FEATURED: Hip Hop in Japan

REVIEW: IV The Polymath

.:ALBUM REVIEW: IV The Polymath - New Vs. Old

In the past few years, instrumental hip-hop albums have started to garner widespread attention. Previously, MCs used to seek out beat tapes to practice their rhymes or find producers for their albums. Nowadays, producers can release entire projects that don’t sound out of place without a rapper spitting over the tracks. This tradition of showcasing beats without rappers started back in the mid 90s with the help of artists such as DJ Shadow and his album “Endtroducing.” The latest release to come across my desk in this genre is IV the Polymath’s “New Vs Old.”

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INTERVIEW: Moka&Chief

.:INTERVIEW: Moka Only & Chief -- Word Is Bond Exclusive Interview

We told you about Moka Only and Chief's show at East Village in London for Doctor's Order previously with our review and we posted some great pictures courtesy of Ruben Cruz of Kraken photography, but it is now time to present our exclusive interview with the duo, recorded a few hours before the show, where they tell us about London, Crickets and more.

Big shout out to Spin Doctor for providing a place for us to conduct the interview and of course to Moka Only and Chief, who took some time to chill with us and answer our questions despite jet lag and tiredness.

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MIX: DJ FYO – Beats To The Vibes 2

.:MIX: DJ FYO - Beats To The Vibes 2 -another side- (WIB EXCLUSIVE)

Japanese DJ and Word Is Bond affiliate DJ FYO has once again blessed us with an exclusive mix. You should know the deal by now from his previous mixes; 40 tracks blended with some additional gems showcasing the sounds of WIB and DJ FYO's own musical palette.

Previous Beats To The Vibes mixtapes have now become available for download, you can find them via the link...

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EVENT: Idle Warship

.:EVENT REVIEW: Idle Warship at the Key Club (Los Angeles)

In the City Of Angels, no matter what day of the week it is.. if you're a fan of any particular artist, chances are you'll be coming out to see them. In this case, this past Wednesday night was no different, as the Key Club became a fully packed house, waiting for Idle Warship artists Talib Kweli & Res (w/their band) to come out and jam for their fans. You can even see the anticipation on the audience's faces that once they got started, it was definitely going to be a good night, brought to you by Move Forward Music & Fusicology.

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15Mar/102

FEATURED: Hip Hop in Japan

091016 nujabes2 FEATURED: Hip Hop in Japan

Hip Hop in Japan is HUGE. With popular artists like Nujabes, Nomak, Shing02, DJ Okawari and many more gaining more recognition in America and Europe, sites like HMV.jp, Zoooop.jp are seeing a huge ammount of orders from overseas and people all over the internet are searching for them rare / hard to get Japanese releases.

There is still allot of Hip Hop fans who don't know about many of these artists and what i hope to do is introduce some of you to some great releases. This post is more of a introduction to some of them.

One of the best and more popular of them artists is Nujabes he has released four albums: Hydeout Productions 1st Collection, Metaphorical Music, Modal Soul and Hydeout Productions 2nd Collection all of which you must listen to. The albums feature American artists like Cise Star (CYNE), Substantial, Five Deez and CL Smooth.

Other great Japanese artists include: Nomak, DJ Okawari, Ayur, Kenichiro Nishihara, Shing02, Kenmochi Hidefumi, DJ Whitesmith.

Below is a list of tracks from some of my favourite artists based in Japan:

Nujabes ft CYNE - Feather
Nomak ft Pismo - Geishas in the days
Kenichiro Nishihara ft Substantial - Heart
LEMS ft Shing02 - Gala Dress
Kenmochi Hidefumi - Fallicia
DJ Okawari - Luv Letter