Klashnekoff...top 5 alive?

[da_notorious_mack]

god im going to get slack for this,so ill start off by saying this is only my opinion..but Klashnekoff is top 5 alive...there is nobody really like him in the game..he's catalogue of songs is simply incredible..and anyone familiar to him would have trouble naming a song where he didnt come correctly..but hey that dosent really seperate him from the crowd..alot of people are consistently good..no..what i feel sets him apart is he's similar to Pac in workrate,charisma and the fact he has very strong belief's that at no point seem like a gimmick or a front to get across...he also come across very intelligently..which Nas and certain other asides has been missing in abundance as of lately...klashnekoff is seriously just like a flashback of the 90's...its like dead prez..black pride without the blatant rascism...lyrics are always razor sharp..occasionally may not feel the choice of beat but never come away sayin Klashnekoff cudda came harder...


look into him...if you aint already knowing...

[da_notorious_mack]

infact here's some songs to check


Parrowdice
Brothers Keeper
Focus Mode
Let It Go
Murder
Zero
Sometime's ft Kano
Son of Nia
TEF to the DEF
Black Tigers
Black Rose
Jankrowville
The Saga

only ones i can think of off my head but he's six albums/mixtapes deep on national distribution

[Jonzz]

klash is big

check this kid out



www.myspace.com/zdoto

u can download his mixtape .. its sickkk

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Has he actually dropped a proper album yet, last time I checked it was just mixtapes and then that one collection of various singles. He's dope, but his crew (their name escapes me) are just average at best and they glorify gun usage too much for my own personal taste, especially in their live act. 'Murda' is an anthem though, peeps be going crazy whenever they drop it at hiphop shows.

[Al Bundy]

I can't listen to that English rap. sounds pretty retarded with the english accent.

[da_notorious_mack]

I can't listen to that English rap. sounds pretty retarded with the english accent.

really should have listened to a klashnekoff song before posting that..


he has a strong west indies accent..if i hadnt told u u probly wudnt av noticed he was british

[The Predator]

''Get dropped on ya doorstep like Dando'' - 'Klash

 

[da_notorious_mack]

and thats how it is
you can find just where i live
in jankrowville
streets paved with shit
cats gettn stick on the nightshift
im swift like jimmy snuka
the black russian spit slugs
like german luger
war torn stormtrooper
making tracks as we manouerve
movin furtha to the future
with a bucket ful of lucifer

 

[Webby05]

I would say top 5 alive but he is deff one of the best to ever do it in the UK

His new album Tussle With The Beast is dope, reminds me of dark hiphop like the old mobb music

[The Predator]

What was that line from one his new joints ''Kick down ya door with yardies wearing masks like iraqis'' Damn!


and an interview for those that know...

Klashnekoff, the already legendary emcee from the depths of North-East London, is  known to all UK Hip Hop fans for his massive single ‘Murda’, released in 2003 on Kemet Entertainment. He was kind enough to give the following interview with the UCL Urban Music Society following a performance of his recent hits, during which he was unfortunately let down by technical problems due to the club’s substandard sound system and incompetent techies…

 

Klash: No-one can’t see the promoter, you should record all this s***. You got Klashnekoff pissed today, all this s***. What university is this?

Sly: University College London. Near Euston

Klash: Let’s get it f*****’ poppin’, ain’t no stoppin’, body parts I’m droppin’, I’m lock stockin’. Sorry I’m going like a madman but I’m pissed off. Like I said, I had to leave my son to come to this jam. Big up Mr. Decks, my official Terra Firma DJ.

Sly: I feel for you man but you gave it [you did your best given the circumstances]…

Klash: No its okay, don’t feel for me ‘cause I enjoyed it at the same time ‘cause I vented out anger at the same time, despite the problems, you know what I mean? Have you got a light on you? When the security comes in we might get kicked out ‘cause we’re blazing green [smoking herbal cannabis cigarettes]. My greens stinks.

Master: How old are you?

Klash: How old am I? No comment.

Master: How did you get started in hip hop? What made you first pick up a pen and rap?

