King Kashmere – “0 Point Modulations” review

London, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer King Kashmere getting behind the boards for his 8th studio LP. Notable for being a part of several groups or duos over the last few decades ranging from Kingdom of Fear & Invisible Inc. to Gawd Status as well as Old Children & Strange U, he also has 7 full-lengths & a few extended plays under his belt through a multitude of labels from Low Life Records to YNR Productions & Boot Records. The most recent being The Album to End All Alien Abductions & Sounds Like Home via High Focus Records, looking to kick off the 0 Point Modulations series strong.

“Kulcha” by Gawd Status after the intro starts us off with Joker Starr hitting us with skillful lyricism over a boom bap instrumental whereas “Shadows” by Durrty Goodz, Flirta D & Harry Shotta comes through with their own rendition of “Valley of the Shadows” by Origin Unknown. “Big(Bad)” by Dabbla, Genesis Elijah & Killa P aggressively joins forces to piss off their detractors including a brief beat switch prior to “Good Morning” by Harry Shotta, Jaz Kahina & PAV4N spitting flows that’ll leave people impressed.

As for “All Night”, we have Jae Mann taking the mic so he can talk about how it’s always the people who don’t do shit who be disrespecting those that put in the work just before “I.Y.N.K. (Illest You Never Knew)” by Cappo returns to the boom bap ruggedly boasts of reaching a level many wish they could achieve. “Earendel” by Illaman suggests to meet him in the courtyard with bars prepared until Flowtecs & Ramson Badbonez team up for the spooky “Violatorz”.

“Doin’ It” by Micall Parknsun talks about his detractors being pissed that he’s still around making music when it’s their own loss while “I Smoke” by BVA ruggedly discusses being ready to body anyone in a battle. “Alive” by Farma G & Fliptrix wraps up the 1st leg of 0 Point Modulations talking about keeping this shit going strong while “God Complex” by C.o.N-Vers talks about swinging swords whenever it’s time for war.

Verb T gets his own solo track with “Heights” talking about the feeling he has of taking things to higher levels musically while “Dragon’s Lair” by the Double Dragons grittily expresses Ray Vendetta & Tommy Biz’s refusal of surrounding themselves with artists who’re insignificant compared to them. “Is It?” by HPBLK talks about revving a chainsaw after being cast in the dark while “Cooked” by Reign MC dismisses those who claim they can smoke him.

“Classic Style” by Confucius MC dustily talks about the autobiographical subject matter he’s kicking being superior to a simple novel & becoming impactful when it’s laid out on wax but after “No Stress” by Alecs DeLarge poses the question of winning when people aren’t even rooting for themselves to achieve said victories in the first place, “Unfunny” by Truemendous talks about never being apart of a joke she doesn’t find humor in.

The track “Anne Boleyn” by Anyway tha God & Ragga Zulu Rebel references King Henry VIII’s 2nd wife who was beheaded due to fabricated charges of high treason & adultery in the 1500s while “Nuisance” by Fliptrix & JayaHadADream talks about leaving the past behind now that their voices have been found. The final song “Phone on Silent” by Larwood preceding the outro concludes 0 Point Modulations explaining that life’s about timing & making every second count.

King Kashmere has been producing since the late 90s & after fine-tuning that aspect of his career since 2010 when he began evolving behind the boards, 0 Point Modulations officially rings in this new chapter of his storied career shining the brightest light on The Iguana Man’s true calling although I can respectfully understand the 77 minute runtime being lengthy for some listeners. His production experiments with different genres other than hip hop like grime or dub & dubstep developing ways to make the process authentic through sampling & enlisting an all-star cast of MCs representing the UK hip hop scene’s past & present.

Score: 4/5

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Booda French – “Allotment Freestyles” review

This is the 3rd extended play from Ipswich, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom emcee Booda French. Aside from being a member of the Old Children, he would go on to drop 3 full-lengths & a couple EPs throughout the span of a decade plus including the 2016 debut Awesome is Everyday or the sophomore effort 6am Coffee Club a year later & The Loser’s Victory Lap. I should also mention Ventolin & Club 27 Reservations respectively preceding it all, hitting us with some Allotment Freestyles.

The November 2023 session track opens with an angelic boom bap instrumental talking about getting better with the lessons learned through aging whereas the December 2023 session track produced by King Kashmere gets in his hardcore vibe over a funky beat. The March 2024 session track hooks up a lo-fi sample courtesy of Cuth trying increase his revenue until the November 2024 session track sends it off floating over a jazzy Alecs DeLarge beat.

With all respect to both of Allotment Freestyles’ predecessors that came out during my adolescence, Booda French has come a long way since & this 10 minute collection of ideas stemming across an entire 12 months delivered off-top validates those claims. Debatably his strongest EP yet makes me hope we get an entire LP of production at this level of consistency & outside the context of the year-long concept, the right guest appearances rippin’ microphones with him wouldn’t hurt.

