Tuesday, January 24, 2006

p-fork phenomenon

more ramblings from me. sorry bout that. wont happen again. promise.

Monday, January 16, 2006

Brand Newham

As we enta 2006, there’s no grime album more of an exciting prospect than the Newham Generals’ ‘Generally Speaking,’ forthcoming on Dizzee’s Dirtee Stank.

D Double E is as abstract an MC as they come on road, bending words until they dissolve between sounds and syllables. Footsie’s all rough and gruff. You don’t want war wid him. And Monkstar, the relative unknown in the camp, is the anti-D Double, lyrically abrupt and stiff, rigid and inflexible. As a trio they complement each other gloriously.

Another mouth watering prospect is the Newham production sound. Unlike some MCs, they don’t rely on outsiders to build their riddims. And although they all produce, it’s Footsie that’s turned most heads of late.

In the light of how the electronica community – where an increase in degrees of complexity is perceived as an increase in value or innovation – have reacted to grime, there is a wonderful restraint to Footsie’s riddims. What they do, they do very well.

Furthermore, unlike a great deal of grime, Footsie and Monk are “bass dans,” fans of dub-influenced subbass, as their recent Forward>> set attested. There’s a weight, a physicality to their sound, as well as feeling.

Finally they’re signed to Dirtee Stank, Dizzee’s independent label. While most grime MCs spent 2005 unsuccessfully chasing six figure major label contracts, and those that did get deals didn’t get the success they desired, the challenge for grime in ’06 is to collaborate to build a self-sufficient infrastructure. Stank has got to be a model for that infrastructure.

With this in mind, I met Newham Generals in the Raskitt’s Lair, where they were recording their mixtape…


Blackdown: So how did the link with Dirtee Stank come about?

D Double E: “The link come from way back in the day, still. I knew Dizzee from back in the day when mans was on Flava FM. I used to see him about and that. We’re talking 1999? Dem times. I used to be in a crew called 187 and NASTY Crew was up there and I used to talk to a couple of members of NASTY. Then over the years I joined NASTY and got to know Dizzee better, getme. I joined NASTY in 2001, so the link with Dizzee was way before that.”

DDE: “Dizzee called me in 2004 and asked me to do a feature on one of his tunes, ‘Give U More.’ Since then we stayed in contact. Newham Generals came about in the end of 2003, beginning of 2004. So this makes it our anniversary, two years.

B: So how did Newham Generals come about?

Footsie: “It just happened. We were all in NASTY at one point and then we left and formed Generals. But we all new each other differently. I knew Double from school days, and we were on jungle stations back in the day. And Double and Monk new each other from school too, but I went to a different school but lived around the corner from Double. And that was in Newham, of course man. Otherwise it would be false advertising if we didn’t live in Newham … haha. We’re all in Newham one road you can get to everyone’s yard.”

B: That must make organising everything easy…

F: “No we’re always late for everything ahha.”

B: So why name yourselves after Newham?

F: “Well double had a bar, he called himself ‘a Newham General from day.’ Everyone knew the bar, a big sing-a-long. As we came together it was an obvious name for us, being that we run the ends.”

B: I’ve seen busses in Hackney that go to ‘Newham General’ – that’s free advertising for you!

F: “Freebies. Yeah the hospital helps. We done some shooting for a little hood video at the hospital itself. That was for ‘The Anthem’ produced by Monk. It’s quite big, everyone knows that track still. We just bowled up with a camera quickly, though we weren’t in the hospital, lounging about with injured people haha, we were just outside the hospital where it says ‘Welcome to Newham General.’”

F: “Right now we’re working on our mixtape ‘Welcome to Newham Vol 1.’ It’s to warm people up before the album, let people know the link with Dirtee Stank is real. Because a lot of people think it not even real. Cos we aint got anything officially out with the logo on it, people were chatting shit. But we just done a big Dirtee Stank tour with our names plastered all over it, so they know really what’s goin on.”

B: Your mixtape is in conjunction with Lord of the Decks. What’s it like?

F: “It’s just raw and un-album-like. Rather than just a set of 1-14 tunes, it’s gonna be 1-to-whatever of us telling you about the album, label and us. We’re gonna add some radio sets and raves – places where we’ve murked. Little demonstrations of skill.”

“We’re gonna keep it our productions. There’s three producers in Newham Generals, we don’t need no dancehall instrumentals or no American hip hop. I know they do help people but we want to school people on Newham.”