Klash: What I would say to people is that when I was at school, rap was the thing to do, like emceeing is the thing to do now, you get me? I did it ‘cause enough people were doing it, you get me? Obviously, I enjoyed hip hop music, I was into N.W.A, Fresh Prince, I go back to people like Phase One, later on people like Wu-Tang, who were very influential to me, and really and truly for me it was just a means of expression, to express my problems and them things.

Master: But when you wrote your first lyric, what encouraged you to think, ‘I want to write more’? What did people think, ‘cause your first lyric probably wasn’t the best lyric in the world…

Klash: Yeah, one of my first lyrics was ‘Pik-a-tee-Peter pik-a-tee-Piper picked the pepper from the tree, I diggety-drop styles like my name was Brandon Lee’. Also, ‘What’s the flavour, quick drop the flavour like Quaver, left Home and Away but now I’m back to be your neighbour, so g’day, my style’s f*****’ A, It’s the Legionaires comin’ off like the Krays, I’m Ronnie, He’s Reggie, ha ha ha, I riggedy-rocksteady, I get my props like Eddie, I’m narrow, parrow…’ You know, one of them old s*** ones, but really and truly, for me my first love was acting. People like Eddie Murphy, you know. So it wasn’t really about hip hop, it was more like I just wanted to be an actor, be a performer, and I saw man in school getting girls, doing shows, you know what I mean? When I see certain mans getting girls, getting props and that, I won’t lie, I got caught up in the hype as a kid, I just wanted to be down. But then the mans that I wanted to be down with in the school, they didn’t want to be down, you get me? They were properly up their batty, up their noses and that, you get me? I left it for a while, ‘cause them man made me feel like I didn’t want to do it, I ain’t going to lie. And I left it for a while. Years even.

Master: At what age did you start and then stop again?

Klash: Started rapping when I was about 12 or 13. Stopped, started up again when I was about 17 until I was about 19. Stopped, and then started up again when I was about 20-something. You can work out my age from that. I’ve only been in the game for about the last two years, two and a half years.

Master: So its been a quick succession?

Klash: Definitely, definitely.

Master: At the moment you talk about jankrow [untranslatable], about the life you live. Have you thought about writing more about conceptual stuff, out of body experiences and that?

Klash: Definitely. Yeah, man’s got all those lyrics ‘cause I’m not not one dimensional. As a person, I like to keep an open mind, I like to be able to talk to everyone and anyone, you know what I’m saying? So I’ve got those lyrics, but when you start out and you’re good, you’re like, what’s that man from Star Wars? Anakin, the young Jedi, you’re like a young Jedi with enough power, and as soon as you’ve got power you’re going to f*** about. Excuse my language, you can edit it out. You’re going to mess about, you’re going to levitate tables, you’re going to fly in the air you know, do stupid s***. But when you get older, you want to heal people. You get me, it’s like I could chat all day about the circumference of the Moon, within the square root, all that s***. I leave that to all them intelligent cats, I call it mental ejaculation, or mental masturbation rather. Where you’re just so nang [talented], and all you’re doing is spitting lyrics that only illuminati will get, you know? Only people with an IQ of a million, so you’ve got to speak to the average man, and talk on his level.

  Master: What do you think of mans like Ras Kass and Pharoahe Monch? Do you rate them?

Klash: Standard, standard [absolutely]. Ras Kass, Pharoahe Monch, Killah Priest, um… MF Doom. I like Cannibal Ox, Wordsworth, RZA, you know. I like all the other one’s, the Method Mans and all the obvious ones, but they’re like the thinkers, that’s what does it for me.

Sly: At the moment, UK Hip Hop is felt by fewer people than UK Garage once was. That’s partly due to the fact that Garage blew up so quickly. Why do you think this is?

Klash: To be honest, I’m not an expert on UK Garage, but a similar thing is now happening to UK Hip Hop, its creative innovation, always taking it to the next level. With [US] Hip Hop its stopped now. Its champagne, blunt-smoking, slapping booty, rump-shaking music, you get me. [US] Hip Hop has become the new pop music, where as with Garage they were new and hungry. But British music goes through changes, you know what I mean? Whether its Acid or Jungle or Garage or Grime. Now we’ve got American and Jamaican influences, plus with the English background. We’ve got creative hunger now like they had in America back in the day. All different styles, that’s what UK Hip Hop’s got now, you know.

