Any of our regular readers will know how much I respect Chuck D. Public Enemy were a major force in bringing political, social and cultural consciousness into hip hop in the late 1980s. Their music was a massive influence in my young adult life. It was a huge honour finally meeting Chuck D in Cape Town, 24 years after I first saw Public Enemy live in London at the Hammersmith Odeon on their first UK tour. The impact of Public Enemy’s performance was so great that night that I always forget that Eric B & Rakim and LL Cool J were also on the line up.

Chuck D is now an elder statesman in the hip hop world but he’s still highly active. As well as endless tours with Public Enemy, Chuck D also hosts a radio show on New York’s WBAI and Rapstation.com called, And You Don’t Stop. One of the show segments is called Planet Earth Planet Rap (PEPR), and features hip hop from around the world. The PEPR segment is curated by Gia’na Garel aka GypSEE Mama, Amkelwa Mbekeni and Mikko Kapanen – (read more about the PEPR team here).

We were hugely honoured to have music by Jaak and Driemanskap featured alongside Zuluboy on the South African segment of Chuck D’s show last week. So honoured infact, that we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to leak a track from Jaak’s forthcoming album, Galant, as an exclusive world premiere.

Click here to listen to recording of PEPR segment featuring Jaak and Driemanskap

That’s how we rrrrrrrrrroll!!

Check out this Pure Solid Remix of Niggas in Paris featuring Redondo and Manqoba. Free download. Boom!

That’s how we rrrrrrrrrroll!!

If you managed to miss all the hype, Jay-Z and Kanye West recently released a project together called Watch the Throne. Redondo from Driemanskap and Manqoba take it back to the streets with their spaza remix of Niggas in Paris, taken from that project. Download it below (click the black arrow on the right of the music player). Fiya blaze!

Niggas in Paris (Remix) – Redondo Ft. Manqoba by PioneerUnit

Pioneer Unit’s dub warriors, Pure Solid, have been busy in the lab for the past few weeks. Following the release of their double-EP, Ghetto Dubs, they have been working on their live show (live audio plus bespoke live visuals) and grinding out new riddims.

01. War Riddim: This is a remix of UK Grime artist, Lethal Bizzle’s, POW 2011 which features JME, Wiley, Chipmunk, 2Face, P Money, Ghetts and Kano.

POW 2011 (War Riddim) – Pure Solid by PioneerUnit

02: Dub Lockdown: Future dub remix of Kanye West’s, Love Lockdown, titled Dub Lockdown.

Dub Lockdown Riddim – Pure Solid by PioneerUnit

Pure Solid played their first show at Cold Turkey a few weeks ago (which you can listen to, and download below). Their dub-based sound doesn’t fit neatly into any particular category – it contains influences of roots, hip hop, grime, acid and Detroit techno – they call it Robot Army Music (RAM).

Photo courtesy of Adam Kent Wiest and Cold Turkey

Pure Solid Live at Cold Turkey by PioneerUnit

Pure Solid are waiting on the international release of their forthcoming album with Ben Sharpa called Fourth Density Light Show (4DLS). More news on that as we get it.

That’s how we rrrrrrrrrroll!!

Pure Solid is producer Dplanet and VJ spo0ky. Dplanet describes his musical style as ‘soundsytem music’, ‘robot army music (RAM)’ or ‘dark’. This sound has influences of dub, grime, Detroit techno, Chicago house, acid and hip hop. Dplanet is best known for his work with Ben Sharpa.

Pure Solid performed live at cult Cape Town bass music party Cold Turkey last Sunday. Check out their live set on the Mixcloud player below…

… or you can listen to, and download, the set on Soundcloud:

Pure Solid Live at Cold Turkey by PioneerUnit

Links
Pure Solid: The stuff soundclashes are made of… and then some (review)
Pure Solid profile
Pure Solid on Facebook
Follow Dplanet on Twitter
Follow spo0ky on Twitter
Cold Turkey on Facebook
Follow Cold Turkey on Twitter

That’s how we rrrrrrrrrrroll!!

Pioneer Unit Radio episode 002 is now online. Catch Dplanet playing a selection of his favourite tracks from the Pioneer Unit stable including exclusives and unreleased material.

Episode 002 Play List

01 Trash Talkers – Ben Sharpa Ft. Rato – Prod. Dplanet
02 Kakalaki – TOP & Macho – Prod. Dplanet
03 runonsentence – KONFAB – Prod. Dplanet
04 Sharpa Dub – Ben Sharpa – Prod. Dplanet
05 This Is Wrong – Ma-B Ft. Kanyi – Prod. Kanye West
06 Sphithiphithi – Redondo (Driemanskap) – Prod. Planet Earth
07 Begin – Jaak – Prod. Hipe
08 Thanks 2 My Parents – Manqoba – Prod. Hipe
09 Runnin’ Around – Cream – Prod. Hipe
10 My Life – Rattex – Prod. Hipe
11 Dplanet Beats – KONFAB Ft. Oracle Flo – Prod. Dplanet
12 Hip Hop Souljahs – Driemanskap Ft. Kanyi – Prod. Dplanet
13 Sikubo – Rattex – Prod. Dplanet
14 KONtraversealFABetiks – KONFAB Ft. Oracle Flo – Prod. Brand Lelakabe
15 D-Plan – Tumi – Prod. Dplanet

That’s how we rrrrrrrrrrrrrroll!!

Despite the fact that most of our music is available to download on the pay what you like model, which includes not paying at all, or in other words, FREE, it seems that some of you still want to buy actual CDs.

Always keen to give the people what they want, you can now head over to the Pioneer Unit online store and order Jaak’s first album, Flêtse Maniere (which was previously only available as a digital download), in CD format.

If you haven’t heard Flêtse Maniere here’s what you’ve been missing out on…

That’s how we rrrrrrrrrrrrrroll!!

Ma-B has leaked the first single from his forthcoming Beats & Rhymes mixtape which is due to drop on Monday 4th July. The track is called Nabaya and features banging production by Beatology. Download it now!

If you can’t see the music player above, click here to go to the Soundcloud download page.

That’s how we rrrrrrrrrrrroll!!

Check out our first ever Pioneer Unit Radio show. Dplanet plays a selection of his favourite tracks from the Pioneer Unit stable including exclusives and unreleased material.

That’s how we rrrrrrrrroll!!

Tumi aka T from the V aka Tumi from the Volume aka The Poet MC and Dplanet go H.A.M. on this heavyweight street banger. The track features hard, warped synths, window-shaking bass and Tumi’s vicious vocals.

“I’m on my J.O., flow fresh not a day old, you can see me in The Star tonight – Galileo.”

To download the track, click the small black arrow on the right hand side of the music player below: Dplan – Tumi by PioneerUnit

Catch Tumi and the Volume on Saturday night (18th June) at The Assembly in Cape Town. Click here to buy tickets.

Follow Tumi on Twitter: @tumifromthev

Follow Dplanet on Twitter: @Dplanet

That’s how we rrrrrrrrrrrrrrroll!!