New York Hip-hop & Welsh Music
I left you guys hanging a little bit after my daily New York posts recently. I meant to do a blog for the last day with a bit of a round up but by the time I got home, jetlag and fatigue smacked me round the chops and laid me out for a few days. I’m still not properly recovered but since then I have: been on the telly; popped to Green Man festival a couple of time to watch DEVO, Horace Andy, The Allergies and Aleighcia Scott; contributed a few tunes to the latest episode of Cwm Dancing; built a Spotify playlist of noughties DNB classics; had a story I sent to Cymru Nation posted; and started back at work full time, so that final post just eluded me. So as a way to wrap up my time in New York, I wanted to explore the links that already exist between musicians from Wales and New York hip hop artists. It’s a long history that many might not actually know, so I’ve compiled a few highlights and put a little playlist together.
Scritti Politti ft. Mos Def & Lee Majors - Tinseltown to the Boogie Down (1999)
Apparently Cardiff’s Green Gartside listened to a lot of American hip hop whilst making the band’s ‘Anomie & Bonhomie’ album, and the influence runs throughout. I’m not certain if Lee Majors is from New York, though he certainly sounds like he is and I would assume so given the title of the track.
That said, Mos Def is of course from Brooklyn rather than the Boogie Down Bronx. Mos also pops up on ‘Smith N Slappy’ from the album whilst Majors is on ‘Prince Among Men’. There’s another New York rapper on ‘Die Alone’ called Red Cloud who some might remember from The Nextmen’s ‘Amongst The Madness’ album or his own single on Dan Greenpeace’s Bad Magic label (produced by The Creators), both in 2000.
The New York hip hop links continue on the remix of this single with offerings from A Tribe Called Quest’s Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Pete Rock and Psycho Les from The Beatnuts.
Me One ft Guru - Do You Know (2000)
I wish this was available to listen to online some place but I can’t find it anywhere. I’d certainly recommend you searching out the album ‘As Far As I’m Concerned’ though. It’s a classic mix of hip hop, reggae and soul in a way that not many people had done right before it came out in 2000.
Me One should be no stranger to regular readers of this blog. Also known as MC Eric, he first started out on his brother’s sound system in Cardiff, then was part of the first proper hip hop crew here, Hardrock Concept, signing to Jive Records with DJ Jaffa as Just The Duce before finding international fame with Technotronic.
Eric has spent a lot of time in New York throughout his life, and worked with a number of artists over there, though this collaboration with the legendary Gang Starr frontman Guru, is one of the few to see the light of day officially.
The album which came out on Island Records also features Evil Dee from Boot Camp Clik, Black Moon and Da Beatminerz, as well as Philly rapper Dice Raw and British soul singer / actress Michelle Gayle.
Manchild ft. Lord Jamar - Somethin’ In My System (2000)
I feel like these boys have been largely forgotten these days, but they had a solid period of playing big festival shows in the late 90s and early 2000s and their ‘Untied States’ album, despite being an unabashed Prodigy knock off, is definitely a worthy one.
As well as rock singers such as Andy Cairns from Therapy and Kelly Jones from Stereophonics, the album also features Bay Area rapper and Kool Keith collaborator Motion Man, and this track with Brand Nubian’s Lord Jamar. Live they would represent hip-hop more locally with DJ Jaffa on the decks (originally hired as a breaker) and Naytan The Watcher from Erban Poets as their rapper and hypeman. They would also have legendary local breaker Kwamikaze dancing with them.
Noah ft. Shyheim & Prodigal Sunn - Immortal (Remix) (2010)
Back in the early 80s, Frankie Johnson Jr from Tiger Bay won the World Malibu Disco Dance Championships, a big deal in those days. He performed around the world and opened up a successful dance school back in Cardiff, teaching a number of kids who would form the first wave of breakdancers in the area, before focussing on his singing career. He put out the electro soul tune ‘Whenever You Call Me’ in 1986 before signing to Polydor and releasing a couple more singles in the late 80s. I have to admit I’m not entirely sure what he was up to during the 90s and noughties but I read he had some time being mentored by none other than Quincy Jones.