  Sly: Are you feeling Old School Garage?

Klash: I’m feeling all kinds of music that’s good, be it classical or whatever. Apart from Calypso.

Sly: Your new album has just come out on Kemet. But a lot of people will have already copied or downloaded your tunes. Do you you resent this or are you pleased that the gospel is being spread?

Klash: In terms of sales I’ve done better than most newly signed artists. But I don’t mind ‘cause I’m still broke now, but I used to be really broke. I bought about two records as a kid, I copied most stuff. So I’m happy as long as its getting out there, we have such a hard time getting heard. It’s a blessing when I get heard. But if I get signed, then go out and buy it.

Master: How do you write lyrics, do you write them on road [out and about], or in the studio as they come to you?

Klash: To be honest, most of my lyrics I’ve written on my jacks [on my own], in my yard [at home].

Master: So without lots of people around?

Klash: Very rarely have I written stuff with producers and other people around. I usually just get a beat and meditate in my yard. But I can do whatever you know, write it in the studio, whatever.

Sly: Do you write better when you’re lean [under the influence of cannabis]?

Klash: Back in the day, I used to write lyrics when I wasn’t lean. There’s a balance. It hinders and sometimes it harms. Too much of anything is abuse so its just like, bun [smoke] a little spliff, take a couple of pulls, but don’t rely on it, rely on yourself, ‘cause that’s where its coming from. It just enhances any feeling, so if you’re mad, it’s going to make you feel really mad, if you’re sad it’s going to make you really sad. I do enjoy bunning and writing, but you have to be able to do it when there’s no draw. It’s hard sometimes, addiction’s a m***********.

Master: Tell us about Terra Firma.

Klash: Terra Firma’s my crew. It’s a crew of emcees, the main emcees right now are Kyza Smirnoff, Skribbla Dangoff and a guy called Diamond Ruff. And my deejay Mr Decks. I describe us as the superheroes of the rap game. As well as being nang lyricists, we’re here to save lives as well. Terra Firma means solid ground, like the foundation of life.

Sly: Is there a desired effect you want to have on your listeners?

Klash: Yeah, to make them think, question things, to have open minds. But to be honest, most of the stuff on my first album were just things I wanted to get off my chest.

Sly: Have you got any plans for the near future?

Master: I heard there’s going to be a Terra Firma album dropping soon…

Klash: Just rumours. There’s going to be a Terra Firma mix CD. But too many mix CDs have too many tracks: all quantity, no quality. We’re about quality control, good, timeless music. Its not just about spitting thugged out lyrics, ‘cause that’s just a momentary thing. When people listen to music, its like eating a meal, and if you keep feeding them the same old thug lyrics, that’s like eating eggs and bacon every day, eventually their heart will collapse. Its about nourishing food. Planting yams, guasaba, bananas, rice and peas, salt fish.

Master: Thanks for your time.

Klash: Its okay, big up to mans dem. Big up UCL Urban Music Society. This is Klashnekoff, very pissed off at another show.

[KURUPTION-81]

i really like klashnekoff he is defiantly a great rapper but in terms of english rappers i would say skinnyman is better than him.

props for this topic though.

[da_notorious_mack]

wikkid interview..props..


and kuruption..i like skinny but not sure icould put him up there with klashnekoff..den agen havent heard an abundance of his tracks so imay not be informed enugh to choose between um..any tracks youd recommend???

[KURUPTION-81]

wikkid interview..props..


and kuruption..i like skinny but not sure icould put him up there with klashnekoff..den agen havent heard an abundance of his tracks so imay not be informed enugh to choose between um..any tracks youd recommend???

see if you can download the track fuck the hook (unfortunatly i can post it).

Id def recommend you buying skinnyman's album council estate of the mind, i dont think you would be disspointed especially as you liek klashnekoff. Here is a quick review of it

Skinnyman is one of the originals from the UK hip hop scene. It has been a travesty that he hasn’t been in a situation to receive mass recognition already. But like all good things we finally have ‘Council Estate of Mind’ released on Low Life Records.

