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Producers at the heart of the broken beat revival, EVM128 and James Rudie met through the CDR project, and soon after started to mess about collaborating with Gonzi. After coining the concept of INPUT, they found a home via Tony Thorpe at Studio Rockers and the seed was sewn. The concept is simple, make a beat, pass it on, and let someone else add to it. Its about letting go of self and letting the music go somewhere it wouldn't have gone otherwise. It was a labour of love until each track felt right. Talented musicians, producers, singers and rappers came on board to fulfill the brief, and the end product is a modern day broken masterpiece. It's about collaboration, whether in the mixing and arrangement, performance, keys, percussion, synth, bass, - everything was a joint effort.

INPUT is released on Studio Rockers on 19th July 2019 as a double vinyl release.

A LITTLE ON THE ARTISTS INVOLVED :

Written by curator EVM128, James Rudie and Gonzi are both killer producers who met me at CDR and also became part of Co-Op presents Selectors Assemble with IG Culture and Alex Phountzi. You can hear them both on Naughty Groove and Gonzi on Gut Level.

ISHFAQ is an elusive producer that has been making beats for time but is still under the radar. He's a force to be reckoned with. Watch him cos he's dangerous! Hear him all over Naughty Groove on Keys and on Complete Me ft Natalie May. He just knows where to fit into a tune... He has an acute ear!

TurboJazz met me after Djing together in Milan and working together on remix jobs, where I remixed Turbo's 'Please You' ft David Blank on Local talk Records. In return Turbojazz remixed the EVM Beyond ft Uk Soul legend, OMAR. It was only natural to get them involved with this project.

iLL Smith aka MR K is a heavyweight producer making serious waves in the new Dubstep 140 low end scene. He gave me a couple tracks that were broken beat he had been sitting on and said "You should do something with these". One of which is GOLD which I only really added a Clap to and worked the arrangement and first mix down. I called on Daz I Kue for a rapper I'd heard on one of his tracks which had the right energy. Daz hooked me up with Nesha Nycee, a fierce rapper from Atlanta Georgia. She smashed it straight away and the tune just worked. This was probably the easiest out of all of them!

Nesha Nycee is a REAL rapper.

Shy One is a friend of mine and has worked with me on music a few times in the past. I always love when she sends me a beat, she has that lo fi dirty grime kind of approach, then I add my style to it and it just seemed to bode well. We worked together on Mother Nature on the Nova LP and this track for INPUT (One Design) which we were sitting on for a while. Tony got Steve Edwards (All Seeing I, Sheffield) on the vocals. This was an unexpected turn on this track that we couldn't have imagined, but it worked! This track is the epitome of INPUT in that, it went somewhere completely different!

Steve Edwards is a singer songwriter from Sheffield who works on projects with All seeing I. He has a great energy and the lyrics made me cry! Really amazing heartfelt lyrics that speak of now and has a positive uplifting vibe to it that we can all relate to. It will stick in your head for ages believe me.

Natalie May met me through soundcloud. She's been releasing UK Funky tracks for a while and worked with Rudimental. She reached out to me after hearing the Nova LP and the stuff on CoOp presents. She went to the studio with me after already writing to some instrumentals. Very professional and on point in the studio. Her voice is sweet and the perfect juxtaposition to the rough bass and drums on 'Complete Me' and when ISHFAQ got his hands on it, well... Nuf said really !

Daiva from the Lithuanian band KeyMono has worked with me for a good few years. We met in Lithuania when I was teaching music production to young people through MTV, I met their manager Istvan. She was on my Naked Truth EP and the Nova LP. I Love working with Daiva she's great! Her voice is amazing as is her professionalism. She sounds somewhere between Erykah Badu, Little Dragon and Fatima. She's always my go to for any collaboration! Hear her on 'The Edge'. The lyrics were written by Kermit (Black Grape / Ruthless Rap Assassins).

Renato Paris.. wow ! I mean what!!? We sent the backing track and two days later he sent back the vocal and we fell over! He has a voice that echo's Stevie Wonder and Omar! Really professional work ethic too. Still cant get over how good he is. This guy can REALLY sing and play keys. Watch out for more from me and Renato... Bruk meets RnB / Jazz.

We have created something special and unique where you can hear each persons input in the

tracks. We love it and hope you will too.