Now releasing music under his full name, Noah Francis Johnson, he’s grown into a much more mature singer / songwriter sound. This was the first of his releases I’m aware of in that vein and it was released as simply Noah (or Noah Francis if you’re looking for it on streaming). I have no clue how the link up with Shyhiem and Prodigal Sunn of Wu Tang Killa Beez happened, but it makes for a great track.
Gorillaz ft Gruff Rhys & De La Soul - Superfast Jellyfish (2010)
One of the kids that Noah Francis Johnson taught was Kris Jenkins, a teenage body popper who would go on to become the percussion player for Super Furry Animals. He’s also a super producer and we worked with him a few times back in the days of my old rap crew Potato Skinz.
But the Furries’ hip hop connections go deeper than that. We used to get a few core members of the band at our Higher Learning hip hop night back in the noughties and at various times that decade they had Killa Kela, DJ Vadim and Task Force open up for them. Not to mention their ‘Dreamy Days’ remix for Roots Manuva’s ‘Dub Come Save Me’ Album.
Of course Gruff Rhys also had his Neon Neon project with producer Boom Bip. Whilst they were never exactly hip hop, Boom Bip first established himself in the independent hip hop scene and their debut album featured guest slots from Spank Rock, Yo Majesty and Fatlip from The Pharcyde. My point being that it wasn’t exactly a major surprise when Gruff popped up doing a collaboration with De La Soul, but you can’t help but be happy it happened.
That said I was just as happy when Gruff collaborated with Cardiff producer Don Leisure on both the ‘Loan Your Loneliness’ remix and ‘Neon Drizzle (Hotel Shaboo)’ from Don Leisure’s excellent ‘Shaboo Strikes Back’ album. Also whilst we’re talking Furries and hip hop, I have to recommend Cian Ciaran’s collaboration with Jehst (and singer Wibidi) from his ‘Hero Leader God’ EP.
I will say that as great as this track is, it isn’t my favourite De La Soul collaboration with a Welsh artist, but I’ll mention more on that later.
Metabeats ft. Action Bronson - Hookers (2012)
Don Leisure’s partner in crime for Darkhouse Fam (and previously C.R.S.T.), Metabeats mostly works under his Earl Jeffers alias these days, making and playing house music, but he emerged out of Barry Town’s HSG / Quiet Poison / Squid Ninjaz families as a hip hop producer and rapper (under the name Pergyl) around the mid 2000s.
Metabeats released two albums for the Cardiff based record label Associated Minds (plus the Mudmowth collaboration EP ‘Sledgehammer Kisses’). The first album ‘Metaphysical’ in 2007, showcased mostly Welsh artists with one US feature from Baltimore / San Diego rapper Beleaf. 2013’s ‘Caviar Crackle’ only had three Welsh features, Ralph Rip Shit, Ed Boogie and Vanity Jay, but included an impressive selection of American underground artists from the period with the likes of Oddisee, zeroh, Quelle Chris, Che Grand and Von Pea amongst them. However his biggest feature was probably on this single with Action Bronson, who had only really just started his meteoric rise around this time.
Action Bronson wasn’t the only New York feature however, as there were also two tracks with E L U C I D, who was a favourite of mine at the time and who has gone on to be a part of Armand Hammer, Cult Favorite, Lessondary, Nostrum Grocers, and Small Bills.
Stagga ft. Curly Castro, Che Grand, E L U C I D, Zilla Rocca - Genic Riddim (U.S. Re-Spit) (2010)
I first came across E L U C I D when he started sending me his releases for my Chrome Kids blog in the late noughties. He had a really great ear for twisted and glitched out electronic beats and I wish I could find the Stagga tracks he vocalised back then. Thankfully we do still have this New York and Philly link up over his Genik Riddim beat.
Although this wasn’t on Slit Jockey’s vinyl release with the original (which had Skamma and Joe Blow on vocals), they put it out as a free download and it’s definitely a mighty version.
