International Zone Coasting

Typical Kano (Exclaim!)

Been writing a lot about UK hip-hop artists recently, hence the varied locales.
UK rhyme slinger Roots Manuva calls grime ‘a child of hip hop’ and while it has been getting a lot of hype there is some definite substance. Witnessed this first hand when I checked out Jammer (who looks eerily like Lil' Jon with dark shades on), D Double E and Ears (who looks eerily like Chris Bosh with cornrows) at the B-Side in Toronto just over a week ago who put on a show that was a bit short on actual songs but high on energy.
You can check out highlights of the show at riddim.ca , the newly-minted Canadian based grime site.

Right now for those in the know, Kano is the one to watch on the grime scene. If you need to get acquainted get on your “P’s and Q’s” here. And if grime is still a total mystery to you, this primer is actually a good cursory start.

Moving on, we ran a very in-depth and interesting article on the Cuban hip-hop scene in Exclaim! Also Hip Hop Canada has another article discussing hip-hop in Cuba giving some interesting historical context.

Back to Canada, this article on Canadian hip-hop vs America on the CBC website, makes a lot of good, valid and unfortunately all too familiar points about how Kardinal, Sauks et al artists haven’t really made a dent Stateside. And if you want more info on Saukrates’ latest ups and downs plus future moves you can check out this recent interview I did with him.

It’s not all doom and gloom though I guess if Kardinal can make a cameo in Talib Kweli’s latest video for “Never Been In Love Before" that was shot in the T-dot. The director of the video is RT! and although this video shows how he is definitely capable of producing a slick video for an established artist, my favourite thing of his I’ve seen is a stark video for a comparatively unknown artist. Toronto MC Reign is actually in the Kweli video standing in between Kweli and Just Blaze at the beginning of the video and RT! Directed a video for him called “Looking For Love” which apparently had some problems at video stations due to its dark content. My take is that the song lyrics clearly show that the imagery in the video is not merely shock value. Check it for yourself here.