* The latest EP (S.U.F.O.S. Save Us From Ourselves) from South London based producer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist, Wu-Lu.
* Pressed using 180g clear heavyweight vinyl
* Includes collaborations with long-term friends, Binisa Bonner, Kwake Bass, Nubya Garcia, Eun, Demae Wodu, and Morgan Simpson.
* Recorded at The Room and Abbey Road Studios
* Limited edition of 300

Having worked with the likes of MNDSGN (Stones Throw) and Andrew Ashong on his previous 2015 EP Ginga, Wu-Lu has already secured some strong production credits. These include Ego Ella May, Oscar Jerome and Poppy Ajudah, as well as work alongside Joe Armon-Jones (Ezra Collective) and Kwake Bass (Kate Tempest, Sampha) on a brand new project coming in 2020.

S.U.F.O.S. sees Wu-Lu collaborate with long-term friends Binisa Bonner, Kwake Bass, Nubya Garcia, Eun, Demae Wodu, and Morgan Simpson (drummer from band Black Midi). Thematically, it’s a reflection of where Wu-Lu sees himself and his people in 2019 London. This EP taps into racial injustice in Britain, black empowerment and self-exploration. Spending much of his time working behind the scenes for a range of artists, this EP helps define him as a soloist.

Speaking about S.U.F.O.S. Wu-Lu says, “The EP is about family in every sense of the word: blood family, spiritual family, extended family, your family. It’s the perception of my own experience and the young people who haven’t got a loud enough voice yet”.

Wu-Lu is no stranger to experimentation within his music. He has constantly been experimenting with the various influences on his Brixton doorstep, as well as some of the complex issues that a young, mixed race man living in London may face. It’s the live stage where the impact of Wu-Lu’s passionate retellings really come into their own. Recent standouts include sharing the Field Day main stage with the likes of Erykah Badu and Loyle Carner, Brainchild Festival and a feverish Clash Music LIVE appearance at Metropolis Studios alongside Masego.

Catch Wu-Lu headline The Windmill, Brixton on the 25th April 2019.

Intended as the sequel to Muddy Waters' and Willie Dixon's 1954 hit Hootchie Cootchie Man and simultaneously as the response to Bo Diddley's 1955 groover I'm A Man, the A-side Manish Boyitself has since become a blues standard, covered by anyone from Erykah Badu to The Band.

We head into the final quarter of the year with a very
welcome return to First Word from London producer,
musician, engineer and DJ, Eric Lau. Following on
from his acclaimed early 2017 album, 'Examples',
we proudly present the second volume - another
delectable 28-track beats opus.
'Examples Volume Two' is Eric's fourth
instrumental album, and ably continues where he
left off with an assortment of sonics, ranging through
hip hop, jazz, funk, soul & Brazilian beats. An
elaborate sketchpad of ideas and grooves, this again
gives a taste of the genius production skills of 'The
Commissioner', Mr. Lau.
A mixdown perfectionist, his services have been
drafted into service on a number of albums over the
past few years, including Yussef Kamaal's 'Black
Focus', Mansur Brown's 'Shiroi', The Playlist's
'Chasing Goosebumps', DJ Jazzy Jeff's 'M3',
Masego's 'Lady Lady', and Kaidi Tatham's 'It's A
World Before You', released on First Word recently.
It's through these recent collaborations that we have
a few unique ingredients peppered through this
project, the track 'Jeff's Piano' is based on a sample
taken from Eric's iPhone, capturing a moment when
Kaidi was teaching Masego a few chords at Jeff's
studio. Both integral players to the Playlist Retreat,
Eric and Kaidi have also provided remix duties for
Moonchild, Omar and Leon Ware, and Kaidi Kat also
lends his key playing talents to a few tracks here.
Eric has also worked as a producer for artists like
Oddisee, Guilty Simpson, Dego, Tawiah, Rahel and
Fatima, whilst his DJ skills have seen him tour the
globe with luminaries such as Erykah Badu, Robert
Glasper and Questlove. He's received props over the
years from tastemakers across the world, including
Rich Medina, 9th Wonder, Bobbito, Dam Funk, Phonte, Gilles Peterson, James Poyser (The Roots) and Ali Shaheed
Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest).

Georgia Anne Muldrow returns with a modern soul classic in the
making - 'Overload', via Flying Lotus's Brainfeeder record label.
An incredibly talented vocalist, songwriter and producer,
Georgia Anne Muldrow effortlessly spans jazz, soul and hip hop
and, during her 12 year career, has collaborated with Madlib,
Erykah Badu, Dev Hynes aka Blood Orange, Bilal and Robert
Glasper.
'Overload' was executively produced by Flying Lotus, Aloe Blacc
and Dudley Perkins.
For fans of NxWorries, Erykah Badu, The Internet, Madlib.
Notable collaborations on 'Overload' include Dudley Perkins,
Shana Jenson, Moods, Lustbass and Mike & Keys (50 Cent,
Nipsey Hussle, Snoop Dogg, G-Eazy), who contribute
production to four tracks including the sleek, anthemic title
track alongside Khalil (Dr Dre).
CD digipack. LP pressed on 180g heavyweight black vinyl in an
artworked innersleeve housed in a 3mm spined outer sleeve
with digital download card included.
Artwork by Martin Norwood (Nice Dreams Studio). Layout by
Adam Stover.
'No one sings a heavy love song like Georgia Anne Muldrow' -
Pitchfork Best New Track
'Beautifully poised between classic 90s R&B and something
strange, disorientating and psychedelic.' - The Guardian