This album is genuine hip hop and Skinnyman is one the UK’s best MC’s. Originally from Leeds but moved to London from a young age his commentary is about social issues from a working class perspective. His lyrics are excellent and delivered to precision. Skinnyman has always been known to be a good freestyler and this shows on this record. There’s real maturity to style, his conviction is genuine and his rhyme play is superb. Throughout this album we have sampled commentary about issues of correction for delinquents. This is quite unique and thought provoking and uniquely British. 'Fuck The Hook’ opens the music for the album and this is as big as it gets, UK or American. The hook is solid, powerfully rhythmical and Skinnyman delivers with serious energy and nice rhymes. There’s all sorts going on in this album. From the smooth style of ‘Love’s Gone From The Streets’ to the punchy ‘No Big Ting’, or the classy ‘I’ll Be Surprised’. This goes to show that Skinnyman has skills to move in all manner of hip hop styles and it all works.

‘Council Estate of Mind’ is a classic album. There’s real depth, genuine thought and quality hip hop here. It’s the kind of album you can keep listening to over and over again and it’s this kind of genuine music that will have mass appeal to all music lovers.
 
http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/webpages/skinnyman2x20x09x04

[Al Bundy]

I can't listen to that English rap. sounds pretty retarded with the english accent.

really should have listened to a klashnekoff song before posting that..


he has a strong west indies accent..if i hadnt told u u probly wudnt av noticed he was british

then send a song

i'm not saying you did it but lol @ my karma going down. quit hating

[The Predator]

Klashnekoff is one of the realest MCs to come out of UK shores, and is set to take the world by storm with the release of his groundbreaking new album, Lionheart: Tussle With The Beast. It’s been a long time coming, and sees K-Lash progressing from his earlier work, 2004’s Sagas of Klashnekoff, the mixtape Focus Mode and last year’s The Foundation, released with his crew Terra Firma. We sat down with the notoriously elusive MC from Hackney, East London, to hear about his views on the world, the state of the UK Hip-Hop scene and why maintaining sanity is such a struggle right about now…

AllHipHop.com: With the current crisis climate of increased gun crime in London, you’ve been criticised for taking your name from a Russian gun. How would you respond to your critics?

Klashnekoff: I call myself Klashnekoff because the environment I’m coming from is kinda rugged, and the way I look at it, kids over here don’t need to pick up a kalashnekov like you see on the news, they can pick up my CD instead and bust lyrical shots. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what you call yourself, it’s about your actions. Tony Blair, George Bush- they sound like lovely names don’t they? They wear nice suits but what the f**k are they doing? So to my critics, f**k you!

AllHipHop.com: You have a lyric that says “can you relate to/living in this system that hates you/ and rapes you/ and strips you of dignity?” Would you describe yourself as a victim of the system?

Klashnekoff: I was a victim of it, no doubt. I don’t call myself Klashnekoff for nothing. There was a lot of stuff that I was going through growing up, a lot of stress. I had my moments where I’d switch and bring knives to school and whip them out on teachers. Some f**ked up s**t, I ain’t gonna lie, I was a troubled young youth. The truth of it is, my mom used to beat me loads…she was going through her own stresses. And so they put me in a boarding school that was like the last place you could go before jail. They threw all the gang members in there, all the kids that had been abused, all the kids with temper problems. And they left us with teachers that didn’t give a f**k. It was run like a jail and the teachers used to beat us, I myself was thrown about a couple of times. But as far as the system goes, f**k the system, I’m creating my own system, straight up and down. You can’t function in the system- it will get you assimilated quickly and turn you into a happy shopper. Why do you think they made The Matrix? They’re telling you to your f**king face.

AllHipHop.com: How did you get through all these hard times in your life?

Klashnekoff: Because I had the music I was always determined and passionate, so I got out of it. I love it so much, doing it is the s**t, it’s the closest thing you’ll get to sex or the high of marijuana, do you understand what I’m saying? And when I’m in a creative element and surrounded by creative people, with no outside influences, just the organic growth of music, it’s the most beautiful thing in the f**king world. I love it all day long.

