Real Talk

"Sometimes negative is good like a aids test
The answer is negative if it pays less
I want positive answers, you better say YES!
Couldn't tell when I was hurtin' 'cause I stay fresh"

Mic Terror - Lyrical Shit
(From The Terror Files album; 2026)

I'm starting a new The Blog Era podcast where it's me shouting "MIC TERROR HAS MORE JAMS AND MORE LONGEVITY THAN ANY OF THOSE TRENDY RAPPERS PEOPLE WERE SWEATIN'!" as I play Mic T songs from 2007 to the present day. Here's another favourite cut from his new album where Problematic Papi Mic expresses opinionz which would make Pimp C proud. Like Mic said on his latest single, mix the ignorance with elegance.

I been survivin' on my own like The Revenant

"In this world you either buyin' or you sellin' it
I'm in my bag like yo' grandmama's peppermints"

Mic Terror - A Year Ago
(From The Terror Files album; 2026)

#MicTerrorHive assemble. Problematic Papi dropped a new album today and this is the second single after Nothin' Can Stop. R. Kelly at a high school game ain't as hard as this.

Generic list post: 2026 jams so far

We're 6 months deep into 2026, so here's 26 songs which have had my dancing shoes in a figure-four leglock. Some are from 2025, but that's okay because calender years aren't sacrosanct and you're supposed to have your wicked way with them (no Das Racist.) Football, bloody hell! Music, also bloody hell!

Newcleus - Disco Kryptonite
Trunk Boiz & Seiji Oda - Go Dumb!
Duke Deuce - Feathers Up
The IT - Mr. Gone (Fingers Edit)
Mr. Fingers - Replicate
Ezale - Make Her Gig
Trim - BOAT
T.I. - Let Em Know
OnlyHeaven - No Lie
Tove Lo - I'm Your Girl Right?
Bruus & Mic Terror - Nothin' Can Stop
Bri3 - Whatever
The Assembly - Mob Throb
Homeboy Sandman & Luke Warmth - Heet
Mexikodro - Mail
Mýa ft. Too $hort - Just A Little Bit
Casual - Hard Drive Music
BunnaB - Mind Right
Young Bari ft. BossLife Big Spence - That's A Playa
Pete & Bas - Cross Country
Nine & Dex - White Boy Wasted
70th Street Carlos - Get Out The Way
BigXthaPlug, Ro$ama, Yung Hood, Murdagang PB - 6WA
Husalah - On The Streets Pt 2
Lord Sko & Statik Selektah - Wish Upon A Star
Donae'O - Big Up The Gooners Around The World

God bless YouTube

Husalah - On The Streets Pt 2
(From unreleased; 200?/Stash World YouTube channel; 2026)

Via the Stash World YouTube channel AKA the internet's number one source for rare and unreleased Mob Figaz music, here's a hitherto-unheard sequel to one of Husalah's best unreleased songs On The Streets. Same beat as the original, but entirely different lyrics. No idea when it was recorded but it doesn't matter because Sob Figaz-core will never get old to mavens of melancholy mob-music.

No Sleep Till After Midnight

Never seen before by me: the Beastie Boys performing No Sleep Till Brooklyn and (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party) live on MTV's 1987 new year's eve Rock 'N' Roll Ball show. This is #problematic teenage brat era Beasties in their full glory, and the only downside to the clip is that they weren't given more airtime to perform Rhymin' & Stealin', Posse In Effect, Brass Monkey and Slow and Low too. On one hand, I wish I'd been old enough to have seen Run-D.M.C, LL Cool J and the Beasties on their U.K tour in 1986. On the other hand, if I was old enough to see that tour in 1986 then I wouldn't have been watching Children's BBC in 1990 when Round The Twist first hit U.K TV screens.

Sod that. Conclusion: Round The Twist - 1, Rush Associated Artists - 0.

Walk like a Jansport

Lord Sko & Statik Selektah - Wish Upon A Star
(From Elevator Music album; 2026)

Lolz. Third song I've liked by this lad after Pimp Socks and Girbaud Talk with Grand Puba. One thing New York backpack-rap has always been good at is making wistful piano choonz you can pound the pavements to at dusk, and Statik Selektah conjured up the sundown vybz with this one. We outside while you in the house like LL listenin' to tuneless dirges by Earl Sweatshirt's m8s.

Been very partial to the odd Statik Selektah production ever since Animal by AZ. That JOMO song by Jim Jones from last year was annoyingly good.

