Zulu Nation Boxing Day Blog

Greetings Rap Fans and Hip Hop heads,

I hope you’re all having a grand festive season. My Christmas Day was punctuated by a number of Hip Hop artist’s calling me in varied states of inebriation either rapping or beatboxing down the phone to me whilst others called just to wish me well for  Christmas! It sure did make me smile!!

It’s been a highly productive year for UK Hip Hop which didn’t worry or pander to the charts or chase popularity. This was the year  that Hip Hop from the UK just got on with it. As a result we saw some amazing returns from our top homegrown established acts  such as Blak Twang and Roots Manuva. We saw our rising stars like Bashy and Estelle take it to another level and we also saw  some highly impressive debuts from a plethora of new rappers, MC’s and producers.

Join me Monday night as we look back at what was great in 2008! If you missed out it’ll be a good time to catch up! And you do  want to catch up as you do not want to get left behind in 2009!

Big shout to those last week who locked in from Australia and Holland! Send an e-mail to your crew and spread the word.

Zulu Nation Rap Show Playlist from 22nd December 2008

Gloria	Swift It Major
Murda	Klashnekoff
Be Like You	No Wonder
Speech Full of Wisdom	First and Last
Swagger!!	Poni feat Don Barak
Light Amusement	Skilf
Ital	Skuff and Inja
Rewind DJ	Eslam Jawaad feat De La Soul
So Hard	Blak Twang
With You	Ashley Walters feat Mutya Buena
The Light	V.B
Squidly	Teef and Toes
Inside Yourself	DJ Prone feat Sara Jay
Who Knows What	Brotherman
.
Tru Skool @ Night
.
Unity	Afrika Bambaataa and James Brown
It’s Not A Game	Pete Rock and CL Smooth
Fantastic 4	DJ Clue feat Cam’ron; Big Pun; Noreaga and Canibus
Triumph	Wu Tang Clan
.

Remember, if you are an artist and you recognise your peers in the playlist then you need to get at me with your material.

If you’re a listener then feel free to go through the playlist and research some of these artists and their music.

Keep supporting the show, keep supporting the music and keep supporting BANG Radio!!

Peace and blessings

TJ Chill Zulu Nation Rap Show, Mondays 10pm - Midnight

Hello from New York

Hi Guys,

Sorry for my lack of recent blogging! I’m currently in New York and have been checking out the music scene out here. Oh yeah, and the food!

I thought it was cold in London, I was wrong. It’s minus five in NYC and there’s a snow storm at the moment. Now don’t get me wrong i’m all for snow giving you that special Christmas feeling, but when it gets to the point where you can’t feel your toes, I tend to turn into the Christmas Grinch!

Here’s me walking the streets of NYC with my unsuitable new haircut:

Untitled from steve whiteley on Vimeo

A few weeks back DJ Nephu came onto my Sunday Showcase Sessions Show and played a sick set! He’s signed to NYC based Milkcrate Records, which is run by DJ/Promoter/Producer extraordinaire Aaaron La Crate.  I hooked up with Aaron the other day and he invited me to his and Mark Ronson’s party that they were both djing at in NYC. Talk about putting on a show! Apart from making the crowd go wild with their sets, the combination of acrobats and clips of old movies playing on big screens gave the finishing touch to the night. Check it out:

Untitled from steve whiteley on Vimeo

Will keep you updated on my travels. Hope you’re all having a good break!

Steve

Another Sick Show!

Another sick show from IronBraydz and Dj Bruce Wayne.

This week they had Nathan “Flutebox” Lee in the studio and they talked about they’re favourite RnB ladies like Left Eye, Christina Millian, Mel B, Aliyah, Alica Keys and Da Brat.

They played new tracks from the likes of Common, Jay-Z, Redman & Oh No, Rich boy, Jake One feat Royce da 59 and Elzhi.

With an amazing display of Nathan’s talent, Dj Bruce Wayne was left speechless.

Catch them next week playing the best of 90’s Hip-Hop and more interesting topics.

TJ Chill on Channel 4 Disgrace!

Season’s Greetings Party People! This week I’m bah humbug at Channel 4!! But first, before the rant, the  playlist:

Zulu Nation Rap Show playlist from 15th December 2008

Track	Artist
Vibes	Demon Boyz
We Gonna Win	Blak Twang
The Real Hip Hop	Mecca 2 Medina feat The Jamat, Blind Alphabetz, Unified Mind, Masika, and Poetic Pilgrimage
Gloria	Swift It Major
Here I Go	Pyrelli
Best of British	Arms Length
M.O. part ll	Ashley Walters
Sounds Like	Gee Bag
Tell Them	Cappo and Stylee Cee
Let the Drums Speak	Funkshone
I Have a Dream	2K
I’m in Love	Baby J feat Ironbraydz and Mellow Baku
England	Jimmy Screech
Hunger Pain
.
Tru Skool@Night
.
Going Way Back	Just Ice
Conscience Be Free	Gangstarr
Alright	Afrika Bambaataa and Time Zone
Mind Playing Tricks On Me	Geto Boys
.

