The Internet is finally back up and running properly so let's kick things off with a little bit of an exclusive for you! Of the few mixtape's I've bought hand-to-hand from aspiring MC's, there's only been one person that I've a) rated from the start and b) that have actually progressed and gained anywhere near the recognition they deserve. Ever since that first listening of his "Prince Of Thieves" mixtape, I realised that Stylah was a name that I needed to watch out for. The fact I heard one of his tracks on the radio a couple of days later only helped to affirm my initial suspicions; this dude is gonna make moves.
True to form, these moves included the epic "Crash Course", "The Dubs Mixtape" alongside fellow Poisonous Poet, Lowkey (quite easily one of the sickest partnerships in music!), a couple of free downloads alongside many, many features, culminating in last year's release of his first 'album proper', the long awaited "Treading Water".
So being a big fan, it's somewhat of an honour that Stylah himself has hooked me up with an early copy of the latest installment of his Crash Course series, oddly enough entitled "Crash Course 2". Once again collaborating with DJ Snips, Styzilla comes equipped with 21 tracks of relentless lyricism boasting a host of features including Lowkey, Smiler, Mikill Pane, Propane and Exo. The premise of the mixtape is fairly similar to the first edition, a blend of original soul samples and classic hip hop beats with Stylah bringing his unique sound to adaptations of tracks from the likes of Jay Z, Common, Drake and Mos Def to name but a few.
As ever, "Crash Course 2" finds Stylah in fine form and its difficult to pick out individual highlights when everything is of such a high calibre. However, over Jay Z's "The Takeover", Stylah vents about pretty much everything that irritates him and drops some brilliant bars including "...I'm sick of hearing shit rappers are getting fucking signed/ I'm sick of Tinie Tempah smiling all the fucking time".
DJ Snips' reworks The Moments' "Love On A Two Way Street" to great effect, with Stylah painting a picture of the struggles of street life and despite having vocalled Jim Jones "We Fly High" on "The Dubs Mixtape", Stylah puts his twist on the sampled track, Rasputin's Stash's "Mr. Cool", with his ego in overdrive as he boasts"...Mr Cool, Fonzarelli with the microphone/ nice vocals, nice clothes, nice cologne..." We're also shown the more sincere side of Stylah when he teams up with Lowkey over Common's "The Light" and addresses the need for respecting the fairer sex and apologises for his previous indiscretions.
Unfortunately, I'm yet to get a release date, artwork or audio I can share with you but as soon as I know, you'll know. Until then, hit up www.stylah.tv to stay up to date with everything and check the history lesson below in the shape of "Please Listen", taken from the album "Treading Water" which you is available on iTunes now - http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/treading-water/id393099781
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