B: So you’ve been producing Double?

DDE: “Bwoy, just been producing now for about nine months to a year, still. I’ve just been getting on it. There’s tunes that people definitely know from radio. I’ve got a vocal tune produced by me on my solo album, soon coming and a couple on Welcome to Newham. Monk and Footsie have been on it longer than me but I’ve definitely got the levels.”

B: What was the tour like?

F: “It was us, Dizzee and Klass A. It was a shop window, an exhibition of the talent of what’s going on with Dirtee Stank. People came out to see Dizzee but we had a few people come out to see us still. Fans new us, though essentially people are there to see Dizzee so you do have to school them on what you’re about. We had loads of people say they’d not heard of us before but now they’re into us. That’s what you want really, winning over new fans. It was good entertainment, Klass A, Dizzee and Newham Generals we’re all different.”

B: Did you enjoy your Forward>> set too?

F: “Yeah we fucked up Forward>>. They love Tubby down there because he’s been into that sound from day. I like going down there to hear what’s going on.”

B: Do you have a name for the LP?

F: “Yeah ‘Generally Speaking’. So far it’s just me and Monk on the beats. We’ve got a couple of singles planned, like ‘Humpty Dumpty.’ And ‘Mic Centre.’ We wanna use ‘Anthem’ too but we’re undecided.”

B: The three of you have very different yet identifiable flows, how did that come about?

F: “It’s just nature. Double’s flow is just … fucked. Monkey is just … fucked, in a different way. We’re like different grades of weeds: all good.”

B: It means your voice is like your calling card though, your identity…

F: “It does help, rather than having three people that are rhyming in a similar way. But with us, with anyone who touches the mic, they know who it is. Some crews all rhyme like their dad. In some crews there’s a dad and they all rhyme like him.”

B: So explain to me if every grime MC is waiting around for £100,000 deals when there aren’t even those on offer deals for the top MCs let alone every single MC in the scene, why did you go with Dirtee Stank and not a major?

F: “Dirtee Stank is being run by people who have done it. Dizzee and Cage have success under their belt. For us you’re looking at a realistic shot at something, rather than an advance and the chance to say ‘I’m with these people [ie a major label]’ except you don’t really know what they’re going to do for you and they don’t really know what they’re gonna do you for you. At least we’re not in that situation, we know we’re gonna get a shot. What’s unique about Dirtee Stank is that it’s not run by people who are out of touch, don’t know what’s going on or what we’re experiencing. It’s being run by people who are still even doing it. Dizzee’s still doing it, is in touch with the scene and we’ve been brought in. So that’s what unique about it.”

B: And together I trust Dirtee Stank to put out a grime artist album that actually reflects the grime scene…

F: “What’s unique is we’re getting the chance to be ourselves. That’s all we wanna do. We don’t wanna sing or sell our souls for a high chart spot. We’re getting a chance to do our shit – which is loved, but we’re gonna make people love it differently. “

B: I think you guys have the chance to take the real grime sound to people outside of the scene, to break grime out of it’s core yet unprofitable audience.

F: “I don’t know if grime’s been represented properly yet, of what’s come out and gone on already. Maybe that’s why people might look at the scene and not take it serious. People look at the scene and say ‘you’ve only got one guy, Dizzee. Who else has done it?’ It’s not like you can run off a list of well successful brers. They ask: ‘what else is going on? Will there ever be another Dizzee?’ We’re gonna change that all.

B: It feels like Dirtee Stank could potentially bridge the ever increasing gap between grime and the pop world…

F: “Yeah man because there is every now and then a song in the charts you actually do like. Y’getme? So what’s wrong with being that guy who gets in there with that song you do like. It’s not easy – but it is if you know what you’re about.”

B: I could definitely hear ‘Mic Centre’ on daytime radio.

F: “Standardly. We’ve got a tune called ‘Your Life’ as well by Monk. On the tour that was one of the best tunes of the set. “

B: In what way?

Monkey: “It’s just the way it touches you, it’s a deep deep tune. It’s just different. We saw people’s reactions: standing up, listening looking to what’s going on.”

F: “When you hear this tune in the club it’s got a deep bottom end on it. We saw people just stand up, firm up for this tune.”

B: Listening to you three record bars for your mixtape, it’s noticeable you have lots of sub bass in your sound, which is different for grime. How come?