Word Of Advice To Funk Lovers, There Is Not A Minute To Lose. Get On Board Of The Big Hustle's Spaceship. Before We Take Off, Let's Do A Little History. The Band Was Founded In 2014 By Bass Player And Composer Sébastien Levanneur And Its Aim Is To Bring Together 70's Old School Funk With The Hippest Actual Sound Laced With Influences Spanning From Steely Dan And Headhunters, To Snarky Puppy And Soulive. With Mighty Horn Players, A Rock And Funky Rhythm Section, The Big Hustle's Music Has A Very Large Variety Of Soundscapes.

The First Destination Takes Us To The Washington, D.c. Area With turn Up'. The Groove Is Clearly Go-go Music Flavored With The Trademark Sound Of Cowbells And Of Course It Reminds Us Of Zapp By The Use Of The Talk Box On Lead Vocals, Performed Here By Saad El Garrab. And Don't Miss Out Shaun Martin (snarky Puppy, Erykah Badu, Kirk Franklin Amongst Others) As A Very Special Guest Performing The Talk Box Solo! Second Stop Is a Curse, A Blessing'. It's An Instrumental Very Much In The Freddie Hubbard Vein During His Cti Years. The Last Leg Of The A Side Ends With An Instrumental Interlude Titled flying Donut'. Double Tribute To Jay Dee And Flying Lotus, The Music Is A Simple Hip Hop Loop Based On Samples.

The B Side Takes Us Back Into The Past With Two Brilliant Covers, Involving Rod Temperton The Late Great British Songwriter Who Scored Some Of Michael Jackson's Biggest Hits. Now The Idea For This B Side Is To Do The Opposite Approach From The A Side. Taking 70's And 80's Original Music And Make Them Travel Into Time To 2018. We First Land With A Heatwave Song Named the Star Of A Story' From Their 1976 Central Heating Album. Track 2 Is A Herbie Hancock Song Named gettin' To The Good Part' From His 1982 Lite Me Up Lp. This Time Traveler Ep Journey Ends With An Interlude. Called gimme Dat', The Song Deals With The Need Of New Music, New Sound.

Again, This Blend Of Deep Rooted Funk Laced With A Contemporary Edge Is To Be Consumed Without Moderation. And Do Not Forget That E.p. Also Stands For Extended Pleasure.

Omar has a totally unique, individual style and sound still marks him out as a future thinking and utterly unrivaled artist, who has collaborated with so many legendary names that it would be foolish to deny his worldwide reputation - who would dare contradict the likes of Stevie Wonder, Erykah Badu, Carleen Anderson, Angie Stone, Common and fellow fans and followers like Maxwell and Jarrod Lawson

Following on from 2013's album The Man, 2016 sees his new long player further cement this undeniable reputation. Love In Beats is Omars' 8th studio album of his long, illustrious career and may just be the most eclectic & varied to date. Somewhat more electronic in it's conception and sound than it's predecessor, Love In Beats incorporates soul, Caribbean rhythms, an undercurrent of funk, with touches of zouk, a jazzy waltz, spoken word and also features collaborations with Us soul legend Leon Ware, Blue Note pianist Robert Glasper, grime MC Ty, Guadeloupe born singer Jean-Michele Rotin, and Uk soultress Natasha Watts, The Floacist and Mayra Andrade, the Cape Verdean born singer who lives and records in Paris.

Co produced by Scratch Professer, Omars Grammy winning brother,this collection should create excitement worldwide, the sounds are varied - but all have Omars' unique fingerprint on them, style and substance beautifully merged!

