What Beetlez?
By
Cut Beetlez
Album Review
It was back in 2014 that Finnish DJ/Production Duo Cut Beetlez dropped their debut privately pressed 7” EP High Jump. A few years later and thanks to the legendary figure of Oxygen, the duo would land a deal with Bristol based AE Productions and they drop the instant classic 12” single Droppin’ Needles in August of 2017.
Since that time the guys have worked behind the scenes to craft this album, while releasing other projects alongside artists such as The Good People (Cut People EP 2019), A.F.R.O (Overflow singles 2020) and Nice Guys (CBNG LP 2020).
As the Cut Beetlez are a DJ/Production duo it was clear these guys would need some vocal talent to grace the album and looking back over their previous releases it was clear that those guest would be in the form of some heavy hitters in the game. So, it will come as no surprise that What Beetlez? Features the kind of guest appearances that will have most of you dribbling into your corn flakes, check this line up: The Good People, El Da Sensei (Artifacts), Guilty Simpson, Rah Digga, J-Live, Oxygen, Reks and Soundsci. Also featured and UK emcees Truck and Retna. If you are not hooked by now, do you really know your hip hop?
So, let’s not delay this any longer as the album is 15 tracks deep and after several years in production, can you really wait…
There is no messing about as the kicks off, following a short scratch-intro, with Sucka Duck featuring The Good People. Banging head nod straight out the gate with those dope beatz, dope rhymes and dope cutz, and there is no denying this is how you do it, get the people moving from the get go and turntable wizardry here is a treat to the ears. There is no letting up here as the pounding beat funky horn drops you into Rolling with Guilty featuring Guilty Simpson who schools you to exactly what it is to be and roll with the man himself, mix in this some classic Beetlez cutz and you are well and truly now in the Beetlez-verse. Time to make it funky, yep more funk than a dead skunk, with React as Rah Digga steps up the mic and delivers line after line of realness that leaves those in the crosshairs with their feelings hurt. Time for a little bit of Cut Beetlez turntable magic on the human beatbox tip with Fat Beetlez and it’s all about cuttin’ up some of that Fat Boys beatbox dopeness.
Time to rock out with El Da Sensei on El Number 1 and
no time like the present to jazz things up a little whilst keeping it head nod
hip hop. El Da Sensei expertly displays why he is number 1 in this rap game. Good
To You see’s The Good People return for their second appearance on an
upbeat track that retains a jazzy vibe. This one has the potential to get you
tapping your feet in time to that feel good vibe from the Cut Beetlez and The
Good People’s lyrical painting of everything that makes you feel positive, just
what you need in these crazy times. If you thought rock n roll and hip hop
don’t go, think again as the Beetlez drop a funky rock style vibe for Now
Rockin’ which has J-Live lying down some slick vocal lines that do one
thing, keep ya rockin’ till the Cut Beetlez drop their scratch section at which
point you’ll be diggin’ out the invisible Sp1200’s…
This is the point, if you have a vinyl or cassette version, you’ll be fillin’ it to side two. If you have the digital version, you can ignore what I just said and let it roll on into MF Beetlez for some more turntable fun n games that tellz you exactly what Cut Beetlez are all about. Next we have the return of The Good People on Never Negative, with the Cut Beetlez bringing a pounding beat and some jazzy vibe running throughout, The Good People bring a deep message about not being drawn into the negativity you see all around you. It’s all about flippin’ the perspective and looking on the bad times with more optimism and not to let it bring ya down. Keeping that positive vibe flowing is The Piano Song a jazzy, funked up vibe of a track to keep ya head on tha nod and with a little appearance from your host Oxygen, this is one for the jazz club, nice. Jump Outta Speakers see’s the second appearance from El Da Sensei on a jazz heavy track that is everything you want. El Da Sensei drops the kinda lyrical bombs that put you in mind of street parties and Graffiti covered subway trains while the Cut Beetlez keep energy so high it literally does jump outta the speakers.
