November 26th marked WIB’s fourth birthday and it provided ample opportunity for reflection. Of course, so much has transpired in the past four years, and our dedication and passion have helped us the whole way. But as 2013 staggers towards the finish line, we find ourselves tremendously grateful for a year of change, accomplishment and growth. We are closer than ever to fulfilling our dreams of international recognition, but there is much to do yet and many more artists that deserve our praise. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support over these four years.
As part of our birthday party, we have compiled tracks from the “WIB Versus” series and created an album which can be downloaded for free…(more info after the jump)
Amongst other accolades during these 4 years, we’ve covered Rock The Bells two years in a row now, we have people representing around the globe (Los Angeles, New York, Canada, UK, Taiwan and Japan to name a few), and we are blessed by having the most dedicated and passionate writers underground.
Our dream to become the first true worldwide, underground blog is still under way, but with the blessings we’ve gathered so far, and the things we are cooking behind closed doors (we really have amazing things in store) we are confident that we will achieve it over the next few years. One of the things I’d like to unveil a little today is the ‘WIB Membership’, something we are cooking so we can build a better relationship with you (the readers) to build upon our already hyped design and user friendly functionality; one of the many things we will unveil.
If all goes well, 2014 should be even better than 2013. Please raise a glass for us next time you have a drink, and here’s to 4 more years of underground music. We’d like to thank all the artists and specially the readers and contributors who allow Word Is Bond to be this great place to discover music and artists daily. I hope you guys are enjoying it as much as we are.
I also need to give a personal shoutout to all the writers that have help make WIB as dope as it is, without them, there would be no Word Is Bond: Lork, Matt, Dalton, Hardeep, Dan, Paddy, Diggler, Chase, DJ Afos, Mr Tang, Eric Soul, George, Sam, Becca, Mary, Paddy, Rebbecca, Sam, Teck & Xplizit.
Also, a major thanks to our technical wizards and graphic designers: Andrei Luca, Tom Berry & Omer Yunas
We’ve gathered some thoughts from some of WIB’s closest family, including bloggers, artists, and labels that are well respected…
ReDefinition Records (John Notarfrancesco)
It’s a pleasure to know the good people at Word Is Bond, and especially to see what they’ve accomplished over the years since I’ve been following. Jose, Hardeep and the whole crew have a genuine interest and passion, not only for the music they discover and share, but also for how they organize and present everything. They offer a high quality mix of music, news, interviews and videos, but my favorite element of their site is in how they create and publish original content in the form of well written reviews, articles and op-ed pieces.
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The Find Mag
The Word Is Bond always keeps an eye and ear out for the underground like a group of subway inspectors. Instead of hopping on hype-driven bandwagons, they offer a platform to up-and-comers, new talents and young beatmakers and emcees on a day-to-day basis. That’s truly inspiring to see in the current generation oversaturated with hip hop blogs that are a dime a dozen. The good folks at TWiB are some of the most genuine, open and dedicated people we’ve ever worked with. Make sure to get The Word Is Bond in your daily internet routine if you’re passionate about hip hop or if you’re an independent artist yourself. On behalf of The Find Magazine: congrats! Four years and counting, still going strong. – Danny (The Find Magazine)
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Kevin Nottingham
I can’t remember the first time I found WIB, but I remember when I did I knew it was something special. My site was only a couple of years old at the time and there were very few sites out there at the time that covered underground hip hop (today, that’s a different story). But there are only a few great ones that will last. WIB is o
ne of them. I knew that immediately, as their posts highlighted some of hip hop’s more jazzy and grimy side… and they’ve stayed true to that. Congrats to Jose and the WIB team for a solid 4 year run… here’s to 4 more!
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Ta-Ku
“WIB has always put me on and for that im eternally grateful. I remember my very first release in 2010 was put on the WIB blog. They had my back from day one”
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K-Murdock
4 years ago I had no idea that a UK-based hip-hop site/blog was gonna help show me just how impactful not only my music had been but how hip-hop was being celebrated in general around the world!- Enter THE WORD IS BOND” The WIB Crew- Jose, Paddy, Hardeep, Lorcan and that time the homie Bob42jh have always been supporters of me & my group Panacea- so much so that a few years ago they named the 2010 Panacea album “12 step Program” there ALBUM OF THE YEAR! I was beyond humbled as it showed me that people were listening and getting what my self & Raw Poetic were doing sonically! Not only did the guys instantly win me over from the start- always being receptive to what i released and allowing me to guest blog, vlog, and generally always feel like a satellite WIB crew member, but i turn to the site now as my go-to place for whats dope in hip-hop culture as i consider them tastemakers and peers who understand the stuff im into hip-hop-wise… which a lot of times affects what im into beyond hiphop as well. The only people i Trust outside of my Subsoniq radio crew as to whats good is the guys & gals at WIB- i cant beleive its been 4 years, and im honored i been there from jump, i actually recall that i was Paddy’s first interview and i always remember talking to him & Jose on Skype and regaling over the misnomers they may have had about indie hip-hop groups like Panacea- they thought we were paid and living that plastic hip-hop life often advertised in the mainstream, when i told them i was working a regular day gig like them, they were probably shocked but happy to know that most of the music they hear is from guys no different from them… that said, they always make me feel like hip-hop royalty and thats the kind of stuff that keeps me inspired to create! So again, to the whole WIB crew- its been my pleaure- congrats y’all… and i cant wait for the future… especially the stuff we got cooking together ;)
banner artwork by: Draken413o
As a thank you for your readership, we’ve put together a FREE album with all the Word Is Bond Versus tracks to date. Enjoy the tunes.
The Author