Don't Overthink About It

Trunk Boiz & Seiji Oda - Go Dumb
(From Right Back In EP; 2026)

My personal song of the summer now has a video on some Planet Of Giants type shit. If I ruled the world Go Dumb would be the Steal My Sunshine of 2026. A cool breeze on the boombox of AM radio bubblegum Hyphy which puts a Zen spin on the concept of Going Dumb. This song is THE shit because it's a literal Floater.

Demolition Men

Biggie Smalls - Biggie Got The Hype Shit
(From demo; 1991)

Дмитрий Дейниченко · Biggie Smalls - Biggie Got The Hype Shit (Demo)

Best pre-fame Biggie demo track ever IMHO. Biggie Got The Hype Shit was one of the first songs B.I.G ever recorded in 1991 with Jesse West on the beat and DJ 50 Grand on the scratches. This shit is Biggie's one real Golden-Era song and sounds like it coulda/shoulda dropped on Select Records with Biggie as the Mr. Hyde to Chubb Rock's Dr. Jekyll. For doz who still think that Biggie stole his Notorious B.I.G moniker from Notorious B1 in 1993, plz note that he introduces himself as "the notorious Biggie Smalls in full effect" on this demo 2 years earlier.

Strictly Dope - Never Be Beat
(From Beginnings: The Lost Tapes 1988–1991 album; 2007)

Dj kael kaelmi & maythayus1 · Tupac Shakur - Beginnings The Lost Tapes 1988-1991 - 04 - Never The Beat

Rewind for the best pre-fame 2Pac demo track ever IMHO. Never Be Beat comes from the era when him & Ray Luv were recording together as Strictly Dope. This song was probably recorded around 1990 but if it had ended up on 2Pacalypse Now then it woulda been tied for best song on there alongside Tha Lunatic. Even annoying Boom-Bap purist blokes like Wicked22 and A.C The Program Director can't front on this song.

In The Trunk

Trunk Boiz & Seiji Oda ft. Fijiana - Sky Scraper
(From Right Back In EP; 2026)

seiji oda · Sky Scraper (feat. Fijiana)

Trunk Boiz & Seiji Oda - Never!
(From Right Back In EP; 2026)

seiji oda · NEVER!

The Boiz are back in town: after No Fillins2, I Call Tell and Go Dumb!, Seiji Oda & the Trunk Boiz have recorded an EP together. Seiji mixed his tai chi Hyphy with the Trunk Boiz' traditional dumbness to create an alternate universe Baytrix. The Fijiana lass on Sky Scraper even sounds like Kreayshawn.

Generic list post: May 2026

Obligatory wrap-up post of those songs I've played most during the month when David Raya ensured he won't win this season's Ballon d'OR. Oh well, it's a tinpot title anyway. How can it possibly be a prestigious award when Michael f**King Owen won it once?

Run-D.M.C - Jam-Master Jammin' (Rick Rubin remix) (1985)
Rev Run I Used To Think I Was Run (2005)
Sir Michael Rocks - Talkin' Legit (2025)
Trim - BOAT (Audio Exhbit performance) (2026)
Seiji Oda & Trunk Boiz - Go Dumb! (2026)
The Assembly - Mob Throb (2026)
Bruus ft. Mic Terror & Gzus Piece - All I Do (2026)
Bri3 - Whatever (2026)
70th Street Carlos - Get Out The Way (2026)
Duke Deuce - Feathers Up (2026)
Mexikodro - Mail (2026)
Mýa ft. Too $hort - Just A Little Bit (2026)
Donae'O - Big Up The Gooners Around The World (2026)

Bonus bloggin: 1nce again I'm gonna use my monthly wrap-up post to keep track of the best movies and TV shows I've been watching. * indicates rewatches dunnit.

Movies I watched and liked:
Meantime (1983) *
Krush Groove (1985) *

TV shows I watched and liked:
Dear England (episodes 1 and 2) (2026)
Arsenal vs. Fulham (2026)
Arsenal vs. Athletico Madrid (2026)
Arsenal vs. West Ham (2026)
Celtic vs. Rangers (2026)
Arsenal vs. Burnley (2026)
Celtic vs. Hearts (2026)
Bournemouth vs. Manchester City (2026)
Crystal Palace vs. Arsenal (2026)
Luke Littler vs. Gerwen Price (2026)
Luke Littler vs. Luke Humphries (2026)
Match Of The Day 1 and 2 (new episodes) (2026)

Late pass!

