming Friday and I can do the show I had planned for this week then. As always, if you want to listen to and/or download any of my shows they can be found here, but be warned they're not available indefinitely.

Before I go, here's a further appeal to please join the Campaign for Justice for Smiley Culture and for my Twitter fam to follow @Justice4SmileyC and @merlinemanuel. Thank you.

Track list:

Saturday 26/03/11

Dancin' To The Beat - Henderson & Whitfield
Tell Me What You Want - Loose Ends
Main Thing feat. Kim Marsh - Shot
Always There - Willie Bobo
Always There - Ronnie Laws
You Can Do It (It's So Easy) - Dino Terrell
Push Come To Shove - Freddie McGregor
To Be Poor Is A Crime - Freddie McGregor
To Be Poor Is A Crime - Still Cool
Long About Now - Tinga Stewart
Fool For You - Peter Hunnigale
Sweet Slumber feat. Duane Stephenson - Leontre
Brave Ones - Kymani Marley
Take Control - Protoje
Rise Up - Ce'cile
Love - Sophia Squire
Fight Dem Off - Doniki
Make Love To Me - Jill Francis
Share My Love - Betty Wright
Stay A Little While - Gerald Alston
I'll Do Anything For You - Michael Wycoff
Put Yourself In My Shoes - Obenewa
Zoom - Commodores
Eye To Eye - Gary Taylor
You Did It Good - L.A. Boppers
Love At Dawn - Anne G

One Love, Spy!

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Bring me a dream

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It's been a while since my last post, during which there's been plenty happening and at the same time practically nothing.

The more observant among you will have already noticed that I'm no longer a presenter on Jam1Online. I'd love to give you the reasons for this in detail, but the truth is I'm just as clueless about this turn of events as you are. In fact, I still haven't officially been told that I'm sacked - the last three or four 'communications' with the station were from me and still haven't been answered, go figure?

Anyway, I haven't been resting on my laurels and hope to make an announcement about my new station and shows early in the New Year.

In the meantime, let me tell you about Homeboy Sandman. I first stumbled upon his work about three years ago via thesixtyone, an interesting website that incentivizes it's users to seek out new/unknown music and, coincidently, the same place where I 'discovered' Ashy L Bowz, Kokayi, 100 Akres and others. The Queens' emcee is due to appear live on 22/01/11 at Koko, 1A Camden High Street, London NW1 7JE for Giles Peterson's Worldwide Awards.

Something else to look out for next year is the release of Fdot1's 'Money MusicK' the follow up to 'Part Of Me'. Fdot1, formerly known as Floriginul, has almost finished the new album featuring vocals by Stat-Us, 2Amplified, Malarchi, Dray Delta, Kyra Simone and Lil' Flo. Beats and production on the album is mainly by Fdot1 himself but also includes contributions from Vivid Beatz, Strat Carter and Malarchi.

If you want to hear how it sounds so far, you can visit Fdot1's Soundcloud page to listen to the snippets. Particular favourites of mine include 'She's So' (composed by Vivid Beatz), 'Luv Don't' feat. Kyra Simone and 'Make Sum Noise' feat. Malarchi and Dray Delta (and even Fdot1 will admit that Dray's verse rivals Luca Brazzi for deadliness). Just in case you haven't heard/heard of 2Amplified before, check out their video for 'A Woman's Scorn' below.

That's it for this post (and probably for this year too), so till the next time enjoy the festivities, enjoy your life and keep safe.

One Love, Spy!