Imperial is the first guest in our new mini interview series. It’s difficult to find a balance between long form and short form writing. Long form is extensive but takes time to read. Short form is quick to absorb but might not offer as much in comparison. We’ll never cease long form content but we…
The RKZ/Handbook partnership serves up an “Impossible” delight with guest vocalist Sonni Mai. Understated imagery is a beautiful art form. The concept fuelled decades of art in the mid-20th century and minimalism is all the rage today. When RKZ and Handbook weave their musical threads, the finished product is indicative of that style. But with added colour. And that’s what shines through. You listen with your…
Joy’s visuals are enriched with melanin and youthful exuberance, with dancing choreographed by The iDream Dancers. We all know bravado runs through the veins of hip hop and its culture, from the roots underground to the top of the tree. But James Gardin’s accolade, The World’s Most Encouraging Rapper™, conveys regular improvement. It’s also a positive streak he has continued with his latest video for…
Barcelona-based beatmaker Thijsenterprise drops mammoth beat tape, Stepbacks & Setbacks, dedicated to some important people in his life. “Old school hip-hop with soul and jazz samples, dusty breaks and raw chops.” With a description like that, I just had to listen when this dropped in my inbox. Thijsenterprise (real name Reinier Thijs) is a producer from Barcelona and Stepbacks & Setbacks is his latest project. 42…
Today is Madlib’s birthday. Here’s why I love his music and personality so much. In the mid-to-late 00s, I discovered a compilation by Zero 7. It was part of Late Night Tales’ mix series (then called Another Late Night) and it featured a song called Real Eyes by Quasimoto. I found it intriguing for many reasons but it took a few years before I discovered…
Childhood Cassettes looks at the tapes we listened to as young rapscallions. Today’s edition is all about Roberta Flack (and friends). It’s been just over a year since the last edition and today’s follows a similar theme. Most of the music I was exposed to came courtesy of my dad and his car mixtapes. One of them featured Roberta Flack and some extras, but I’ve left…
Power 106 Los Angeles got DJ VinRican to mix tracks from Champion Sound with the samples they used. It’s officially dope. Say what you want about WhoSampled but I’m sure many of us have searched through and marvelled at the samples used in our favourite tracks. I’ve done it with Jaylib before but there’s always a slight disconnect between the track and the sample when…
Ahwlee’s new tape, liteist., shows why he’s a paragon of drum grooving. Sometimes your day/week is hell and you’d like something good and pure to remind you what life should sound like. And Ahwlee came with this proverbial olive branch, even if it wasn’t for me personally. liteist. is a wonderful 14-track beat tape with fine drums and emotive loops and chops. The grooves come…
Sampleface is 6 years old today! On this day 6 years ago, the Sampleface.co.uk site was officially launched. When I started the site with Blaise Penny-Kirkwood aka 13e, I just wanted a blog to cover the music I listened to and share my experiences. 6 years later, with the help of so many people from around the world, it’s still here and still has those core…
This edition of Leftover Links is all about beats and videos. Leftover Links is back once again with some beats and videos from the past few months so enjoy! Beats Bugseed – Fresh Jive EP One of our favourite Japanese beatmakers, Bugseed, dropped a fresh beat tape called “Fresh Jive EP” on Bandcamp a few months ago. The EP was intended for the “hottest summer from…