Run-D.M.C - Jam-Master Jammin' (Rick Rubin remix)
(From American Bandstand TV show; 1985)

Sum shit I was utterly oblivious to until I read JayQuan's book about Run-D.M.C's Raising Hell album: there's a Rick Rubin remix of Jam-Master Jammin' which knocks the original version outta the box. This was the second time Run-D.M.C worked with Rubin after Can You Rock It Like This and they even performed the remix on American Bandstand in 1985. The beat is kinda like a prototype for No Sleep Till Brooklyn in the same way that the beat on She's On It is kinda like a prototype for (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party). When I say prototype it's not a dis, boiiiii, because all 4 songs are hall of fame choonz in the pantheon of 1980s Rock Guitar-Rap IMHO. Another thing I was oblivious to until I read JayQuan's book was how insanely jealous Run was of LL Cool J. This was one of the factors why Run-D.M.C dumped Larry Smith as their main producer and switched to Rick Rubin for Raising Hell.

Rev Run - I Used To Think I Was Run
(From Distortion album; 2005)

Bonus beats: a notable entry in the canon of Shinola Songs On Shitty Albums is the opening track on Rev Run's solo LP. This is a proto-Top Shelf 8/8/'88 bangeur which would have sounded right at home as a token old skool choon on one of those mid 2000s Kay Slay compilations. In a perfect world there woulda been a remix featuring M.O.P where Danze & Fame made it clear that they were the true heirs to Run-D.M.C.

Legit by name, Legit by nature

Sir Michael Rocks - Talkin' Legit
(From the internet; 2025/Rock, Paper, Scissors: Choices album; 2026)

Ur boi has been on an early Cool Kids binge recently, so it's the perfect time to check out Sir Michael Rocks' recent solo dolo shit. Was expecting 500k would be the jam 4 me since it's a DJ Fresh production. Joke's on me like Kid Capri because Talkin' Legit is my #actual choon of choice. The kid Rocks is taking the Michael on this one and it gives me the po pimpish adrenaline rush of some modern day Legit Ballaz type shit.

The Micgic Number

"These hoes look me in my eyes and call me beautiful
I say you right, baby, but bitch you still delusional
Moral is, two things can be right at the same time
Bitch-ass n***as done wrote some of the most insane lines"

Bruus ft. Mic Terror & Gzus Piece - All I Do
(From All I Do single; 2026)

Nothin' Can Stop had me open for another Bruus & Mic Terror track. Throw Gzus Piece into the mix and I'm a happy camper like Bruce Springsteen's sister in Sleepaway Camp II. That clickity-clackity beat on this one has got real #MicTerrorHive members firing up Chief Sampson right after.

My Mind Spray 22

MF DOOM made two of my favourite Rap albums of all time with Operation Doomsday and Black Bastards. But I view 60% of his recorded output in the same way that I view Lionel Messi's post-Barcelona career: best to pretend that it didn't happen as to not tarnish the legacy. Obviously the 2 Czarface albums DOOM recorded in his final years are the musical equivalent of Messi scoring free kicks and tap ins against farmers in the MLS.

I was unfortunate enough to hear some of the 2 Hard 4 The F**kin' Radio homage by That Canadian Nonce™. How is it even possible to make interpolating Mac Dre lyrics over a P-Lo beat sound like a sanitary towel commercial? That guy has the worst voice in the history of recorded music, and it boggles my mind that anyone finds his whiney music tolerable let alone pleasurable.

I'm not saying I wish that Russia would launch a drone strike on Toronto. I'm just saying that any city which inflicted That Canadian Nonce™ and Mindbender Futurama on the world deserves some sort of punishment.

Run-D.M.C's Raising Hell was the first Rap album I bought, and JayQuan is my favourite old skool Rap history-bod, so of course his recent book about the album is a Good Combination™. JayQuan is a convivial author who experienced the era and the album's impact from front, back & side to side, and he's big on details without being an annoying nutjob windbag like Dart Adams. Anecdotes and actual factz are provided by everyone involved in the making of the album, and it doesn't hurt that the book is fulla pictures of Run-D.M.C lookin' cooler than Polish feet.

More, more, more!

Duke Deuce - Feathers Up
(From Feathers Up single; 2026)

Duke Deuce · Feathers Up

70th Street Carlos' new single is so moreish, I need another song with similar berserker energy like now and shit, y'know, that shit now, I'm talkin' now. Alas, I don't have Cooky Puss' number, so I gave Duke Deuce a call and got him to pop back up with a real Memphis slobberknocker of a song. Cot-damn, he could beat Andre The Giant with this track. Giant Gonzalez too.