Score: 4/5

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HPBLK – “Bis Kwi” review

London, England, United Kingdom emcee, producer, artist & animator HPBLK has returned for his 2nd solo extended play. Originally emerging under the moniker Gen Uchiha prior to forming the Old Children with King Kashmere & Booda French, he made his solo debut back in 2016 with F.Y.M.O. (For Your Mind Only) followed by the Energy & the sophomore effort Audio Arcade. Last time we heard from him was The All Natural Supernatural in 2021 excluding the compositional Pass the Pad that succeeded it, returning after 3 years to drop Bis Kwi without having any guest appearances.

“Ultra Instincts” opens with a lo-fi jazzy intro talking about people trying to shine when they’re the ones asking for a light whereas “Yagami” goes for a boom bap vibe instrumentally recalling an encounter he had with a woman who loved his profile. “Kane” pays tribute to the WWE Hall of Famer, former SMW Tag Team Champion, 3-time WWE world champion, 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, 12-time WWE tag team champion & WWE Hardcore Champion of the same name.

“Adult Swim” clarifies the reason behind the long gap between releases boiling down to personal reasons while “Amorphus” talks about getting the cream or becoming cash ruled. “Dark Souls” spends a minute & a half making people rethink their energy but after talking about having no “Shade” to waste over a lo-fi boom bap beat, “Retrograde & Motion” speaks down upon those who aren’t as fly as him. “#FFFFFF” dustily wraps up the EP talking about running amuck out in the streets with his squad.

Regardless of HPBLK admitting that he’s had hangups believing he was done with music & couldn’t be assed to care anymore, but Bis Kwi will satisfy anyone who hears the guest appearances he made for The Album to End All Alien Abductions & Alecs in Wonderland even if I’d prefer the significantly shorter Energy in comparison. He takes a backseat from the production side of things to tackle social issues accompanied by production fluctuating between boom bap, jazz rap & lo-fi hip hop.

Score: 3.5/5

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King Kashmere – “Sounds Like Home” review

This is the 4th EP from London, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer King Kashmere. Notable for being a part of several groups or duos over the last few decades ranging from Kingdom of Fear & Invisible Inc. to Gawd Status as well as Old Children & Strange U, he also has 7 full-length solo albums & a couple of extended plays under his belt through the likes of Low Life Records to YNR Productions & Boot Records. Making his debut for High Focus Records in 2016 off his 3rd album Woof, he returned to the label with TR3B & has brought Cuth in to fully produce Sounds Like Home coming off The Album to End All Alien Abductions a month after Leon Slater ended Connor Mills’ reign as RPW British Cruiserweight Champion.

“Change Your Energy” soulfully starts off talking about everyone having their own universe within ourselves whereas “Thick Bag of Slime” featuring Alecs DeLarge goes for a psychedelic boom bap vibe to speak of striving & getting little in return. The title track soulfully while talks about keeping it real when others pretend while “Door of Truth” grittily asks if one can afford losing the game of life. After the compositional “Places” intermission, the final song “Valhalla” wraps up Sounds Like Home crushingly remembering his brother Tom.

I’d have to put The Album to End All Alien Abductions & TR3B above Sounds Like Home, but I’m nevertheless grateful King Kashmere was able to give us a 6 track EP containing some of the most emotive material in a career spanning over 2 decades. Cuth’s production here leans towards a boom bap direction as opposed to Alecs’ experimentation during The Album to End All Alien Abductions providing a good soundtrack for The Iguana Man to back at simpler times, long lost friends & a new perspective regarding the beauty & brutality of the human condition.

Score: 3.5/5

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Old Children – “Push Start” review

The Old Children are a trio from London, England, United Kingdom consisting of emcees Booda French & HPBLK alongside producer King Kashmere. The latter of whom has become amongst the most recognizable names in the entire UK hip hop scene with a career spanning decades while the other 2 have emerged between 2015 & 2016 respectively. So to have The Iguana Man unite both of them & get behind the boards for the group’s debut extended play had me excited of what they were gonna do.

After the intro, “1Up” hops over a lo-fi boom bap beat refusing to celebrate wack rappers when they shouldn’t be whereas “Metron’s Chair” gives off an intergalactically dusty vibe instrumentally dismantling any competitor who isn’t on the same wave they are. “Abin Sur” reaches the midway point of the EP talking about this being do or die for both performers leading into “Louder” featuring Ramson Badbonez nostalgically kicks off the 2nd half on some old school shit.

“Long Road” winds down Push Start’s remaining minutes talking about over a beat reminiscent to the late, great J Dilla at points talking about finally making it to their own destinations after choosing to take the more difficult path while the final song “Double Dragon” preceding the outro makes a dope reference to WWE Hall of Famer, former 3-time WWE Champion, 11-time WWE tag team champion, the inaugural WWE Hardcore Champion, CWA World Tag Team Champion & TNA World Champion Mick Foley.

Regardless of whether or not the Old Children plan to continue making music together going forward, it doesn’t take away from the fact Push Start still gives the world a look at what these guys can accomplish when combining forces. Booda French & HPBLK give us some of the hungriest performances of their careers whether it be depicting out of this world imagery or making left field references & unpacking forward thinking streams of thought over King Kashmere’s cosmic production.

Score: 3.5/5