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Straight out of the gate I have to send a big shoutout to Prancehall for running one of the funniest and most informational blogs going. This week he’s got up two new videos of Skepta (who you may remember from my collabo with him on Pale Fire, “Reign”), his brother JME and their friend Frisco spitting on Tim Westwood’s show on 1Xtra (bbc digital urban radio). Westwood is quite a big deal in the UK despite the fact that he looks and talks like a cartoon character on some very strange drugs (drugs which make you think you’re american and say ‘dawg’ and ‘baby’ all the time in a CRAZY sounding UK/US hybrid accent). Boy Better Know wisely did not make fun of him on his show this time, although they have been known to do it before, he must have a pretty good sense of humor about himself. Still, big up to him for finally figuring out that Grime actually is the REAL UK hiphop and that he as a big UK hiphop DJ ought to support it.

There are some absolutely sick new lyrics from all three but especially JME in which he addresses the rise of the horrible “Girl Better Blow” T-Shirts which are an imitation of his brilliant “Boy Better Know” branding which basically single handedly started the Grime T-Shirt industry and gave everyone in the hood in London a crash course in marketing and branding. Why anyone male or female would wear one of those GBB shirts I have absolutely no idea. If you’re a dude it’s basically vagina kryptonite and if you’re a chick… Yeesh. Don’t even know where to start with that one. JME sets the record straight that he is NOT going to take a picture with you if you are wearing one.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MI_bkFaByk[/youtube]
I’ve just ruthlessly copied and pasted the videos here, but you really should click over and see what Prancehall thinks about it all, along with his hilarious guest post commentary on Ruff Sqwads fashions at a recent show of theirs.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WgRORrtjd4[/youtube]
Another Youtube thing I’m feeling is fellow Dutty Artizt /Rupture‘s recent video with Andy Moor of the Ex, promoting their tour and collabo together (which is currently going on in Europe). The music in the video is them doing turntable and guitar improv over a Nokea and Baby Kites riddim called Hot Pink (watch out for our remix). Hot Pink is gonna come out soon on a new project which is code named Solar Life Raft. The video is a slideshow of photos accompanying a live recording of Rupture and Andy. Some of the images are really great and add a really interesting vibe to the whole thing. After the addition of the guitar, noises and photos I feel like the thing takes on a whole new life and tone, which is pretty interesting. This is another merciless rip and repost but at least I wrote something about it and didn’t just copy and paste. Check out /Rupture’s blog for his thoughts about it and notes from the tour.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A0Ju7ahf40[/youtube]

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IRON SHIRT @ 205 4sm

Thanks to everyone who came down to 205 last thursday. Bigups to Bloody Social and to DJ Jaclyn for letting me do a surprise DJ set when her laptop crashed after our 77Klash/Iron Shirt set. Bigup to Frank151 and Circa for putting the thing together, it was fun. Shouts to RockersNYC fam, Oplus, Jahdan’s Dad, all the fine hipster girlies and everyone singing along during our set.

This is what it looked like:

205 Club Thursday

And this is what we looked like (fresh to death as usual). I’m in the background in the DJ booth.

IRON SHIRT @ 205 2IRON SHIRT @ 205 1!IRON SHIRT @ 205 3

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FIESTA SOOT: a label party thrown by DJ /rupture’s Soot imprint hits Manhattan on October 5

On Friday October 5, a Soot Records & Funkworthy FM present FIESTA SOOT, featuring international soundboys DJ /rupture (Barcelona/Brooklyn), Maga Bo (Rio de Janeiro), Filastine (w/ guest cellist Brent Arnold), and Manhattan’s own Matt Shadetek. The Funkworthy crew will install a proper reggae soundsystem with enough booty-friendly BASS to handle hot new ragga, dubstep, hiphop, grime, baile funk, world beat, and whatever else we use to get things poppin’.

Soot Records specializes in ass-shaking polyrhythms, cosmopolitan bass, and local collabos, with an ear for the global south. New material by Ghislain Poirier, Rupture, and Maga Bo is slated for fall release. Busy touring schedules mean that this lineup is a special one, with artists traveling from Brazil, Spain, and the West Coast.

Fiesta Soot. Friday Oct. 5
Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery @ Bleeker St, NYC.
10PM-late. $5 before midnight, $8 after.

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Flyer for 77Klash Frank151 party

77Klash with Jahdan and Matt Shadetek will be performing at this.  This is probably one of the last things we’ll do as such before everything goes under the Iron Shirt name.

When: Thursday Oct. 11th 8PM – 1AM

Where: 205 Chrystie betw. Stanton and Rivington.

Us and rockers Bloody Social will be doing short showcase sets while you drink free alcohol (8-10, come early).

