Wednesday 23 May 2018

This is Elephant & Castle...London Town Hip Hop Lyrics

I'm working on my latest EP right now, "R U Mad!?" and while doing it I've been reflecting
on how much work goes into a project. Blood, sweat, money and tears...

However when it's done, the real work of marketing and promoting has to happen. Me, and I think a lot of underground musicians/artists/creatives etc do not do enough in this area.

As a result, i thought I'd go back through Elephantitus and share it in a bit more detail. I had great fun writing this, sourcing the beats and then recording it all with the legendary Chemo. The first track here had a working title "Selly Oak 2" harking back to a descriptive track of the little University suberb I used to live in. Welcome to Elephant reflects the joys, hardships, cultural diversity and influence of big business on the everyday people living in the area.

Enjoy!


This is Elephant but its probably just like yours
Down South Up North
Down and Out, Rich Poor....



Welcome to Elephant the view from the castle
So high we get Dizzy as a Rascal
Chilling on a barstool watching all the sky scrapers
Coming ups a stickymess like old fly paper
You could be a german physicist, or a thai waiter
afghan selling yam  or some man who gives me jive  later
Anybody everybody comes here to live
Peace to all my Latins who come jazz up the strip  
Thats the Walwoth our Version of Notting Hill
culture at cusp but we aint stopping still
Everybody run around peeking at the peacocks
Trust me im a pervert so fly girls I see lots
Most the countries in the world
Represented in like 3 blocks
All I really need extra here
A few more tree tops   
Luckily I got my wifey and man who beatbox
I aint slowing down even though I need a  detox
In bed with A4 pads always tearing the sheets off
my hearts a drum machine turn snare and the beat up


As we welcome you to Elephant the view from the Castle
Be careful, no joke you might just come across an arsehole
know smoke, fog curls round legs of my barstool
Looked up from my pint of bitter, see a greasy parcel
Wrapped in old paper like a bag of fish and chips
cant afford the fish here fried chicken to a crisp
Kids all gripping spliff old men spitting on the bit
of only pavement left with out gum or scum on it
Round here the plumbings shit but
its better than some other places Look around,
its lovely seing a lot of races
Still...Three pubs shut down
replaced by bookies and cheque loans
Less place to  drown sorrows
as all the debt grows
city glass tubes
Filled with Gordon Ghecckos
Who had Nick Leeson as they hero from the get go
Back in E&C all ya riches just an echo
Rocking 2nd hand garms not just because its retro
I grin up at everybody  few and far between
Very very few left to refresh bless up the scene
fishscale mongers, butchers cut to get you lean
Have a coffe, Mean mugs up in the joint know what I mean
If you was looking at an elephant from here you'd feel little
Thats why I spit it from the castle, to make itl Official
Bypassed Charlie Chaps  weatherspoon
Cruise missile  

Bagel King Pasties
Jerk Chicken out of Gabbies
And the cafes still serves up the daddies
With the red for the all the heads getting fedyou got a wicked meal matey
Chips beans and eggs
Still Everyone looks miserable
kids who do work are poor
The ones that don’t sit by shops with a tennants raw
Outside of Morrisons
But thats the way it is
On saturdays the christians come to handle there biz
Shouting at us therough a mega phone
To come accept Christ
It must be nice to have faith but aint enough for the cyph
im lovin living life with my buffting soon to be wife
and big dogs like Weezy Porno Lopez LinksFlump Aiiiight
done the Ali G impressions we the
class of the middle
still checking our receipts when im straight outta Liddle
you want beef I want beef band it straight to the griddle
A lighthearted motherfucker but im still Official
Bypassed Charlie Chaps  weatherspoon

 cruise missile  

Saturday 3 January 2015

Rap Kareoke? Working Nocturnal - Benny Diction featuring Disciple aka Spider Jaroo, Mista P & Solocypher



This is one of my favourite tracks I've been involved with and performing it live has been a highlight of my life in rap alongside hip hop fiends Jaroo, Benny and P. Thought I'd post it up to remind myself of the power of collaboaration and to inspire a lot more work in 2015.....and why the hell not, here's my verse written kareoke for you to rap along with....

The Boom Bap Exemplar
In Your Mardi Gras
Riding Harder than a Knight Templar
So Far I got the Good Kush
Read from the Good Book
Keep your whole Hood Shook
You got your Rook took
I look Messaic wanna try it?
Cause a riot
Im the pilot your a stewardess
Foreever def and stupid fresh
Sewers nest of vipers
Espcapee Sizzle Cypher
Heres a riddle for you misers
How big are my incisors?
Fucking huge dunny
But I aint long in the tooth
Just a fve mic veteran
So Im  strong in the booth
A bong and a brew,
Spend some old Wong on a suit
 I get chump change from chiefs
And shove my shlong in the roof
Of a marvelous mouth
Loose my marbles and bounce
I could gargle and ounce
Of Absynth and still pounce
On wrong word woefully wrong doing Wankers 
 Lizard salamanders
Useless as British Banker....

Tuesday 29 July 2014

Elephantitus


At last and after a lot of headaches the Elephantitus album project was completed in June 2014.
Stream and download it here.
Massive shouts to DJ279 who gave 'The Theme' (changed to The Anthem for album version) featuring my man Chima Anya it's first Radio Play on Choice FM, soon after we'd created the track.....over a year later and the album project was completed and another huge shout goes to Shay D & DJ Shorty who gave it a good full pull up at the top of thier very dope "LC" show on ITCH FM.






As part of the Fat Gold Chain crew we had a little celebration of the album release at The Red Lion in Shoreditch; a great party, look out for hopefully more FGC's and more performances of the album at a spot near you soon!

The Unstabilized Years

A highly lyrical outing; the Unstabalized project (click for full album download) emerged after a week staying with DJ Nifty back in Ipswich drinking beers and slamming together huge notebooks of rhymes accumulated from years in being in Brum with a selection of Nifty's bangingest beats. Although we're very pleased with the project, the rough edges meant we never really promoted it to the fullest; so now we take it back; download the whole album here or check out a few of the cuts. The artwork was also a headache; we finally settled on the Text mash up version but have included here a couple of my own, horrendous, original designs!

Bright Eyes from Solocypher on Myspace.




 Birmingham is a great city and I have many memories of the place as a student of university and hip hop. Rocking the Mic at Drop Beats Not Bombs, Heducation and Scratch Club to an audience who always appreciate lyrical content and alongside fearsome emcees; the city taught me a lot about life. The 'Unstabilized' album is a testament to that mixed in with the random verbal torrents of rap I was developing at the time.




Fat Gold Chain & London Town

Shouts to everyone who's repped alongside me on mics during my time in London since 2010; check the videos of me warming up for Homeboy Sandman as part of Fat Gold Chain and then as part of LeeN's Elite Cypher Leagues where underground emcees come to smash the mic down with freesyles and pre-writtens...coming in at 6:04 with a Guiness inspired freestyle!