F: “We’re bass dans, all day. Me and Monk build very differently but the bottom end, is there for both of us. I know Jah Shakka, he’s my dad’s mate. Sound people. I knew him from a yute, still. I’ve been to his yard. So my love of bass is from right there. My dad’s a roots man, all day. He’s got a soundsystem. I grew up with 18” scoops around me – speakers bigger than me. I never heard music at low volume, ever. And that’s the most distinctive thing in reagge music, the bass. That’s all I got fed, so when I started building [beats] that’s all I knew. I’m on weight.”

B: So tell me about Klass A…

F: “People just need to hear them. At the minute they’re a little bit unheard. They’re deep man, Klass A. Big spitters, all of them, big producers. They’re similar to us, just different accents. They showed me that the accent works. We go up and down the country and spitters are there, you hear them… but I’d never come across a group of brehrs on this ting and they’re doing it well. You might hear some crews but when you hear their tunes they’re a bit loose. Klass A can build tunes and their choruses are deep. On the label we are vying for the same pie still but then it’s different angles. And when you’re different working together becomes special. That’s why colabs even on the label, will be so different. You’ve got the London/Midlands accent barrier. Us, Dizzee and Klass A … we’re different. The combos is endless really.”

B: People heard ‘Wasteman’ by Dizzee on the tour. Footsie are you going to be producing for Dizzee’s future LP?

F: “Yeah ‘Wasteman’ is one and there’s a couple of others that he likes that he’s gonna vocal, still.”

B: So what do you remember about the NASTY Crew era?

F: “They were the biggest crew on the scene, at the time standardly. Double was overly merking. Monkey was overly merking. Them two was in it before me. I was the last to join. I was only in there for about a year – 2002/3 - and it did a lot for my name.”

B: Jammer, Ghetto, Kano, Mac10, Terror Danjah, Hyper, Monkey, D Double E, yourself Foots … if you look at the sum of the talent that’s come through NASTY, if it had ever been in one place at one time it wouldn’t it have been so much more of a force to reckon with though?

F: “There was a lot of talent about. But whatever will be will be, progression, things move on…”

B: Do you feel lucky with your current situation with Dirtee Stank?

F: “I don’t feel lucky. I feel if you don’t buy a ticket you’ll never win the lottery. Mans have grinded, mans have been out here for a very long time blud. Been on a lot of radio sets, a lot of shit raves. Been bumped by a lot of promoters. So it’s not an accident that we’re here blud.”

B: You seem to have that work ethic that’s so lacking with many grime MCs, even the ones who want major label deals...

F: “No matter what grind you’ve done, to some people you’ll always be new. They’ll never have heard of you. You’ve got to win people over. So we’re kinda in that situation.”

B: ‘Original,’ the tune you made with Mizz Beats is amazing and it makes a feature of how people ask about your lyrical trademarks. How did they come about?

DDE: “Every now an again I just hear MCs who are cracked out on my flow. One day I just wrote that tune. I was writing a lot of imitator bars in that time, people trying to take my flow. It’s the reals man.”

B: And how did you come to your trademark ‘moiee moiee’?

DDE: “It was 2001. Just randomly … just progressed with it. I was saying it normally before and then I affected it. I just played with it one day and got it deeper from there. People kept telling me there were feeling it. Now there’s bare MCs with pure different noises – but this isn’t about noises. I just did that for a hosting thing, it’s not involved with the bar. But certain man have taken it too far.”

B: It gives you such an unmistakable lyrical identity.

DDE: “Now everyone needs a tag, everyone’s got a tag since they’ve seen me go to the rave and say that and everyone goes mad. That’s how it is now, it’s all a tag ting.

B: So what have been your end of year highlights?

DDE: “My highlights were linking up with the Dirtee Stank and the tour. Progressing this far, production, bars. That’s one thing you’ve got to always check: as every year passes certain people get shit, certain people get better, some people fade away. We’ve been in the game for longer than most of the game and we’re still there now.”

B: So how do you ensure you stay in the game?

F: “Continue seeking levels man. That keeps you on your game. If you think you’re ‘there’ then that’s when you’ll stop. You look at people how have been big in the game and you wonder what makes them go on. They must be seeking levels.”

DDE: “It’s a natural ting. Most MCs try too much and they over do themselves. It’s not stress for us. Certain people in the game are stressed out. I don’t know what it is. You’ve gotta just chill and keep doing what you’re doing. We don’t look at no one.”

F: “Do you know what we might do when we come out with an album? We might help people be more real.”

