The homie DJ Khaled has now woven himself into the tapestry of contemporary Hip Hop, the Miami native has been releasing music for the best part of a decade. A multi faceted music pioneer, embracing production, social media guru and recording artist. DJ Khaled is a multi-platinum award winning recording artist whose music has defined Hip Hop and R&B for the past decade.

Referred to in the music industry as the ‘Quincy Jones Of Hip Hop & R&B’, Khaled has made dozens of chart topping hit records featuring collaborations with the greatest names in rap music. His most recent (eighth) studio album, I Changed A Lot (October 2015), entered the Billboard Independent Albums chart at #1 and R&B chart at #2.

His Snapchat account (@djkhaled305) has over 6+ million followers devoted to his inspirational quotes on achieving success in life.

DJ Khaled released his debut, Listennn… The Album in 2006, coinciding with the launch of his independent label, We The Best. His inked his first major distribu­tion deal for We The Best with Def Jam in 2008, and continued to have very successful albums with 2010’s ‘All I Do Is Win’ followed by ‘I’m On One’ in 2011.

The lead single from his new album is ‘We Got The Keys’ Feat Jay Z and Future ! it’s absolutely huge at urban and pop radio worldwide.

Click the pic below to watch the video :-

Collab’s on the album include Nas, Big Sean, Nicki Minaj, Travis Scott, Drake, Kendrick Lemar and Movado to name but a few. This will surely be a huge international release for We The Best/ Black Butter / Sony Music..

I got ‘I Got The Keys’ / ‘Nas Album Done’ and ‘Holy Key’ on repeat !!

To date, Khaled has sold over 15 million singles worldwide..

Socials :-

@djkhaled

@wethebestmusic

@thadboogie

The Recipe DXB are a three man rap collective from Dubai, they initially set up their promotion entity to bring together like minded Hip Hop personnel from within the United Arab Emirates region. The movement gained momentum and a fully fledged mixtape was the result, The Recipe Mixtape.

Live shows and events ensued and to present day, they now operate an independent record label and release artist projects from within the region.

Their new single is a rollercoaster of lyricism, they have collabed with Brooklyn legend Talib Kweli and Spark Master Tape. Produced by Brvnjes, DJ Cuts By Rone Jaxx and Exec prod by by Shero and my good homie DJ RD of WuTang Coalition DJ’s.

Click the image below to listen to The Recipe Feat Talib Kweli & Spark Master Tape – Place To Rest :-

Socials :-

@therecipedxb

@talibkweli

@sparkmastertape

@thadboogie

@iamdjrd

Oh Happy days !!!

The homie, Lowkey after a self imposed retirement from the rap game is scheduled for a return to the music industry. A thought provoking rapper, he has been releasing music for more than a decade. The early naughties were spent rhyming with the crew ‘Poisonous Poets’ and independently releasing a series of classic mixtapes which led to European tours and collabs with the likes of Immortal Technique and Dead Prez.

A passionate and vocal story teller of Iraqi descent, Lowkey released ‘Long Live Palestine’ in 2009 with features from rappers heralding from Iraq, Iran, Palestine and Syria. The EP was met with widespread music and political recognition and spawned what was to be his debut album ‘Soundtrack To The Struggle’.in 2011.

The next four years were his enforced retirement to pursue his academic studies and in recent happenings the imminent September tour was announced in conjunction with a brand new song and video. It’s a very thought provoking rap narrative depecting the plight and suffering of innocent and vulnerable children caught up in war.

Click the image below to watch Lowkey Feat Mai Khalil – Ahmed video :-

Check out Lowkey on tour :-

 Socials :-

#Lowkey

@Thadboogie

@GlobalFaction

I grew up dancing, there was always a piece of lino in da endz in my youth, I also grew up with an intense passion for collecting music and what has subsequenty been referred to as ‘crate digging’.

An avid collector of jazz, funk, soul, disco, breaks and Hip Hop and still superfluously impressed from the rhymes and beats of Tribe’s 1993 ‘Midnight Marauders’ album; only added to my zeal for the culture. So we hit 1996 and I’ve just left Wyldpytch Rekords in Soho, to work as A&R manager at Universal Music. Tosh Darg, the marketing manager at Jive UK hit up all us DJ types with the brand new and fourth Tribe Called Quest album ‘Beats, Rhymes & Life’.

