The story of Charlie Rock aka DJ Stitches is a classic example of how brutal the music industry can be. As a founding member of De La Soul, only himself discarded once they signed their first record deal, he went on to score a contract with Mercury Records for his next group – Class A…
Category: Features
In-depth coverage
Diamond D – The Unkut Interview
Growing up in Forest Projects in the South Bronx, DJ Diamond D embarked on a career as a local DJ before teaming-up with childhood friend Master Rob to form the Ultimate Force crew and release the “I’m Not Playing” single on Strong City. Following on from yesterdays detailed breakdown of his first solo album, we…
Track By Track: Diamond D Breaks Down The Stunts, Blunts & Hip-Hop Album
Today marks ten years since I started Unkut Dot Com, and what better way to celebrate than to sit down with the original “Best Producer On The Mic” himself, Diamond D. Originally scheduled to take place in late 2012 to mark the 20th anniversary of his classic debut album, Stunts, Blunts & Hip-Hop, it wasn’t…
Twenty Rap Albums To Be Buried With
I’ve had a few requests of late to break-down my list of personal favorite rap albums, so to set off this tenth anniversary week of Unkut Dot Com, here are the twenty tapes I’d like to be buried with, or take to a desert island with a crate of AA batteries for the Walkman.
Live Review: Run The Jewels, Danny Brown and Earl Sweatshirt @ The Palace, Melbourne
Clearly not a picture of last night’s show. In the interest of “music journalism” I forced myself to attend a rap show last night featuring rappers I don’t really listen to on a regular basis, but don’t really have any huge level of hate for either, which is about as good as it’s going to…
Six Under-Appreciated Guest Raps
Posse cuts are a well-worn topic of discussion on the proverbial rap stoop, but spare a thought for those guest shots on other people’s albums, many of which seem to slip through the liner notes. Here are six cameos that spring to mind…
Timeless Classics Or Only Classics For Their Time?
Every now and then, one of these rap websites puts together a list along the lines of “The 30 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums of 1993” and such, which in theory isn’t something I should have an issue with. The reason I mention it is that a decent proportion of these albums – most of which are…
Spencer Bellamy [East Flatbush Project] – The Unkut Interview
After coming up with Howie Tee as DJ and then producer, Spencer Bellamy started East Flatbush Project and released a series of quality records on his own 10/30 Uproar label at the beginning of the mid 90’s independent hip-hop vinyl movement. Best known for being the man responsible for the legendary “Tried By 12” instrumental,…
Sir Ibu – The Unkut Interview
Born and raised in Bedford-Stuyvesant/Crown Heights, Sir Ibu cemented a place in rap folklore with a record called “Holy War (Live)”, which still stands as one of the rawest examples of beats and rhymes ever recorded, so much so that Ghostface recreated a portion of it on his own modern-day remake named “Mighty Healthy”. Beyond…
Read The Label: The Hydra Entertainment Story
The independent hip-hop resurgence of the mid-90’s seems great in retrospect, but in the days before widespread internets access it was often a case of pot-luck when ordering the latest batch of vinyl via fax from Beat Street or Mr Bongos. While most artists were releasing one-shot singles on their own imprints, there soon emerged…
MC Funky J Vs. KRS-One – Worst Beef Ever?
Some herb called MC Funky J, which is basically the worst rap handle of all time, just leaked a recording of him getting sonned by KRS-One in an attempt to get some shine for his new KRS diss which is so bad it has to be heard to be believed. Unlike every other hack blog…
No Country For Old (Rap) Men: Let Unkut Down
That shit I don’t like. No Country For Old (Rap) Men: Let Unkut Down