BOATs and hoes

Trim - BOAT
(From BOAT single; 2025)

Trim · BOAT

People have been mocking that Trim bird's live performance at the Rolling Loud festival. Which is ironic to me because thee definitive version of her break out song BOAT isn't the studio version or the remixes with YKNiece & BunnaB or Pooh Shiesty, it's this performance of it on the Audio Exhbit YouTube channel. She nails the timing and delivery, and her voice sounds better all natural without any studio trickery. You can't tell me nuffink to the contrary.

Trim - BOAT (live performance)
(From Audio Exhbit YouTube channel; 2026)

Some of my most-listened to Rap songs in 2026 are songs from 2025: Make Her Gig by Ezale, Disco Kryptonite by Newcleus, That's A Playa by Young Bari & BossLife Big Spence, No Lie by OnlyHeaven, and BOAT right here. Like Styles P nearly said, I don't care about the release date and whenever it dropped, I don't care about anything except the song being in my rotation because it's hot.

Berserker Bounce back!

70th Street Carlos - Get Out The Way
(From Get Out The Way single; 2026)

Boosie FatAzz caught a second wind off the second line. Legitimately thought this was a 2016 to 2018 Carlos song when I first clocked it: the Webbiefro is back in full bloom and the beat sounds like it could be a Trel Itz A Hit production. 'Los is back in that water like LL Cool J's parrot.

You don't wanna lose me like new I.D

Cool Kids ft. Lil' Wayne - Gettin' It
(From the internet; 2008)

tfs · The Cool Kids Ft Lil Wayne- Gettin It (320 Kbps)

I'm stickin' to the script like java when I say that Gettin' It still sounds hotter than lava. A very necessary rearrangement of Jam-Master Jay after Nas stunk the original beat up with his nauseating sex rhymes when he jacked it for You Know My Style. Gettin' It is such a message in a bottle from the Blog Era™ innit? The Cool Kids did their thing for 2 16s before Lil' Wayne came through and gaffled the song with 3 verses. Gettin' It was a loosie which was never released to retail and has still never made it to DSPs, but the MP3 went platinum on Hulkshare.

My favourite Cool Kids memory: Will High being absolutely disgusted by Mikey Rocks' skinny jeans in the Black Mags video. Absolute fury from a bloke who hadn't even listened to music made by blk ppl since 1999. My other favourite Cool Kids nemory: Mikey Rocks blowing my mind and my laptop speakers at the SAME DAMN TIME when I first heard it on MySpace in 2007. It was, to paraphrase Jason Fox, new school Rap with an old school steelo.

Cool Kids - Mikey Rocks
(From the internet; 2007/The Bake Sale album; 2008)

Smvrk · The Cool Kids - Mikey Rocks

Even more importantly than that, the Cool Kids MySpace page led me to discover future Martorialist favourite/Chicago's best kept secret Mic Terror via Cold As Hell and Juke Them Hoes. Shout out to Tom Anderson, the only tech-bloke social media entrepreneur who made the world a better place and then dipped with that Murdoch money.

My Mind Spray 21

Beastie Boys - Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun
(From Paul's Boutique album; 1989)

One of the greatest mini-moments in Rap music: that 2 thump drum breakdown at 1:49 in Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun. It lasts barely 2 seconds, but it hits like a cattle prod to my body and turns me into Busta in the Everything Remains Raw intro to the Woo-Hah video.

The Assembly - Mob Throb
(From The Assembly album; 2026)

The Assembly is a new Sic Wid It group comprising of E-40, Cousin Fik & Hitta Slim FKA Laroo T.H.H. DJ Fresh's mob musik synths on this song are so high-pitched they could be used as a dog whistle for missing pooches. High praise or wot?

Vince FM

Vincent Gallo - Drowning In Brown
(From Buffalo '66 soundtrack; 1998)

Drowning In Brown from Vincent Gallo's Buffalo '66 soundtrack is the best Check Your Head instrumental interlude which the Beastie Boys never recorded. Someone should interview Gallo and ask him about his favourite early 80s Rap songs from the Prince Vince era. What was he listening to on this boombox in 1982 when he was drowning in baby-blue? Definitely Spoonie Gee, but who else and which songs specifically?

Juiceboxxx really missed a trick by not rhyming over Drowning In Brown one time like 'Clef on the Fugees joint. Speaking of 'boxxx, Like A Maniac is up there with Lifestyles Of The Rich And Infamous by Ice-T and Touring by the Ramones in my personal canon of Songs About Life On The Road. On the air guitar-ometer, Like A Maniac scores a Bill & Ted "EXCELLENT!"

Juiceboxxx - Like A Maniac
(From Heartland 99 album; 2015)