At that period of Thadboogie life I was both promoter and DJ at 3 central London night clubs and even though embracing the classic sample heavy boom bap style of previous albums.. club bangers like ‘1nce Again’, ‘Phony Rappers’, ‘Get A Hold’ and ‘Stressed Out’ embraced a newer influence / a different bounce and head nod to their production.

With the introduction of new production beat making entity ‘The Ummah’ comprising of Q Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jay Dee aka J Dilla’, the sound was darker and  interspersed with some RnB’esque jems. This was a signifying moment in propelling the career of a certain Detroit beatmaker J Dilla.

Click the photo below to listen to Detroit rapper Phat Kat ‘Talk’s Dilla’ :-

We’re now celebrating 20 years since the release of ATCQ – Beats, Rhymes and Life and sadly both J Dilla and Queen’s native Phife Dawg have now both deceased.

Click the photo below to watch Phife Dawg’s perform at his last UK show @ The Jazz Café in 2015

To honour and celebrate the legacy and catalogue of arguably one of the most important rap groups in Hip Hop’s culture, New Balance the global sporting brand have issued a sneaker to mark the 20th year anniversary of ‘Beats, Rhymes and Life’ 

Socials :-

@Thadboogie

@atcq

@OfficialDilla1

@iamthephifer

@newbalance

oooh weee; what a week (Ghostface voice)

So in my capacity as committee member for the Camden Crawl Music Festival and Event Booker / PR for the Jazz Cafe over the last few years I have become very familiar with the LIVE music scene in CTown.

Koko venue kicked off a legendary week with north London grime MC Skepta headlining on May 9th, with literally a few days notice he managed to sell out the venue which coincided with the launch of his brand new album Konnichiwa. After a monumental year which has seen him do headline shows in north America and achieve huge PR globally, Skepta embodies the DIY attitude of artistry; with genuine support from his luminars… he was joined on stage by Wiley, Novelist, Giggs, Chip, Frisco, D Double, Shorty, DJ Maximum and his brother JME to name but a few. In this week’s CIN Official UK album charts Skepta was holding the #1 spot, selling a few thousand more copies than Beyonce’s ‘Lemonade’ album at  #2. It’s a huge achievement for his BBK (Boy Better Know) independent record label.

Click the pic below to watch Skepta perform ‘That’s Not Me’ :-

A few days later May 11th Koko hosted the south London rap collective Section Boyz, a rescheduled date from the previous month. Winning the MOBO Awards last year for ‘Best Newcomer’, performing with Skepta and Canadian rap superstar Drake this year after the Brit Awards and being featured on Chris Brown’s new mixtape ‘Before The Trap’ the venue was easily packed. The UK Rap/Grime scene showing it’s unity; support came from Krept & Konan, Stormzy, Faze Miyake to name a few.

Click the pic below to listen to Chris Brown Feat Section Boyz & Quavo – Whippin’ :-

 Click The pic below to watch Section Boyz – ‘Lock Arff’ :-

So on Thursday May 12th me and the homie from Capital Xtra, DJ Abrantee roll through Koko for Wretch 32 & Avelino’s ‘Old Flame’ headline show. Even from outside the venue was busy, peppered with a host of UK music officianodos. Wretch 32 with many UK chart records under his belt went back to back with Avelino and stage support was an incredibly tight band, DJ Smasherelly and DJ Manny Norte, Ghetts, Swiss, Angel, Wstrn to name a few. Wretch lead a moving tribute to music industry A&R/Manager Richard Antwi who passed away tragically earlier this year.

Salutes to Koko London for embracing UK Rap/Grime culture in such a positive form 🙂

 Click The pic below to watch Wretch 32 ‘Don’t Go’ :-

Socials :-

@skepta

@maximumbbk

@sectionboyz_

@wretch32

@OfficialAvelino

@Smasherelly

@MannyNorte

@KokoLondon

@Thadboogie

Krash Williams and Elements began working together as part of a team that toured prisons across the UK doing urban music workshops. Their musical ties soon developed beyond this sparking collaboration which led to energetic adrenaline pumping PA’s in local underground spots from London to Manchester.

