ZIF

Bluku Bluku, And Other D Double E Noise (Review)

Jake — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 23:44:01 +0000

Having spent the past few weeks in the Commonwealth I figured why not take a listen to a Canadian artist and review it . Well, that was easier thought of than done, sorry Canada, I’m not saying that there are not legitimate artists here, but your rappers are hurting now, and no, I will not listen to Classified. If you just peeped that Classified video, I’m sure we can say that I’m not completely unjustified in my harsh dismissal of the Canuck rap game, but it did result in me looking eastward across the Atlantic, where I stumbled across one of my favorite emcees from when Grime was God and Dizzee Rascal was the coming of Christ, I’m talking about D Double E. The Newham General has entertained club crowds for years, generating blood thirst from the thuggies attracted to his gun clap no-nonsense, whilst simultaneously wooing girls close to stage with his unique intonations and quite frankly, a little cheek. He has recently dropped a new EP titled Bluku Bluku, and yes Dizzee Rascal is on the project, track one in fact.

Bluku! Bluku! (feat. Dizzee Rascal)

The track is only seven tracks, and thankfully D Double E demonstrates more value on the rest of the project than his shared spotlight with Dizzee. To me the first track is a deference track, one where D Double E delivers a safe performance remnant of countless Rinse.FM freestyles, this always happens when a cleanup hitter is in the batters deck (sorry cricket fans). Dizzee brings it though, surprised to hear him on a hard beat like this, he’s been doing that funky house/pop thing so well [insert sardonic emoticon]

Lyrical Farda

Is D Double E the lyrical ‘farda’ of all of Grime’s children? No Timmy Westwood, assuredly not, but he does kill this track, specifically his ability to ride this beat with dead on delivery, his infamous emphasized tonality very much in play. Every bass hit is like a ballista, quickly followed with a powerful spear of lyrics, as he then slips into one of his better hooks.

Put Your Money On It

This track has a hook worth playing back just to hear the man fit all those damn words into it, but apart from that, I think this one was slippin’ a bit. Punitive repercussion, no DL link provided here for that one.

Let It Blow

This beat screams G Unit production team, of course it’s most likely a young East Londoner who was paid 100 quid or less for his troubles. But these are beats D Double E has no problems slaying, a relatively simple flow structure on this, he takes his time and dumps references that only older fans could truly appreciate, but an overall grime that any newcomer welcomes with guilty pleasure, like mud pies.

Be Like Me (feat. Smurfie Syco)

A money club track, if the club you go to is in the Dubstep business, but also prefers a little Hollywood pop in their mixes. Hmm, this track would do well at some dubstep clubs in Hollywood.

Flava

“Like a inner tube, I wanna pump her”, reasonable lyric! I am a huge fan of this track, these are the tracks that blow clubs up in L.A., bringing passionate female dance fans and shy fake thugs onto the dance floor, a place that D Double E fans know well.

Catch Me If You Can (feat. Example)

By no means a throwaway track, but this dude Example butchers the hook. Fuck, it’s off. D Double E does his best David Seaman impersonation, barely saving this one with some witty content.

Overall, this EP is worth the buy, it’s ZIF approved and filled with D Double E goodness. In all seriousness, if you appreciated grime in the early 2000′s and have had a soft spot for some of those former Lords of the Mic, no better place to start satiating that itch than right here with this EP.

Sammy G Dropping That ‘Sick Tape’ Soon (Cover Art)

Jake — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 18:57:49 +0000

Original & Dope Artwork by Cristin Tisdale

Yes, I will not deny it: Sammy G puts out projects when he feels like it, not when you tell him to. Having said that, here is the cover artwork for the upcoming Sammy G mixtape, aptly called Chemical Imbalance. Following the successful release of the first release off the project, “Stars Above”, it is with great anticipation that I release this new track, “Your bad”. Sammy spills some beans on this one, poignantly expressing the frustrations that come with being a young 20 something in a world as uninspiring as the one we have been waking up to recently. Though his struggles are surely subjective, if not overly private, his ability to manifest some of that angst on tracks like this is surely a positive sign for the content we can expect on this upcoming drop. Here’s to not blaming anyone but Sam when his project is enjoyed by many.

Sammy G – Your Bad

Look out for a tracklist this week. And the drop at the end of the month.

