In a groundbreaking fusion of British rap finesse and American turntablism mastery, UK rapper Da Flyy Hooligan has joined forces with the legendary collective of DJs, The World Famous Beat Junkies, for an electrifying international collaboration project titled “There’s Hooli And There’s Everyone Else.” featuring DJ Rhettmatic, D-Styles, and DJ Babu. Definitely a game changer in the world of underground hip-hop.
Da Flyy Hooligan, known for his distinct style and uncompromising lyricism, has carved a niche for himself in the UK rap scene with his unique blend of gritty storytelling and flamboyant persona. We remember him when he pulled up on us in L.A. back in 2018 and laid down a Mic Session. Since then his consistency and grind has been un-matched. Today in 2024, his collaboration with the Beat Junkies marks an exciting new chapter in his career as an independent artist.
Napoleon da Legend is a 43 year old MC born in Paris, France & based in Brooklyn, New York who a lot of underground heads should be familiar with at this point considering the lengthy discography that he’s built up for himself for nearly the past decade ranging from Coup D’État & it’s sequel to Street Universe & Dragon Ball G. But coming fresh off Le Dernier Glacier last month which was disappointing considering the Sicknature-produced Colossus of GOATS & the Giallo Point-produced Buckets were his strongest bodies of work in a while, his 22nd album here fully produced by DJ D-Styles of the Beat Junkies was more than enough for me to hope Napoleon would redeem himself.
After the intro, “Blaktual News” featuring Innocent? & Josiah the Gift kicks off the album with the trio talking about standing by their word protecting it like their kids over a boom bap instrumental whereas “Food” works in some piano chords cautioning that your biggest mistake is not knowing when to shut up. “Rubiks Cube” featuring Amerigo Gazaway finds the pair surviving dark times to face the light over some more kicks & snares, but then “Supreme Haiku” takes a drumless acoustic route talking about not being the one to lie to.
Moving on from there, “Alligator Tears” featuring Aïda returns to the boom bap as the 2 MCs telling y’all to sit back as you watch them do their thing just before “Gods vs. Titans” has a more symphonic groove to it calling out those operating from a distance like a narc. “Games We Play” has a glistening boom bap beat asking if anyone wants to play a game leading into “Snake Oil” lacing some guitar passages discussing the promise of a better life.
“Distortion” starts the final leg of Invisibl Rap Mislz by expressing his desire to have the music bring it out of them instead of just bringing it to the music over a synth-heavy instrumental while the song “Table Manners” featuring Nejma Nefertiti reminds how much of a good combo they are over a dusty beat. The title track has a more nocturnal aesthetic to it sonically dissing those with arms too short to box the God on the mic & “Wu-Masters” is a cool Wu-Tang homage to end the album from the lyrics to even the RZA-inspired instrumental.
If anyone else walked away from Le Dernier Glacier disappointed like I did, then PLEASE check out this new body of work right here because it’s on par with both The Colossus of GOATS & Buckets as far as I’m concerned. DJ D-Styles’ production is more consistent than what we got from Napoleon a month ago, the features list is brief yet tighter & the French-American wordsmith delivers harder performances.
2022 was a great year for RhymeStyleTroop consistently releasing new music, rocking shows, and the launch of her official website. She is back with a message for the youth enlisting Blame One for her newest single and video “Each1Teach1” produced by Preed One with scratches by D-Styles.
This is the 5th full-length album from XP the Marxman. Coming up as 1/3 of the trio Rhyme Addicts. As far as his solo career goes, the dude has a handful of projects under his belt already, with my personal favorite being the Roc Marciano-produced Keep Firing. He just dropped The Marxmanat the very beginning of the year & as we finally enter summer, D-Styles & DJ Rhettmatic are being brought in to fully produced Pacific Standard Time
After the “Pst #1” intro, “Get At a God” kicks off the album on a dreary note thanks to D-Styles with XP comparing himself to that of a God whereas “Lil Mijos” takes a jazzy boom bap route talking about growing up in the streets. RhymeStyleTroop tags along for the guitar-driven “Ms. America” embracing their Mexican heritages leading into the spine-tingling “Trunk” getting in his hustler bag.
After the “Pst #2” skit, Sick Jacken comes into the picture for the dusty “Tom Fears” produced by Rhettmatic reminding everyone how they play just before the eerie “Paint Pictures” quenching for blood. “The Kuyas” with Big Twins finds the 2 over a piano-laced boom bap instrumental talking about keeping them open, but then “Ski Mask to Jet Skis” lavishly reflects on his life then & now.
The song “Turn Up the Volume” incorporates some colorless piano melodies so XP can get on his thug shit while the penultimate track “Old to New” talks about being a king & the beat on here is just petrifying to the core. However, “Frost Bitten” is a gully ass way to end the album from the horn-laced production to XP’s malicious lyricism.
I was very excited going into this given that I’ve been a fan of The Beat Junkies for a minute & how much I’ve enjoyed some of XP’s most recent projects. Needless to say: It’s some of the best shit he’s ever done considering how great the chemistry between him, D-Styles & Rhettmatic is. Purely raw penmanship & production from start to finish.
Their new video “Really Matters” gives you the fly-on-the-wall perspective and these two MCs trade bars and D-Styles scratches like his life depends on it. The Los Angeles duo created a unique style that fans have gravitated towards for years. The new album features guest verses from some of LA’s elite rappers -Aceyalone, Demrick, Brevi and more!
The Cloak IPA from Brewjeria’s ‘Friday Night Flavors’ series.
Recently, their extracurricular activities have led to collaborations with local Pico Rivera brewery Brewjeria to create flavorful Cloak IPA. Crack open a cold one, check the video out, and let us know what more you want to hear from the Cloaks!
The Beat Junkies are relaunching their Beat Junkie Sound Indie Label, originally established in 2002 to release assorted collaborations with other DJs and MCs. After well over a decade, Beat Junkie Sound took a brief hiatus to focus on opening up the DJ school Beat Junkie Institute Of Sound, along with online DJ school BeatJunkiesTV. They are excited to announce the official relaunch of Beat Junkie Sound in 2022!
One of the projects by the re-launched label is a collaboration album with an up & coming Los Angeles emcee XP The Marxman who’s done a couple of full projects with the likes of Roc Marciano, Rasheed Chappell & has done features with Big Twins, Termanology, & producer Wavy Da Gawd just to name a few.
“Trunk” is off XP The Marxman’s new project called “Pacific Standard Time” fully produced by D-Styles & Rhettmatic of the Beat Junkies, & features guest appearances by Sick Jacken of Psycho Realm, Queensbridge veteran Big Twins, & San Diego’s upcoming emcee RhymeStyle Troop.