The Astronauts and Crosses EP is space-aged wave rap that combines futuristic, spaced out beats with
painfully honest lyrics. The tracks have been carefully crafted from the ground up in order to maintain creative
sanity in the face of the daily grind. The deep, trapped out production goes hand in hand with truthful lyrics
that reflect the ups and downs of everyday life, touching on struggles, ambitions and fatherhood. Sonically, the
record combines hard-hitting drums and wavy, tripped out synths with a touch of the more nostalgic boom bap
sounds of the golden age. All this blends together to take you on a trip to outer space, through the
constellations of your soul.
Krash Williams is a rapper and creative hailing from North West London who has consistently shown his versatility, lyrical ability and out-of-the-box style having written, directed and performed the Rap Opera #BareShook based on teen
pregnancy. This led to him becoming a resident presenter and the official voice of Westside Radio 89.6FM.
Elements a rapper, producer and DJ hailing from the North West of England is a true triple threat.
His thought provoking lyrics have depth with flows to match, and his production style is vast with beats ranging from the nostalgia of the golden era to wavey synth based cuts that sound bang up to date. On a production tip Elements was also the winner of the soleheaven.com Remix Battle competition which saw him beat 70+ producers to win a years supply of fresh kicks.

Musically very adventurous, embracing the facets of Hip Hop with a unique British slant and embodying the facet of lyricism in this body of work. Current favourites on rotation are ‘Reboot’ and ‘Astronauts & Crosses’. The whole project released independently on April 29th 2016 is very good and deserves much exposure.

Listen to Krash X Elements – ‘Astronauts & Crosses’.

Socials :-

@ImKrashWilliams

@Elements1070

@Thadboogie

New album ‘Shards of Memories’ releasing April 18th 2016, marks the 10 year anniversary since the release of Ghost’s critically acclaimed debut album ‘Seldom Seen Often Heard’.

Starting his musical journey at Itch Fm with UK Veteran Disorda in 2001, Ghost went on to host his own radio show for 5 years in a time considered a golden era for UK Hip Hop. In 2003 Ghost released his first record, ‘Ghost Stories EP’. Over the next 6 years followed 4 videos, 3 albums Seldom Seen Often Heard (2006), ‘Freedom of Thought’ (2009), ‘Postcards From The Edge’ (2011), 4 EP’s, a 7″ single, a mix CD, guest production and remix work for the
likes of Verb T (Four owls) Kashmere (Strange U), Bonobo, The Heavy, Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators.

Ghost is one of a handful of UK artists to have his music licensed in Japan; this led to 2 album releases for Japanese markets only. Over the years Ghost has carved out a sound which is very much his own, thoughtful emotive laden Hip Hop beats and Instrumentals. Not just loops but heavily composed arrangements drawing the listener in to the music, multiple listens are required to hear everything that’s going on.

On ‘Shards’ Ghost continues his own journey with a mix of past and contemporary Hip Hop sounds, live instrumentation, a hint of orchestral and blues vibes. Ghost has pulled together another masterful soundtrack. The key focus was to give the listener a journey through the album. This isn’t a mish mash of guest features that don’t work as a collection of music. An album is a true test of any artist; an album takes time, planning and patience.‘Shards of Memories’ features the cream of UK Rap including Cappo, Verb T, Joker Starr, Benny Diction and Kal Sereousz and Efeks. It features two of Dublin’s finest in G.I. and Lethal Dialect, plus Australian legend Brad Strut and Aeryz from NZ.

In keeping with a Ghost tradition the album also features 3 instrumental tracks, a style which earned Ghost much praise for his mostly instrumental 2nd album ‘Freedom of Thought’.To make the project even more unique, Ghost himself created all 3 music videos to mark this 10 year anniversary.

Cutting his teeth making the ‘Prawns’ music video for Dirty Dike’s recent album and videos for Aussie heavyweight Briggs, Ghost show’s his creative side extends beyond music, now a talented director, cameraman and editor working as a freelance Creative Video Production freelancer.

Click the image below to watch ‘Worship’ from Ghost’s ‘Shards Of Memories LP’ :-

Socials :-

@musicbyghost

@thadboogie