AllHipHop.com: How do you stay so focused on it with all of life’s stresses, as well as the hardships you faced early on?

Klashnekoff: I ain’t f**king focused all the time, that’s the truth. Life is a big humongous dutty knuckle punching you everyday. But the bottom line is you being able to enjoy that pain. It’s not the problem it’s how a person deals with the problem. Also, music is my only option. Man used to work in Burberry, doing labouring, demolition, electrician jobs, and I did that because I didn’t have to think about the job, I could just do what I was doing and get to the studio in the evening. I fall off every other day sometimes and think “f**k this s**t” but you just gotta keep on going.

AllHipHop.com: Do you ever suffer from self-doubts?

Klashnekoff: That’s what I’m saying, yeah, of course I get self-doubts; I have bare [lots of] doubts but I don’t think they’re real doubts, they’re doubts I conjure up for myself. Insecurities about certain things- and when you go and do those things, it’s like nothing, but you’re sitting there building up a picture in your head- like what are people thinking? There’s loads of fears that can come for you but the bottom line is, at the core of me, I know what time it is, I know I can do it. I’ve got the talent but it’s just the business ethic that I really need to get down to a T.

AllHipHop.com: Is that something you struggle with quite a bit?

Klashnekoff: Yeah definitely. Because over here in England no one don’t teach you, we don’t have any Roc-A-Fella or any big labels or any Jay Z’s to show us the way. We’re learning literally from trial and error and so I’m still learning as I go along and I’m making a hell of a lot of mistakes but it’s all about learning.

AllHipHop.com: Who influences you more, American rappers or UK rappers?

Klashnekoff: Good question. It used to be American, all day long. Ras Kass, Killah Priest, MF Doom, RZA, Wu-Tang…now it’s Terra Firma [Klashnekoff’s crew] and people like Smasher, Devlin, Ghetto, from over here. There are still a few American rappers I listen to. Right now I’m pumping Nas and Jay Z’s albums like it’s a religious prayer or something, ‘cause they’re the only ones who are keeping the Hip-Hop that I love alive. There are a few more, dead prez, Saigon…I’m a Saigon fanatic- to me he’s one of the truest people out there, Papoose too.

AllHipHop.com: Why do you think the UK scene is lagging so far behind the US?

Klashnekoff: There ain’t no infrastructure over here, there ain’t no labels who overstand the culture and overstand the music and where to put it and how to maximise it. They need to stop signing people for two singles and one album. These record companies are trying to bang out s**t like crack in a f**king factory, it’s all about figures and digits as opposed to talent. They need to start developing artists, start with pure talent and build around it.

AllHipHop.com: Your album is very political. Would you consider yourself to be a political individual?

Klashnekoff: I’m just me, I’m just passionate about a lot of stuff, man. I don’t see it as a political album, no way. I don’t f**k with politics, I just deal with reality. Man, I just express myself, express what’s in my heart and express what I’m passionate about and write what I feel.

AllHipHop.com: On your album you call your mother’s ex “the charming snake.” How important do you think it is to have a positive male role model?

Klashnekoff: It’s imperative. I have two sons and I always try and instil in them to be true to themselves, whatever that means. Hopefully I can help them realise their potential. One thing I always instil in my children is compassion. So many youths out there try and act tough, it’s like a protection mechanism- there’s vultures out there and they don’t wanna get eaten- so they wanna look like they’re a vulture as well.

AllHipHop.com: In your album title, what does the “beast” refer to, is it phorical?

Klashnekoff: Life’s a struggle, it’s a tussle. To maintain sanity is a f**king struggle right now. What the f**k is going on when there’s people starving in 2007? When you can f**king fly man to the moon and do all types of s**t but you can’t feed a common person? How can I explain that to my child? It don’t make no sense.

AllHipHop.com: Your song ‘The Revolution’ expresses an urgent need for change. What do you feel people need to change in order to move forward?

Klashnekoff: They need to turn their TVs off and get with real people, interacting again. Turn your Playstations off! All these contraptions are put there to take us away from life- the planet is our true religion, that’s what I believe.