The contributions of the late Detroit producer James DeWitt Yancey -better known to the world as J Dilla- to the world of hip-hop can't be overstated, and nowhere is his legacy more apparent than his work as a member of Slum Village. A founding member of the trio, (Alongside rappers T3 and Baatin) Dilla provided the group's distinctly esoteric, free-wheeling sound, built around winding basslines, quirky drumbeats, subtle low-end frequencies, and classic jazz & soul samples. Against the backdrop of Dilla's rich production, T3 and Baatin's free-flowing style of rhyming would also earn wide critical praise, leading to comparisons as the successors to A Tribe Called Quest. (A label they themselves have rejected.) After the success of Slum's 1997 studio debut, Fan-Tas-Tic Vol. 1, the group went to work on their follow up. Though the project was completed in '98, label turmoil kept the project on ice until 2000. By the time Fantastic Volume II hit Dilla was well on his way to his status as a hip hop legend having produced cuts for Common, Busta Rhymes, Erykah Badu, A Tribe Called Quest and many more. Later works from Slum Village may have had more of an impact sales-wise (in the immediate) but Fantastic Vol. 2 had fans and many critics saying that Slum Village, and Dilla in particular, may single-handedly save rap music.' Perhaps that statement is hyperbole but many consider Fantastic Volume II to be Slum Village's finest work ever to this day. Ne'Astra Media Group now presents the album reissued on vinyl, for the first time in several years. Every wobbling bass note of J Dilla's production has been preserved to maintain the legacy of this hip hop rap classic and maintain the legend of one of hip-hop's greatest beatsmiths.

Up and away / To your journey to the sun / Drink your rocket juice / Fly away (Hey, Shooter).
High up in the skies, amongst the clouds, Rocket Juice & The Moon was born. Literally. It happened back in 2008, when Damon Albarn, Flea and Tony Allen convened on the same Lagos flight, to play and exchange musical ideas in that city as part of the Africa Express collective. Relishing a shared enthusiasm for one another's work, and bonding immediately, there and then the triumvirate laid down the blueprint for Rocket Juice.
Still, more than a year passed before conditions were set for three weeks together at Albarn's West London studio, recording and refining two-dozen startlingly out and deeply funky instrumental grooves. The next stage was to invite onboard some extremely talented friends, with further sessions in Dallas, New York, Chicago and Paris... Erykah Badu, no less, queen of contemporary soul. Three companions from Africa Express: Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara, whose debut album has topped World Music charts since its release last Autumn; her multi-talented compatriot Cheick Tidiane Seck, whose prodigious keyboardism has lit up releases by artists ranging from Youssou N'Dour to Hank Jones; the young, Ghanaian rapper M.anifest, quizzically existential, switching seamlessly between Twi and English. And the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, long-time stalwarts in the Honest Jon's set-up — since one of the team discovered them busking near the shop in Portobello Road, on his lunchbreak — with a second album for the label due in May... Finally, the tracks were dispatched for mixing to Berlin, to be meticulously honed, polished and envenomed by Mark Ernestus, one half of the legendary Basic Channel and Rhythm & Sound partnerships.
The result is Rocket Juice & The Moon — out March 26, 2012, on Honest Jon's Records — a triumphant exploration and proliferation of kinetic Afro-funk rhythms: organic, exuberant, communal music-making, evidenced by the project's live debut on stage as part of the Honest Jon's Chop Up in late 2011, which hit London, Marseille, Dublin, and Cork to such great acclaim (witness the flurry of smart-phone film-clips uploaded in the days thereafter).
From the inaugural bars — that absurdly funky slice of instructional timekeeping, 1-2-3-4-5-6 — the liquid pulse of Fela Kuti's classic recordings drives the action through a suite of 18 shape-shifting compositions. The greatest drummer in the world has never sounded so good as he does here. His intricate cross-patterns jostle and lock with Flea's nimble, rumbling bass riffs. Joined by Seck on There and Extinguished — 'when you dispose of something burning, be sure it's out' — Albarn's keyboards spray synth fusillades up top, over, and under... splicing into the mess of wires running between the freaked Afro-disco of William Onyeabor and the space-jazz-moog of Sun Ra. The HBE brings extra intensity and drama to Leave-Taking — likewise Flea's trumpet to Rotary Connection — teasing out the haunting melody coiled in the mix.
Where the best of vintage Afrobeat sides sustained their concentrated energies over the course of sprawling, marathon jams, RJ & TM manages something altogether different: the group bottles the idiom into capsules of funk... and real songs. Beautifully buoyed by Erykah Badu's unmistakable vocals, Hey, Shooter brilliantly traverses metaphysical spaceways sans any semblance of noodling. Lolo and Follow-Fashion — featuring the open-hearted sensuality of Diawara's singing, M.anifest's quick, brawny science, and more brass blasts — play like its musical cousins or codas. Indeed, the album's shrewd sequencing creates the composite effect of tracks working both individually or within the context of an extended song-cycle.
The lovely ballad, Poison, is bittersweet and ruminative: 'If you're looking for love, beware the signs / They will paralyze you one by one / Poison, it will only break your heart.' Down-tempo and dubby, Check Out and Worries amplify the range of styles and moods. And by the time of Fatherless — a chugging Afro blues that evokes John Lee Hooker lost in Lagos, one gets the sneaking suspicion there's very little outside the reach of this collective's inventive musical grasp.
There is, in fact, a palpable openness pervading Rocket Juice & The Moon — the sense of a limber willingness to follow creative impulse — right down to how the group acquired its name. When Ogunajo Ademola — the Lagotian commissioned to do the album's cover artwork — dubbed his submission 'Rocket Juice & The Moon', it quickly morphed into the formal name of the project, like trying to hold onto mercury.
Surely, the stars above also approved.

