Growing up in West London Neil Cage and Ben 81 bonded in the early 90’s over a shared obsession with Hip Hop. Both were expelled from school for writing their own rules - a theme which has continued in today’s distinctive productions - preferring to spend time in record shops, writing on walls and playing out on radio. In the late ‘90s and during a brief stint at Art College, their passion for Hip Hop grew into a need to make their own beats. Scraping money together by any means necessary they built a studio in a derelict garage and formed Hip Hop collective Starch Music. A few years later they produced, distributed and promoted their first release, 12" single, No Windows, to glowing reviews in 2005 - "A stunning debut" – Mike Lewis (Lewis Recordings), HHC Magazine "Dusty drum breaks with some hard spat rhymes" - UKHH.com Despite positive media and peer acclaim Starch Music was canned in 2006 due to creative differences. Deciding to go it alone with a headstrong Fuck You attitude Ben 81 and Cage refined their style and formed Ill Move Sporadic, holding a clear agenda from the start - analogue is policy! Scouring record shops across the UK and Europe, theirs is a perpetual quest is for unique, untouched samples and breaks. Using old Emu and Akai samplers alongside vintage effects and compressors, the sound is raw, nonconformist, analogue, hard funk and film score-inspired Hip Hop. And so to Nov 2010 and we find Ill Move Sporadic on top of their game and poised to release their first CD, The Magnetic Mixtape, 13 tracks of hardcore Hip Hop music featuring various MCs from London and beyond. On this release their haunting, horror-inspired production and handpicked MCs robust flows and lyrics fuse flawlessly to create an uncompromising piece of work – their strongest yet.
Looking at that picture above, I know you would expect numbers across their chests (only joking lads) they may look like an intimidating pair, but my old English teacher always told me 'Never Judge A Book By It's Cover!' I couldn't agree more with this, The Magnetic Mixtape, gives me a kind of old skool feel with all the cuts and rewinds on some of the songs, in all honesty I don't think it should be considered a mixtape without some scratching, cuts etc - obviously there are some exceptions, but on this mixtape, it definately gives it that extra dyamic.
This mixtape is definitely a breath of fresh air, all the beats on this sound really analogue-ish, which gives it a great sound, I know we all like digital shit, because it makes everything sound so polished, but I love the sound of static from an LP on a beat, and this really gives it that appeal. I was quite taken back by some of the songs on this - the contrast from songs like 'Battle Axes' to 'Black Milk' is quite vast, but gives that bit more diversity, which is what a mixtape is all about, for artists to showcase all the skills in their repertoire. It also showcases the talents of a few other artists, if you have ever listened to the Saian Super Crew, then track 4 'Bunny' ft Kath will remind you alot of them, a bit of French rap, I don't speak fluent French, but this guy can flow that's for sure.
The standout tracks for me are:
Battle Axes ft Joey Menza
War ft 2 Man Army
Black Milk ft Ddubble
In conclusion, I had no idea what to expect when I was sent this, and I wouldn't say I'm just pleasantly surprised, I haven't heard a mixtape like this in a good while, from back to front, everyone brings it to the table - I will have to have a mooch around for a catalog of work from these guys because I am that impressed with this.
2 BIG thumbs up from me guys.
For a FREE Mixtape, there is no reason for you not to download this:
http://illmovesporadic.bandcamp.com/album/the-magnetic-mixtape-free-download
GET IT NOW!!!!!!
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