Nurturing a vinyl addiction since the age of 10, manifesting as the link between some of the hottest producers such as Just Blaze (Rocafella), Alchemist (G-Unit) and Havoc (Mobb Deep) and officially the first UK artist-producer to garner widespread acclaim and support with the release of landmark LP, ‘The Weight’ in 2000, Juliano ‘Recordkingz’ Creator is back with his long-awaited sequel, ‘Heavyweight’. Littered with contributions from big in the hip hop game artists such as Mobb Deep, The Beatnuts, Little Brother, Aftermath’s Joell Ortiz and Bad Boy’s Assim to name but a few, and doused with the very rare breaks and loops Juliano himself sourced, it would seem that the album title is not a far cry from the truth.
Would you expect anything less from the founder of http://www.recordkingz.com/, the leading source of rare records for collectors and producers alike, and an individual who not only surrounded himself with, but was also well respected by the likes of Funkmaster Flex, DJ Spinna and Stretch Armstrong? If you did, you need to become better acquainted with Google.
‘Heavyweight’ is a compilation of all of Recordkingz favourite artists who he has met and worked with over the years. When opportunities to record came up, Recordkingz would hit the road running with a bag of beats, the end result being tracks like ‘Rock Ya Shoulders’ featuring The Beatnuts recorded in London, ‘Heat’ featuring Mobb Deep recorded in Paris, ‘Take A Walk’ featuring Joell Ortiz recorded in New York, ‘Playin’ To Lose’ featuring Little Brother recorded in LA and ‘Hip-Hop Throwback’ featuring Guilty Simpson recorded in Detroit.
With a healthy 18 track playlist featuring exclusive hit after exclusive hit, in true hip hop fashion, ‘Heavyweight’ features 4 skits, one being the intro, ‘The Heavyweight Muthaf**ka’ which introduces ‘that fat ba****d yet to be mastered’ Juliano Creator in all his glory. From there on out, the listener is treated to head bopping beat after head bopping beat (without which a hip hop album would be lost), many permeated with an obvious old skool, rare groove, gangster vibe, and paired off with some perfectly delivered hip hop lyrics working to fully reinforce the album title.
A fan of Mobb Deep, my favourite track has to be ‘The Heat’, which in true Mobb Deep fashion delivers the ‘realest’ talk about just how hard they really are. However, covering all topics essential to a hip hop album; money, drama, street life and illegal substances, ‘Heavyweight’ presents all of the featured artists, established and upcoming, on one equally impressive platform, the common link being Juliano Creator’s innovative production.
Truly international in its nature, all in all, I predict that ‘Heavyweight’ will bring the quality of many a hip hop listener’s album shelf up a notch or two and be a notably welcome addition to the collection of anyone who can appreciate good music. Delivering pure enjoyment from intro to end, the fact that Juliano is representing the UK is a very good look.
Words by Susanne Singh
Would you expect anything less from the founder of http://www.recordkingz.com/, the leading source of rare records for collectors and producers alike, and an individual who not only surrounded himself with, but was also well respected by the likes of Funkmaster Flex, DJ Spinna and Stretch Armstrong? If you did, you need to become better acquainted with Google.
‘Heavyweight’ is a compilation of all of Recordkingz favourite artists who he has met and worked with over the years. When opportunities to record came up, Recordkingz would hit the road running with a bag of beats, the end result being tracks like ‘Rock Ya Shoulders’ featuring The Beatnuts recorded in London, ‘Heat’ featuring Mobb Deep recorded in Paris, ‘Take A Walk’ featuring Joell Ortiz recorded in New York, ‘Playin’ To Lose’ featuring Little Brother recorded in LA and ‘Hip-Hop Throwback’ featuring Guilty Simpson recorded in Detroit.
With a healthy 18 track playlist featuring exclusive hit after exclusive hit, in true hip hop fashion, ‘Heavyweight’ features 4 skits, one being the intro, ‘The Heavyweight Muthaf**ka’ which introduces ‘that fat ba****d yet to be mastered’ Juliano Creator in all his glory. From there on out, the listener is treated to head bopping beat after head bopping beat (without which a hip hop album would be lost), many permeated with an obvious old skool, rare groove, gangster vibe, and paired off with some perfectly delivered hip hop lyrics working to fully reinforce the album title.
A fan of Mobb Deep, my favourite track has to be ‘The Heat’, which in true Mobb Deep fashion delivers the ‘realest’ talk about just how hard they really are. However, covering all topics essential to a hip hop album; money, drama, street life and illegal substances, ‘Heavyweight’ presents all of the featured artists, established and upcoming, on one equally impressive platform, the common link being Juliano Creator’s innovative production.
Truly international in its nature, all in all, I predict that ‘Heavyweight’ will bring the quality of many a hip hop listener’s album shelf up a notch or two and be a notably welcome addition to the collection of anyone who can appreciate good music. Delivering pure enjoyment from intro to end, the fact that Juliano is representing the UK is a very good look.
Words by Susanne Singh
Be sure to check this review out on the Origins Media website - http://www.originsmag.com/origin_pages/origin_content_main.aspx?thetable=reviews&thenum=54
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