DDE: “People you see in raves chatting their lyrics but when you see them on telly it’s all pop…”

F: “You can’t be known for merking Sidewinders and then come out with songs that sound ridiculous. It’s not right. That’s a bump to your fans, bump to the game.”

DDE: “We’re the first raw sound.”

B: Well, Dizzee’s two albums were pretty raw…

F: “But he’s been out here for three years and no ones caught him. It’s almost like he’s the granddad in the game now. He’s gained vet status automatically because no one has challenged him. No one’s got his record and it is a challenge to do what he’s done. Us coming out is a whole new event. And a lot of people are fooled. They don’t know how to progress in this game. A lot of people think they can shoot for Dizzee and their single’s not a flash in the pan - the pan’s not even warm. Singles dead in a month. People have come out and gone and you didn’t even know. You’ve got to seek the levels, get me.”

DDE: “It’s not a rush man.”

F: “A lot of people are seeking that signature on a piece of paper, but the Dirtee Stank thing has happened on a natural one. We put the work in.”

B: So give us your guide to Newham…

F: “Bow’s only down the road. It’s quite mixed. There’s a lot of crime going on. Normalness. It’s bait there. Thing get tried out in the ends: Zero Tolerance and all that. When they pick areas to do it, Newham’s one of them. The ends is harsh. The MP got robbed at the train station. ‘Welcome to Newham… where’s your fucking Rolex?’ There used to more places to hang out in Newham, but the roads is so risky now your house is the safest place.”

F: “The nightlife in the ends is deep. There’s a lot going on at night. There’s clubs that don’t get started til 1am that go on until the following day. Clubs on roads that if you looked in the day time you wouldn’t even think there’s a club there. Night time there’s just pure cars. A lot of them tucked away joints, illegal gambling houses. It’s what’s going on. I saw the new Monopoly board and Forrest Gate is on it. Are you stupid? It’s on the cheap side still, I ain’t gonna front. Past the blue bits on the jail corner. I’m gonna buy Forrest Gate, build it up and make it worth something. That will be me. Build it like Bob.”


The Newham Generals mix LP “Welcome to Newham vol 1” is out late January. The artist LP “Generally Speaking” is due out in March. D Double E’s solo album will follow towards the end of the year.

The mixtape “Welcome to Newham Vol 1” is being made in conjunction with Lord of the Decks. It should feature coverage of Newham Generals at Luton Carnival and live in the Stank basement. It also features an exclusive freestyle by Footsie’s American Cousin, Dollar, who does dancehall.

A second DVD is Stank Vision volume 1 made in conjunction with Risky Roads. It’s a DVD introduction to everyone on the label and will feature footage of Dizzee in South America and full live show from the tour. It will come as a mix CD and DVDs. Klass A have done a guide to the Midlands, going around the proper hood, getting people spitting.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Blackdown soundboy end of year review: Infinite


Loefah and Vinton
Originally uploaded by infinite.
Dubstep 2005 according to George Infinite

2006 may well be upon us but it would be hard to embrace the new year without looking at 2005, a year in which dubstep and grime has sparked a new fire to warm British arts.

The music is innovative and pioneering and as an increasing number of journalists, bloggers and labels are noticing, is a true reflection of the UK's city dwellers- thoroughly multicultural, multitalented and striving to break free from the industry's usual restricted way of doing things.

2005 has seen producers increasingly finding new ways to represent themselves in which their music and principles will not be compromised. Pirate Stations such as Rinse are undoubtedly still alive and kicking despite the governments eagerness to lock them down and dubplate and vinyl now works hand in hand with new ways of using the digital technology that our generation has grown up with.




Through instant messaging, blogging, mp3's, forums and phones music lovers around the world have been able to get involved with London's freshest scenes as they unfold and I've been privileged to be just one of many inspired by the abundance of fresh music that the dubstep scene has produced this year.

DMZ

I'm certain that in a few years to come, 2005 will be known as DMZ's year. I've been to a good few parties over the years but for me the first rave DMZ rave in March will live with me forever. Through Croydon's underground connections, it was Digital Mystikz, Loefah, Pokes and the Big Apple crew that truly introduced me to dubstep - Mala's B was the tune that had me hooked alongside the Dubstep Allstars vol 1 in 2004 so hearing these tunes on a proppa sound system in the heart of South London was more than anyone could ask for.