One can hardly imagine the genre-busting, culture-crossing musical magic of Outkast, Prince, Erykah Badu, Rick James, The Roots, or even the early Red Hot Chili Peppers without the influence of R&B pioneer Betty Davis. Her style of raw and revelatory punk-funk defies any notions that women can’t be visionaries in the worlds of rock and pop. In recent years, rappers from Ice Cube to Talib Kweli to Ludacris have rhymed over her intensely strong but sensual music.



There is one testimonial about Betty Davis that is universal: she was a woman ahead of her time. In our contemporary moment, this may not be as self-evident as it was thirty years ago – we live in an age that’s been profoundly changed by flamboyant flaunting of female sexuality: from Parlet to Madonna, Lil Kim to Kelis. Yet, back in 1973 when Betty Davis first showed up in her silver go-go boots, dazzling smile and towering Afro, who could you possibly have compared her to? Marva Whitney had the voice but not the independence. Labelle wouldn’t get sexy with their “Lady Marmalade” for another year while Millie Jackson wasn’t Feelin’ Bitchy until 1977. Even Tina Turner, the most obvious predecessor to Betty’s fierce style wasn’t completely out of Ike’s shadow until later in the decade.



Ms. Davis’s unique story, still sadly mostly unknown, is unlike any other in popular music. Betty wrote the song “Uptown” for the Chambers Brothers before marrying Miles Davis in the late ’60s, influencing him with psychedelic rock, and introducing him to Jimi Hendrix — personally inspiring the classic album Bitches Brew.



But her songwriting ability was way ahead of its time as well. Betty not only wrote every song she ever recorded and produced every album after her first, but the young woman penned the tunes that got The Commodores signed to Motown. The Detroit label soon came calling, pitching a Motown songwriting deal, which Betty turned down. Motown wanted to own everything. Heading to the UK, Marc Bolan of T. Rex urged the creative dynamo to start writing for herself. A common thread throughout Betty’s career would be her unbending Do-It-Yourself ethic, which made her quickly turn down anyone who didn’t fit with the vision. She would eventually say no to Eric Clapton as her album producer, seeing him as too banal.



Her 1974 sophomore album They Say I’m Different features a worthy-of-framing futuristic cover challenging David Bowie’s science fiction funk with real rocking soul-fire, kicked off with the savagely sexual “Shoo-B-Doop and Cop Him” (later sampled by Ice Cube). Her follow up is full of classic cuts like “Don’t Call Her No Tramp” and the hilarious, hard, deep funk of “He Was A Big Freak.”

Repressed !!

Jay Dee needs no introduction. Widely regarded as one of the most important figures in hip–hop alongside Pete Rock, Kanye West, Pharell, and Dr. Dre, his influence has reached far beyond the genre. Known widely as your favourite producer’s favourite producer, and having produced and remixed for legends like Janet Jackson, Daft Punk, A Tribe Called Quest, Brand New Heavies, Busta Rhymes, Common, Erykah Badu, Guru, The Pharcyde, The Roots, De La Soul, and Royce Da 5’9"—the list is endless—there is no questioning Jay Dee’s genius. Many have tried, but none have been able to duplicate his sound. Originally released in 2001, Welcome 2 Detroit marked Jay Dee’s first solo project and the groundbreaking debut of BBE’s Beat Generation series, where producers stepped into the spotlight with complete creative freedom. A paradigm-shifting record, it was short-listed for Artistic Achievement in Music in October 2001 (the U.S. equivalent of the Mercury Prize) and instantly set the bar for everything that followed. Now, 25 years later, Welcome 2 Detroit returns in a long-awaited repress, celebrating a quarter-century of influence and innovation. This anniversary edition brings the instrumental version of the album back into circulation after years out of print, allowing listeners to experience the full depth and complexity of Jay Dee’s production in its purest form. Stripped of vocals, the intricacy, texture, and brilliance of his work shine brighter than ever—revealing details you may have missed the first time around. Make sure you grab a piece of history.