Bars was originally released as a digital only single back on 1st January and features Reks on the mic. A piano heavy banging track full of frantic cutz, this might be a short but, the impact is no less heavy as Reks drops the bars hard and heavy, after all it is all about the bars. Time to take it funky on that upbeat tip as we have the final appearance of The Good People on Good Matafakas, a proper jazz funk vibe on the track that is all about those good matafakas all over the world, and yep thats you included. This album would not be complete if Droppin’ Needles wasn’t included and here is the original cut of the track. A thumping beat with various guitars looped all through creating a unique sound that shows exactly what the Cut Beetles are all about, featuring super group Soundsci crafting a verbal vison of the one thing hip hop has at its heart, the Vinyl Record. The final track on the album is the title track What Beetlez and features Truck and Retna on this horn heavy banger with some slick cuts and turntable trickery. Truck and Retna bring two slick verses with two different mind-bending themes which leaves you with one thought as the track ends, damn What Beetlez? Man, it’s the Cut Beetlez…
You can see why this album took time to create. Everything about it screams Hip Hop in its purest form. At it’s birth Hip Hop was a DJ and Emcee and here the Cut Beetlez are the DJ element and they have brought in a legendary line up of some of emcees at the top of their game. What this does is to bring alive that core, that root of what is Hip Hop. For those of us that grew up with the Hip Hop sound, this is everything we love about it in one place and for those younger generations who were not there, this is about as good a foundation sounding album as you can get in the current climate.
Years ago we marvelled at Hip Hop records that had big beats that got you moving, featuring the freshest emcees who had the skills to spit def lines or create the most amazing visions from their story telling and it was all polished off by the DJ’s skills on the One’s and Two’s mixing or cutting up bringing new life from old records. But, in the digital age where sampling is easy and kids can make a track and even have a set of digital turntables on their phone, the Cut Beetlez have captured the true essence of what we call Hip Hop music and crafted it for a new generation while staying true to its roots. Their production and DJ skills are second to none and, what is also a huge credit here, is the choice of emcees. Bringing instantly recognisable names from both sides of the pond shows a mutual respect between the artists and a desire to put together good music that spans the ages and borders from cites to cites, coast to coast and country to country.
Something else this album says to me is this, Hip Hop is alive and well and lives in the hearts and souls of DJs, emcees, producers, engineers, artists, and listeners all across the world. It truly is one culture to unite a one like-minded people who do not see borders that separate us but, one thing that unites us all…
As always with a release like this, it is a complete package and I just want to shout all those behind the scenes as well as giving you the complete lowdown on who did What?:
Production is by the Cut Beetlez with beatsby HP Lovescratch and cuts by DJ J-Man & HP Lovescratch. The Album mixing and mastering is by the legendary Rola. The cover photo is courtesy of Cut Beetlez with the back cover photo by Jyri Keronen.
The Cut Beetlez Haircuts by Voxyhair Joensuu
Art Direction and Design is by Mr Krum (dedicated to Joey Deez).
What Beetlez? Is available now through AE Productions on digital, Yellow Vinyl and Limited-Edition Cassette.
Huge thanks to the Cut Beetlez and Mr Fantastic @ AE Productions.
On that note, I’ll leave you to the Beetlez, What Beetlez? The Cut Beetlez of course...
Peace Out,
Steve
LINKS (all links open in a new window)
Buy What Beetlez? from Bandcamp here: https://aeproductions.bandcamp.com/album/what-beetlez
Buy from the AE Webstore here: https://www.ae-productions.co.uk/shop
Cut Beetlez on Bandcamp here: https://cutbeetlez.bandcamp.com/
Cut Beetlez on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/75uudNEPFGwcf2Q2Xe9ffH
Cut Beetlez Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cutbeetlez/
Cut Beetlez on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/the-cut-beetlez
No comments:
Post a Comment