I'm also particularly fond of DMZ raves because not only have they granted a home sweet home to the sounds of dubstep present but have also paid respect to the earlier sounds of dubstep and it's dub, jungle, garage and house roots as well as shining a much needed light on 2005's freshest talent that has included Joe Nice and Heny G amongst others. As for 05's DMZ releases.... ? Officer, Neverland, Root, Goat Stare and the constant rewinds they induce from Brixton to New York. Need I say more?

Bloggers

Vice Mag (say) they don't like us but we don't care, 2005 has been a great year for bloggers. Big ups to Blackdown, Chantelle, Distinction, Gutterbreakz, Prancehall, Alt-dot, DQ Dubway and all the passionate wordsmiths and documenters.

Bristol

Outside of London, Bristol is my favourite UK city. With the fresh
air, comes fresh music from the likes of Pinch and his Subloaded night, the second night held at the Black Swan playing host to Digital Mystikz, Kode9, Vex'd, and ThinKing amongst others. The night was particularly memorable for the crowd which were a happy mix of students, london bods and drum n bass heads. This is also the rave in which I captured two of my favourite shots of the year- this one of Skream sitting on the stage on which Mala and Loefah played b2b with Sgt Pokes and dubstep soulja Kris Beard / Engine Room holding his fists up in salute of the latest Coki riddim, which at the time(if my memory is correct !) was Haunted.


Dubplate.net photoshop jokes

Before the days of the ever growing dubstep forum was dubplate.net - a somewhat low-key underground music site which amidst the aggy rhymes from grime youngers on the grime forum was pretty much the home and message centre for fwd regulars and interested overseas heads. Here you'd find Kode9 and Loefah amongst others battlin each other with crap photo-shop manipulation ping-pong. Bloggers have been cussed for featuring too many in jokes, but how can I help it when some of them were as ridiculous as this?

Vex'd



Their tunes are purely haunting- I love their dark and sinister vibe because they always contain some kind of beauty within them. Degenerate is one of my favourite releases of this year and I've already talked about this a lot on the blog but the Knowledge remix tore my head apart. I was really interested to hear that they get a lot of their inspiration from cycling down the River Thames.

Skull Disco

Like few producers Shackleton, Appleblim have managed to break through genres and styles. Their first Skull Disco party was born last year- the September edition being particularly memorable due to Shackleton's heavy ragga styles and the introduction of The Evil Mastermind alongside one of the most interesting and amusing MC's I've seen this year (the long-bearded, tall hat wearing guy). I still don't know his name, but he made me giggle. Tunes wise I've been loving Shackleton's Limb by Limb remix which I first heard whilst driving at sunrise on the way to Gatwick and Appleblim's beautifully industrial Girder Dub

Skream & Chef

2005 can't be discussed without mentioning these two. Hailing from Croydon, Skream and Chef have been around since day dot despite their young ages and have caused mayhem pon many a dancefloor and airwave this year.

Chef known primarily as a DJ (but someone who I hear will be working on beats in 2006), has had a hell of a lot of good sets this year- he and Chef b2b at DMZ was a mighty occasion, Chef's classic Big Apple and DMZ contrasting with Skreams infinite bag of his own fresh dubs that made for a wicked hour and a half of energy. Skream's Midnight Request Line is to my knowledge the most successful dubstep tune to date, embraced by DJ's and MC's from many genres. I was lucky enough to be at Forward>> when Mala dropped it to an audience that included Wiley, Jammer and Skepta back in April.

Random Trio and N-Type

These two again hail from the Norwood-Croydon ends. Cyrus has been responsible for some killa dubs this year including Haunted remix and Prayer and as has N-Type who produced one of my favourite tunes of the year, Way of the Dub. N-Type also managed to infiltrate the tourist massive with his creation of this Autumn's Urban Croquet event which saw various DJ's take to the decks in the sports wear section at Harrods. How can I forget getting slightly merry on champagne, Chef taking photos of me in the bikini rail before falling on my arse in front of loads of people. I'm sure it's a memory that will stay with a few of the shoppers too.

Dubstep Allstars

Whilst 2002's Dubstep Allstars Vol 1 mixed by Hatcha meant awe and wonder for a newcomer to the sound as I was back then, Youngsta's Vol 2 meant seeing two of my own Forward>> photos in print. It also gave me the opportunity to interview the mysterious Youngsta, whose allstars mix was a perfect profile of some of my favourite tunes of the year - Moonsoon remix, Request Line, I, Neverland, 28 grams and I Believe.