For those of you who have been asking me about Iron Shirt (I’m actually amazed how interested people are, it’s very motivating) this will be your chance to hear us do some of the songs from the new album we’re working on.

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Big tings a gwan in Klash City. 77Klash has been hard at work on his riddim The Swarm and now it’s time to show the world. With the Aidonia version “Ah You” aka “Hot Fuck” already blown up Klash is turning his attention to promoting some of the other artists on the riddim, including local BK hero Jahdan.

Here’s Jahdan’s version of The Swarm, recorded with Noble Society partner Delie and providing the title cut for the riddim. I just saw them do this live last night in NYC and they FUCKED UP THE PLACE. Big tune, serious. The song received Download of the week on iTunes last week and garnered thirty thousand downloads in a very short time. The entire riddim segment (including a very surprising version by singing white girl Allison Faith) is available for sale on iTunes. All money garnered from sales will go to making more hot music, so make sure you go and vote with your dollars for our movement. This, along with a riddim medley of The Swarm will be featured on the forthcoming Iron Shirt street album which is in the mixing stages. This will be the debut release on me (Matt Shadetek) and DJ /Rupture’s new Dutty Artz label.

You heard it here first. Dutty Artz is the new movement, a label and family of like minded individuals living in Brooklyn. Rupture and I have gotten sick of putting up with people not understanding how to move with our music or second guessing us and have decided to take our business fully into our own hands. Already the initial line up of releases and projects is looking very powerful indeed. After a few years of running Shadetek Records independently I had gotten sick of doing business and wanted to just focus on music, but the result was a loss of creative control as I started dealing with P+D deals, labels, etc, all with their own opinions about how and what I should put out. Now, taking the power and stress and responsibility into my own hands I feel more focused and motivated than ever. There’s no risk without reward so we’ve decided to put our money where our mouth is and go hard. Watch this space.

And, for those of you who may have missed it, 77Klash’s excellent vocal of his own Scallawah riddim (popularized by Turbulence with his number one smash hit “Notorious”) now has a youtube video. I actually really like the still photo aesthetic they’ve utilized here and long wanted to do something similar after seeing Chris Marker’s excellent experimental film La Jetee, which 12 Monkeys was based on. Here you have a Jamaican version, with running title commentary, 77Klash featuring Tonto Marijuana “Ratings”. I’m still learning to use this new blog so this video was fucking up my formatting, it’s at the bottom.

Thanks to Sam and the good people over at The Fader blog for linking this up as well. Also thanks to Yardflex.com for this article on Klash with a mention of our project, along with the fact that we got included on EA Sports Madden ’08 soundtrack, the Madden franchise is one of the biggest selling video games in the world. Our distorted ass fucked up BK grime tune is sharing space with Justin Timberlake, Swizz Beats and a bunch of famous rock bands. If you had told me this would have happened a few years ago I would have called you a liar, but there you go.

Journalists, bloggers, this is the text of the press release, copy and paste it into your articles: In 2007, 77Klash has been busy concocting his latest riddim opus, The Swarm. Influenced by electro-rock and old school reggae, The Swarm features several notable artists including Luthan Fyah, up and coming superstar Idonia, Brooklyn Anthem singer Jahdan, the international dancehall phenom Vybez Kartel and a host of Jamaican voices new and old. The riddim is smashing up dances from Kingston to Brooklyn. The Swarm Riddim, now available for sale on iTunes is also available on Klash City Records with distribution through Bob Marley’s legendary Tuff Gong label on 7″ 45. With this and his future project 77Klash is set to usher in the new generation of reggae vibes. 77Klash and Jahdan along with Matt Shadetek are responsible for last years underground smash Brooklyn Anthem, currently featured on EA’s Madden ’08 soundtrack. The Swarm riddim medley will be featured on Iron Shirt’s forthcoming street album, the debut CD release on Matt Shadetek and DJ /Rupture’s Dutty Artz label. Also check out the Youtube vids for the tunes on the Swarm, and if you’ve been living under a rock, Brooklyn Anthem.

THE SWARM WHISKEY BAGGIO & LUTAN FIYAH:

THE SWARM AIDONIA “AH YOU”:

BROOKLYN ANTHEM:

plus, 77KLASH feat. TONTO MARIJUANA “RATINGS” (on Klash’s Scallawa riddim):

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snap crackle static: signal’s ON!!!!!!

coming a few minutes from NOW , DuttyARtz 01, a 12″ record designed to destroy any party u unleash it on. Matt Shadetek vs Cauto, Brooklyn NYC-//BarcelonaES bass

DUTTY ARTS IS A FAMILY