Little Simz
No Thank You

“Cause & Effect” shines a light on both sides of Gifted Gab’s singular style, mixing complexity with wit, confidence with seduction, bars-upon-bars with R&B melodies. Half of the album is hard-hitting gangsta murder music, while the flip side is effortlessly smooth, “for the after-party, the kickback. When you finally got the one you’ve been vibing with all night up close and personal,” as DJ Mike Ramos describes in the liner notes.This is uncompromising, in-your-face music free of bullshit. Gifted Gab’s lyrical dexterity and street-smart prowess marries the ’90s hip-hop sounds of female emcees Queen Latifah, MC Lyte and Bahamadia with Bay Area legends like Mac Dre and E-40. Fans familiar with her unrestrained rap style, wall-to-wall classicist flow and combative, codeine-dipped blunts, may be surprised on the B-side by singing and harmonies that even your mother might approve of. The entire album features a fresh sound supported by real ass musicians: Max Watters on guitar, Andrew Imanaka on bass, Medearis Dixon on keys and sax, DJ Vega on the Technics, and Antwon Vinson conducting the crew. And not only can the multi-talented Gifted Gab rap your ass off and sing sweetly, but the cover art is also an original painting by the artist herself.Two singles from the album, “Eye on Em” and “That Way” are part of a Spring 2019 North America-wide college radio campaign mounted by Airplay Junkie radio promotions.Seattle underground hip-hop label Crane City Music is proud to release a special, limited-edition vinyl version of “Cause & Effect” on transparent red vinyl. The record is the color of blood and love, both appropriate analogies for its twin sides. The vinyl edition is has been specially mastered by Adam Straney, has liner notes from DJ Mike Ramos and is limited to 1,000 numbered copies. (The record will be distributed worldwide by Light In The Attic.) Grab one before they’re gone for good. The music is also available online on all major streaming services (iTunes, Google Play, etc.)Gabrielle “Gifted Gab” Kadushin was born and raised in Seattle, WA’s Central District. She’s shared stages with DJ Quik, Rakim, Cam’ron, Slick Rick, Method Man, and Lupe Fiasco, and received accolades from hip-hop heavyweights XXL, VH1, and Dope. TIME magazine counts her amongst the top seven female rappers in America right now. In 2016, she curated & headlined her own eight-city tour. Her collaboration with Blimes Brixton, “Come Correct,” received viral attention and over 15 million video views. And let’s not forget her stature as first lady amongst the many men in the Moor Gang, Seattle’s answer to the Wu-Tang Clan crew.

Young Echo: ...Building on the foundations built over years of mutual understanding and musical endeavours as part of the Young Echo team, the London-via-Bristol rapper has been climbing that MC Escher type lyrical ladder for years now, painting pictures with word-sound in the coolest & deadliest ways, and forming his very own style.Somehow he makes it sound easy when these intricate rhymes and words spill across O$VMV$M’s skewed symphonies, dropping slapdash punchlines in the midst of highly real observations about life in the city, lights off, lights on. Manonmars, to us, depicts a lens of someone who isn’t about to conform to any stream, not about to give in to the relentless pace of capitalism, not up for the rat-race, more up for slowing time, and seeing things for what they are, a surrealist take on what could otherwise be a mundane world.I guess it’s fair to say that life can be grey sometimes - so for our own sanity, we need to make sure to add colour. Manonmars does this, with heaps of imagination and witty real-talk, fired off in bullet time, perfectly hitting that fine-line between entertainment, and deadpan seriousness - a balancing act, juggled with verbs & conjunctions, over a backdrop of timeless rhythm & melody.Perhaps a less insular album than the first self-titled record, this LP sees guest appearances from Young Echo’s ‘Guest’ and Bogues (both voices of Jabu) on vocals. Fresh Bristol blood ‘Birthmark’ and ‘Axel Holey’ appear with lyrics too, and there is a special vocal injection from Paulina Korobkiewicz, reciting writings by Polish painter and colour artist Wojciech Fangor, and drawing a connection between the music and the visual aspect of Manonmars’ practice.

‘Acrylic Snail’ is the fifth album from Dirty Dike. Following a three-year hiatus since his last solo outing ‘Sucking On Prawns In The Moonlight’ and after a ream of production work for the likes of Rag ’n’ Bone Man (‘Put That Soul On Me’), Ocean Wisdom (‘Chaos 93’) and Lee Scott (‘Butter Fly’) during that time, Dike is back with a brand new 14-track album; his most personal release to date and a body of work that shines a full-beam-floodlight on his formative years, but moreover, the dreamlike transition between then and now.Firmly anchored in a chapter of the UK underground before everything went to shit, situated a couple behind this current grizzly chapter, the songs bounce off the walls of abandoned industrial estates and whoosh by at breakneck speeds like trains through tunnels. The album embodies the freezing cold concrete pours, twilight toe slaps and irregularly shaped ballast banks of the network. In short, ‘Acrylic Snail’ pays homage to the things Dike saw in the very farthest reaches of night that made him who he is today.Featuring a roster of guests vocalists (Rag ’n’ Bone Man, Jam Baxter, Lee Scott, Dabbla, Leaf Dog, Eva Lazarus, J Man, Ronnie Bosh, Inja, Killa P, Foreign Beggars) and production from a team of music makers (including Dike himself) ‘Acrylic Snail’ is an AAA invitation to Dirty Dike’s playground and further cements his hard-earned status as one of UKHH's greatest torchbearers.