Watch out for Dubstep Allstars Vol3 mixed by Kode9 and feat. Space Ape. Set to drop in the New Year.

you know what to do...

Sunday, January 08, 2006

DMZ

I've written more than enough about Digital Mystikz and Loefah's Brixton rave DMZ to find new things to say about it, yet it genuinely continues to confound expectations.

Last night was possibly best ever, rammed on a freezing night one week into January. It defies all known club behaviour.

Pinch played a blinder, a deep balance between bass impact and selection and Chef continued this trajectory, giving the night a sense of upwards energy that drove anticipation into the Loefah v Mala slamdown, 1am - 3am.

The DMZ boys didn't seem to draw for anything that was both completely brand new and required selling relatives for, yet their set was such a total high (or low, of Loe's dropping the low end 'plate weight) that Pinch and Chef's upward trajectory allowed them to completely take off, inducing a sense of abandon seldom felt with dubstep. Mala's off-4/4 riddim 'Anti War Dub' was a joy as always. No one wants real war.

One moment however in Pinch's set was a massive personal triumph: my first rewind in four years. Not me pulling back a tune - I've done that several times at DMZ and it's a rush. But of someone else having to pull back one of my productions.

I find it uncomfortable to talk about my own productions here but the reality is I now invest equal effort in production as writing, and can now no more separate music and production as I can music and culture or music and emotion. Perhaps I should write about my production too - it's very hard to say. From a fans point of view I certainly wish my favourite artists would explain their music in words more often.

Anyway the tune that got licked back was an Asian vocal dubstep tune called 'Lata.' You can hear N Type open his Rinse show with it this week too, which co-incidentally, was on during Pinch's set. It's here.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Cyrus promo mix

"Cyrus dont want anybody packed, dont want anyone flexing any muscle. Everybody says cyrus is the one and only ... i think we better go check for ourselves..."

DJ Cyrus promo mix: hosted right here. Shout to infinite - the original badgyal dubstep blogger - for the linkup.

tracklist

1- zion
2- prayer
3- bounty
4- irie
5- prophecy
6- warrior dub
7- haunted rmx
8- rupture
9- reble
10- judged
11- indian stomp
12- montego
13- bongi
14- banshi
15- gutter
16- grave diggers
17- saint dub
18- zambi
19- halo
20- the gift
21- island life
22- rags

Monday, January 02, 2006

Blackdown soundboy end of year review: The Bug

The Bug on 2005

Cons

"Apocalyptic acceleration, as personal stress, family death and global terror reigns supreme. The war of rich vs poor approaches ever faster as the ecological meltdown continues. The population of the UK continually chooses to ignore imminent police state enforcement with id cards, imprisonment without charge bills, satellite surveillance and blatant governmental lies..."

"The disappointment of dancehall's infuriatingly slow start to the year and the conservative retreat to one drop nostalgia, guitar music's retro fixation, the lack of lyrical anti words across all categories. and the critical diaspora's retreat to ambience, indie mundanity and lo-fi folk as safe havens."

Pros

"A staple diet of grime dvds, Jamaican pre-release 7", chunky kit kats, Ethiopian Jazz and bassbin burials at DMZ/FWD>> keeps me sane.(Big up the Loefah/Mala tag team, Tubby's UKG onslaught @ FWD>>, Roots Manuva's charity event in Brixton, Ricky Rankin at Westbourne Park Studios and Vincent Gallo's Chet Baker like drift @ Koko)."

"Siren, Vietnam, Concubine and Assault Rifle bashment rhythms. Ghislain Poirier mash ups, John Eden Mixtapes, the Hyperdub label (Burial's amazing 12"), Scientist-produced Jah Guidance reissues, Basic Replay's essential reissue campaign. Catching up on Jammys back catalogue. Finally rockin' 2,000 people in Toulouse proving Bug sounds needn't hitch up to ghetto dwelling genres, audience preconceptions, media hype nor noise free safety zones. The birth of Ladybug."

The Bug's top riddims for 2005

Damien Marley "Welcome To Jamrock"
Legendary KO "George Bush Doesn't Like Black People"
Kode 9 Vs Space Ape "Kingstown"
Amerie "1 Thing"
Ricky Rankin "Can't Trick I"
Slew Dem Productions "Grime"
Jammer "Murkle Man"
Missy Elliot "On and On"
All DMZ releases
Rhythm & Sound "See Mi Yah"