I trust you are in healthy, festive spirits and if you aren’t then just click on the ‘Listen Live Now’ button on the right of the page to let BANG Radio get you feeling  good.

Now, the rant! My rant! In this week’s playlist I spun the one and only Pyrelli who you may have seen get voted off last week’s Orange  Unsigned Act on Channel 4.

First and foremost lets state the facts. Pyrelli is an amazing UK Hip Hop lyricist/performer/artist! I personally believe that as long as he was  doing black music on that show, in front of that judging panel he was never going to get through! Period! Let me break it down for you and  address the culprits involved.

Judge number 1, Alex James, former bassist from Blur.
Alex only speaks in terms of bands (which I interpret as guitar bands). Shame  on you for exercising your ignorance and saying with regards to Pyrelli’s tight performance that “I don’t like the ‘wiggy wiggy’ “, referring to  the live cutting and scratching that Pyrelli’s DJ was skillfully doing. Even I would say that these things need to be measured, but it was,  and as Pyrelli said (making no apologies) “it’s Hip Hop baby!!” POW! Sit down Alex, back to your farm with you!! (Yes, Alex James as well  as being a BRIT POP ‘legend’ does now own and live on a farm - good for him)

Right next. Judge number 2, Simon Gavin.
It was nice that you stuck up for Pyrelli and the scratching, I know who you are but for the majority of the Hip  Hop world and even wider than that, the whole black music world, WHO ARE YOU??!! You do not have the credentials to be a fair judge to  an artist like Pyrelli. POW to Orange, Channel 4 and everyone else who put you Simon in that awkward position!!

And finally judge number 3. The lovely, but not on this occasion, Lauren Laverne.
Now I know that you, Lauren, know your stuff and you are a lot deeper  than most know about you on your knowledge and appreciation of the UK Hip Hop scene. You should have fought to keep Pyrelli in the  contest on principle and show protest against how that programme is set up to make any young talent that isn’t wielding a guitar fail and as  a result, look silly on national TV. You should have thrown something at the camera, kicked over a chair and walked off in a huff. Lauren  Laverne, on this occasion, I’m very disappointed in you. POW to you too!

A few points in conclusion. Firstly don’t front Orange/Channel 4. call the show Orange Unsigned Band, not Orange Unsigned Act! Tell it like  it is. This whole episode with Pyrelli has just exposed your see through intentions! You’re looking for electric guitar bands not truly any unsigned act. Secondly, if Channel 4 is so into the music game with ventures such as 4 Music, then why does a top UK Hip Hop artist like Pyrelli  have to jump through hoops on a talent contest (!!) to get a tiny bit of air time! May I make a humble suggestion that you have another  show that isn’t swamped with Marshall guitar amps where a UK Hip Hop act can actually stand a chance of appealing to the audience  in their own right. In fact, looking across the schedules of Channel 4, E4, More 4, Film 4 and 4 Music, I don’t see anything there that  represents ANY UK Black music let alone UK Hip Hop. And I openly invite Channel 4 to respond to this and correct me if I am wrong.

Back in the day Channel 4 used to represent Black with The Cosby Show, Club Mix, Desmonds, Porkpie, Sister Sister even Bookside  represented. Now….???!!!

The thing with UK Hip Hop is, it isn’t even entirely a black thing! Of course it comes from a black/Hispanic thing (never forget the  Latino Hip Hoppers!) but most UK Hip Hop promoters, distributors, record labels, magazines and a whole stack of artists and DJs are not  black! So TV people, I’m not suggesting you would, but you can never use the race card to explain why there is no platform on TV for  talented UK Hip Hop artists to shine. I understand you may not have anyone in your ranks that understands UK Hip Hop but that’s no  excuse either. Holla at me and I’ll hook you up with a tonne of capable, professional, educated and experienced individuals and organisations  within the UK Hip Hop genre.

I was genuinely angry to see what happened to Pyrelli on Channel 4’s Orange Unsigned Act. He should not have been on that show. Even  if he wanted to. If things were right he should have his own show. It was a disgrace to the UK music industry. On the Zulu Nation Rap  Show we go out of our way to expose and support up and coming talent and even established talent. What may come across as my over  the top outrage actually leads me to a serious social point.