Run The Jewels ft Until The Ribbon Breaks - Job Well Done (2015)
After Bestival 2012, I made a Twitter admission to what might amount as a cardinal sin. I’d left Stevie Wonder’s headline set to go and watch El-P at another stage. I have never regretted that decision, I’d seen Stevie not long before at Glastonbury and El-P played a killer set to only a handful of us, with Killer Mike and Despot joining him also. However I was quite surprised when my admission was vindicated by Pete Lawrie, an old friend of mine from Dinas Powys who had migrated to the USA after escaping a pretty awful recording contract. He agreed with me that this was definitely the right decision and he would have done the same.
A few years later this reply took on a whole new meaning when he was back in the UK for a performance in London with a new project called, Until The Ribbon Breaks. Half way through his set, there was an original video feature from both El-P and Killer Mike! This was still pre Run The Jewels and it would be a while until ‘Revolution Indifference’ had an official release on Until The Ribbon Breaks’ debut album ‘A Lesson Unlearnt’. Before that there would be this feature on Run The Jewels’ own self titled first outing, whose only other guests were Prince Paul and Big Boi.
Pete was first introduced to me as DJ Itchy Fingaz in the early noughties. He played Higher Learning a couple of times and released an amazing ‘mixtape’ of his own productions (which I would really love a copy of if anybody owns it), featuring some of my favourite local rappers of the time, Longshanks, Redeye Knight, Direct & Cascade (now DW Smith). He also had a band called Fat Sandwich with long term collaborator Elliot Wall, who is the other half of Until The Ribbon Breaks.
As Pete Lawrie, he signed to Island Records subsidiary Field Recordings and released ‘A Little Brighter’ as a singer / songwriter, with little to no hip hop influences at all. Whilst both his singing and songwriting is top tier on the album, it’s general sound was all too middle of the road sadly and it never got the props he deserved. He hotfooted it to America with Elliot and they’ve been there ever since, putting out some incredible music.
Of course this is not a full list of collaborations between Wales and New York. I don’t want to overload you but there are plenty more which are just as important to mention such as: the killer collaboration between two of South Wales’ finest, Junior Disprol and DJ Jaffa and one of Brooklyn’s most slept on emcees, the Ralph Lauren Polo sporting Thirstin Howl III; 4Dee’s work with Versatyle, DJ Callie Ban or Alien Ness; there’s Swansea turntablist, DJ Keef Wookie recently popping up on an official remix for Method Man and Mic Nickels from New York crew MHB, which Keef is also a member of, as well as another New York crew, Certain Ones. Cwmbran’s Badbelly, was down with them too, though not sure if he’s still a member.
Out West, Carmarthen’s Billy Phono has a couple of projects with Brooklyn rapper, Broke MC, the last one which is currently waiting a re-press and re-release included guest slots from Homeboy Sandman and Dizzy Sense (I nearly forgot Ruffstylz had a track with Homebody Sandman and Gift Of Gab on Associated Minds. Can’t remember if it got an official release); whilst up in North Wales, Kenny Cadence from Mold has worked with Brooklyn rapper Sha Stimuli as part of his Hate Being Sober project with Bristol artist Brinkworth; can’t forget SayKriDD Daly’s track with Mike G from the Jungle Brothers also!
Of course the Welsh artist who has probably collaborated with the most American hip hop artists is Pino Palladino. Amongst them is Talib Kweli, Pete Rock and of course De La Soul, with whom he made ‘Baby Phat’ and the absolute classic, ‘All Good’.
If we’re talking the whole of New York state (which I will for this instance), there’s a great track from early this year by Welsh producer Brutal Caesar and rapper ReadyRockDee from Yonkers, as well as Ral Duke hooking up with Griselda rapper Conway The Machine from Buffalo, for the track ‘PainKillers’ from the ‘Eif 2: Eat What You Kill’ album which Duke also did the artwork for. I think I’ll do a whole other post on Welsh visual artists working on American hip hop releases! Last but never least Joe Blow had 3 artists from the area on his 2017 album ‘The Smoking Ace’, Roc Marciano and Diabolic both from Long Island plus Pacewon from New Jersey crew Outsidaz.
I’m certain there are many more, please do send them my way! kaptinisdead(at)gmail(dot)com
Here’s a playlist featuring some of these tracks and more. Long may these collaborations continue!