Friday Free Joints (Sexifying Piracy circa 2008)

Jake — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 20:37:29 +0000

Chaosphere and Datsik – Eradicate (DUBSTEP)

Rapid Ric – “All About My Change” Ft. Chamillionaire, Z-Ro, & Gerald G

Saigon – Drugs

Sizzla Kalonji-Whole World Is Watching (Feat. Peter Jackson)

Jah Army Riddim – Stephen Marley, Damian Marley & Buju Banton

Our Love Can Never Be

Jake — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 18:50:53 +0000

What was a meme, is now a t-shirt. We don’t get any proceeds out of this literal interpretation of our site, but I figure it would make a decent shirt for a child, hence the post. For the record, I could love a Zebra, a really hot one though, with slender striped legs that go for days.

M.anifest, Suffer, Remix

Jake — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 19:02:28 +0000

It’s been a good week on the Serengeti, plenty of herd animals grazing, I’ve been lucky enough to bag a few in my weekly hunt. Today’s catch comes from ZIF staple, M.anifest, actually it’s a remix of a track called “Suffer” which we showcased in April.

M.anifest – Suffer (M3NSA Remix)

Ghana is currently blowing up music wise, although that’s somewhat on the low (so don’t go Google search “Ghana music” and expect to understand). Specifically the rise of M.anifest(Minneapolis), M3nsa, Rocky Dawuni (Los Angeles), and home stay talent like Macho Rapper have all been featured recently on ZIF. Something about West Africa…roots?

Nasty Nas, Straight Nasty, Literally.

Jake — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 18:20:44 +0000

New Nas will make it onto the Serengeti everytime. This is the lead single off the upcoming Life Is Good LP. If the rest of the album is en par with this track, life in my Infiniti will be good when I’m bumping the living hell out of this living legend’s new album. Kids, don’t let the Wiz Khalifa’s of this rap game fool you, the legends are still very much relevant, ask your ears, son.

Nas – Nasty (Dirty)

ZIF Video Of The Week: Whole Foods Parking Lot [Mom Submitted]

Jake — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 15:25:27 +0000

I never heard of the cats that made this video (Fog and Smog), but I do live in West L.A., and I do frequent Whole Foods, thus, I hella relate to the content. Supposedly my mother does as well, props to her on the submission of this ever clever viral vid. Quinoa y’all!

Yo Lebronda! Too Many Urkels On Your Team, That’s Why Your Wins Low

Jake — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:10:18 +0000

Catch that “game” last night? Yeah, neither did the Heat. It’s funny that I thought my own personal hate for the Miami Heat, WAS in fact personal. Of course it wasn’t , and here is a great picture thread showing the creative extent of the Miami Heat hatred. In other hip hop/Dallas Mavericks news, Birdman lost a cool 2 million bucks on the Heat series, and Dallas rapper Dorrough looks like he want to parlay this franchise success into a franchise of his own.

Man I really can’t stand that team. Here is one more little dig, Deshawn Stevenson (Mavericks guard) wore a t-shirt to an after party yesterday, it had a pun, for those of you who can’t read the blurry TMZ pic, it says:

Hey Lebron! How’s My Dirk Taste?

Man I love a good pun. Somewhere out there Souljah Boy is reminding anyone who will listen that Deshawn Stevenson is his boy. In that same breath, somewhere out there Jay-Z is sleeping peacefully, resting his head on the lap of a goddess. The world goes on…

Friday Free Joints

Jake — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:20:52 +0000

Donwill, Che Grand, Von Pea, King Mez & Skyzoo - ”Without Hands” (Prod. By Veterano)

Jon Connor – Big City Dreams

Moe Green – 707

SkyZoo – For The Awake (featuring King Mez)

Strong Arm Steady – Love

Cee Lo Records The Hottest Record In The World?

Jake — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 17:06:05 +0000

I wonder how many of you know who the Band Of Horses are? Well, Cee Lo Green had heard of them, and did them the viral marketing solid of covering one of their tracks, “No One’s Gonna Love You”. The Seattle based band followed up with a little back scratching of their own when they went ahead and covered Cee Lo’s track “Georgia” off The Lady Killer album, oh yeah and they recruited the UGA Redcoat Marching Band to assist, reasonable! Both tracks are marvelous, BBC 1 called the Cee Lo cover “the hottest record in the world” , yikes, a little hyperbole never hurt anybody I suppose. Dope music though, and more importantly, breaking boundaries, crossing genres, this is how you make noise in the new millennium. Jesus, it’s laughable that I used to primarily identify Cee Lo as the vocalist for Goodie Mob, talk about the evolution of an artist.

Cee Lo Green – No One’s Gonna Love You (Band Of Horses Cover)

Band Of Horses – Georgia (Cee Lo Green Cover)

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