First Down: Last To Fall

Have a butchers at the photo from the post below. See that tall block on the right? Well, most of you probably don't know that in that block, up on the 22nd floor, was where one of my favourite UK albums of all time was recorded. An album which still gets bumped hard in the Illwood Heights stereo. Any ideas yet? Well, allow me to put you out of your misery. World Service, by First Down dropped in '94, and proceeded to put Brighton truly on the map as far as hip-hop music goes. The combination of heavy beats and the uncompromising vocal styles of the emcees rode the line between the Britcore styles of crews such as Gunshot and Deliverance and styles infiltrating our ears from the other side of the pond. Regularly rated in the top 50 UK hip-hop LPs of all time, World Service was a big inspiration to me as an up and coming rapper, and continues to prove worthy of the accolades it received.

A few years later, a follow up album was recorded, although never released.

Later in 2008 though, these tracks, and some brand new material will be released upon an unsuspecting world through the medium of mixtape. Featuring Korekt, Aroe, Baron Demus, Surprize, Bluze, and featuring guest spots from Remark (Deliverance), MC Mell'o' alongside others I'm sure. And how do I know this? Well, I'll be guesting on the mixtape as well. I spent a day locked in the studio the other week, and I can officially tell you that it is sounding HOT. Now I understand there's still a bit of recording to get done before the tape is finished, so here's a couple of tracks from World Service to get you fiending.



Mad Dogs & Englishmen RMX

Jaw Warfare Pt. 4

For more stuff featuring the production of First Down's Aroe, check out Soundmakers' myspace page, and hunt down the Tuff Crew remixes!

POW!