Zulu Nation do lots of work on street level in the community with young people. From the work I have done in that capacity I firmly believe  in young people in the UK. I believe that all they need is a real chance and sustainable opportunities. Lots of young people in urban areas  take to Hip Hip as a way to express themselves and for many including myself it was a way to stay on the street without getting caught up  or taken out by street activity. What I felt Channel 4 did with that show (intended or not) was to send a message to up and coming UK  Hip Hop artists that the best you can ever achieve is to appear on a talent show! And there lies the root of my outrage. Given that option, is  it any wonder that some of our talented young folk are hooding up and turning to what they are turning to!

Pyrelli will continue. He was extremely gracious in the light of this tv injustice. Catch him on the Food 4 da Brain mixtapes (another Zulu  Nation venture via my Zulu brother Biggerman). Alternatively keep listening to the Zulu Nation Rap Show!

Lots of food for thought in this week’s blog. I should also say, that all the views expressed are held by me personally and are not the  expressed views of BANG Radio. (I so want a response from Channel 4!!). Have a great festive season everyone!!

Remember, if you are an artist and you recognise your peers in the playlist then you need to get at me with your material.

If you’re a listener then feel free to go through the playlist and research some of these artists and their music. Keep supporting the show,  keep supporting the music and keep supporting BANG Radio!!

Peace and blessings

TJ Chill

Yolanda Brown on Soul-D Out

Please note that this interview has a date change
It will now take place on Monday 29th December at the same time

Catch MOBO Award winning, leading jazz saxophonist, Yolanda Brown on award winning BANG Radio this Monday 29th December. Yolanda will be live in the studio with D’NYCE on her Soul-D Out Mondays show between 7 - 9pm.

Yolanda Brown can only be described as a uniquely delectable recipe of beautiful music…. Take a jug of Jazz, two teaspoons of Soul and a twist of RnB… then add a cup full of Gospel, a sprinkle of Reggae and a pinch of Latin… served with Raw Emotion… There you have the Yolanda Brown sound

Yolanda has said her main aim through her music is to “make the saxophone her voice” . Yolanda is as comfortable re-interpreting a current chart-topper, as she is reprising a Jazz standard or launching into an original composition. Always in evidence is her raw emotion which has become synonymous with the Yolanda Brown sound.

Born and raised in London, Yolanda Brown has grown up surrounded by an eclectic mix of music, the influences of which can be heard in every breathe she plays and in every note she writes. She references Jazz, Afro-Jazz, Gospel, Reggae, Salsa, Hip-hop, R&B, with consummate ease, even going back to Mento throughout her performances, but her style and phrasing always remains her own.

With such a musically diverse DNA to her soul, is it any wonder that Yolanda Brown touches so many people through the voice of her music!

For more information about Yolanda Brown, visit her website and MySpace

Keep it Movin with Donae’o

Donaeo will be joining Gus Hall and the Keepin It Movin team on Saturday 20th December 2008 from 12pm - 2pm for an interview and up date on his career thus far.

If you ask anyone to name the biggest club floor-fillers this year, then guaranteed Devil In A Blue Dress would be one of most people’s top choices. The infectious funky house stunna of a track with its perfect concoction of sweet Latin percussion, addictively pulsating drums and buttery smooth vocals, continues to be a huge draw six months after it was first distributed to DJs and record shops as a white label

The man behind the hit is 25 year old Donae’o, who has been making music for nearly ten years. His follow up white label  single African Warrior has also taken the underground by storm. His previous underground hits My Philosophy (Bounce) and Falling, alerted music fans to him while a guest spot on The Streets Fit But U Know It remix and a further collaboration with Wiley added more weight to the up-and-coming star. He also recently wrapped up a remix with Craig David and has penned a song for former Mis-Teeq star Sabrina Washington’s new solo project.

However it is the formidable Devil In A Blue Dress that has really put the young crooner on the map, storming radio airwaves, car stereos, club dance floors and hype crowds from Glastonbury to Aiya Napa. It also landed him a Best Dance Act nomination at the Urban Music Awards (UMAs) in November 2008.

Donae’o, who grew up in north west London, decided (after a string of management deals and singles releases with varying success), to take on this latest project by himself, sending out the record to everyone from DJs to record shops at the tail end of last year. The result? The biggest song to hit the clubs in 2008, and a firm favourite with revelers and top DJs like Trevor Nelson, Steve Sutherland, Masterstepz, and Ras Kwame.

Devil In A Blue Dress finally gets an official release date very soon. For more information see MySpace

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