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Angus Batey

Angus Batey

Angus Batey has been writing professionally since 1988, sometimes as a member of staff, but since 2000 as a full-time freelance. He has written for a wide range of magazines, including NME. His writing about music is extensive, with a particular focus on hip hop.

www.angusbatey.com

146 articles

List of articles in the library

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Ultramagnetic MCs: Funk Your Head Up (ffrr/All formats)

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 18 April 1992

IT'S NEARLY five years since Ultramagnetic MCs released their debut Critical Breakdown, but you only get nine minutes into the follow-up before 'Blast From The ...

Eric B. & Rakim: Eric B & Rakim: Don't Sweat The Technique (MCA/All formats)

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 20 June 1992

SWEAT SOUL MUSIC ...

Pete Rock & CL Smooth: Mecca & The Soul Brother (Elektra/All formats)

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 20 June 1992

FOR A DEBUT LP, Mecca & The Soul Brother has some serious expectations to live up to. Pete Rock has earned himself a reputation as ...

Boogie Down Productions: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 18 July 1992

BDP ARE one of few constants in the fast-moving, ever-changing hip-hop world. Since 1986 they've put out hardcore classics without concession to passing fads, earning ...

Ice Cube: Cube Missive Crisis: Ice Cube: The Predator (4th & Broadway)

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 21 November 1992

YOU ARE NOT going to believe this. ...

Brand New Heavies: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 16 January 1993

THE STAGE is awash with reflected light from a dozen mirrorballs and the back wall is bedecked in enough gold lame to keep Moz in ...

Ice-T: "Bring Me The Head of Charlton Heston"

Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 13 March 1993

America's most wanted... public enemy one... ICE-T's reputation is just about as real as he wants it to get right now. Ever since the 'Cop ...

Naughty By Nature: Hooray Homies

Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 20 March 1993

They're huge! They're massive! NAUGHTY BY NATURE are the rap equivalent of Nirvana, catapulted to success by the unstoppable 'OPP'. But as they hold promotional ...

Cypress Hill: Black Sunday (Ruffhouse/Columbia/All formats)

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 24 July 1993

THE GRIM REEFERS ...

The Fugees: Emigration Terrorists

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 19 February 1994

Fact: like it or lump it in with the nastier things in life, hip-hop is still growing like the tumour from hell. Fittingly, as the ...

Gang Starr, Jeru the Damaja: Gang Starr: Respect is Duo

Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 19 March 1994

Four albums down the line, GANG STARR are on the verge of promotion to the Premier League with their unique brand of rap. ANGUS BATEY ...

Snoop Doggy Dogg: Now Is Not The Time To Talk To Snoop Doggy Dogg.

Interview by Angus Batey, unpublished, May 1994

Originally written for the NME, this article was not published ...

Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Rage — The Chronic Tour: Brixton Academy, London

Live Review by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, June 1994

WHEN YOU think about it, the very fact that this gig took place at all seems more than a little miraculous. With one of the ...

Wu-Tang Clan

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, November 1994

THURSDAY 1st September, Backstage stairwell, The Forum, Kentish Town, London. ...

Coolio: Natural Born Chiller

Interview by Angus Batey, Vox, March 1995

Ice-T, Ice Cube, LL Cool J... The West Coast of America is famous for its frozen rappers. Now cometh the latest million-selling iceman: Coolio ...

Boot Camp Clik, Jeru the Damaja, Junior M.A.F.I.A., Method Man, Mobb Deep, Keith Murray, Nas, The Notorious B.I.G., Ol' Dirty Bastard, Redman, Wu-Tang Clan: Hip Hop: The Empire State Strikes Back

Report by Angus Batey, Vox, August 1995

Snoop and Dr Dre's tales of the 'hoods of South Central may have redirected the media's fickle attention to the West Coast, but New York ...

Naughty By Nature: Naughty But Nice

Interview by Angus Batey, Vox, August 1995

Born in the ghetto, Naughty By Nature intend to stay there, despite the band's success ...

Eric B. & Rakim, Rakim: Rakim: I'll Be Back

Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, December 1995

Once upon a rhyme, a young rapper called Rakim hooked up with a deejay named Eric B. The collision was cataclysmic and their impact deadly. ...

The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur: Tupac Shakur: War Of The Words

Report by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 28 September 1996

TUPAC SHAKUR's death has once again highlighted the feud between the East Coast and West Coast rap communities. ANGUS BATEY takes a look at hip-hop's ...

The Roots: Jazz Café, London; Effenaar, Eindhoven; Nighttown, Rotterdam

Live Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 22 February 1997

HOLD THE front page! Rap band in 'turns up' shock! Punters left reeling after American rappers successfully tour Europe... ...

The Notorious B.I.G. (1972-97)

Obituary by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 15 March 1997

NOTORIOUS BIG, born Christopher Wallace, had risen from poverty to become one of the most influential figures in the hip-hop world in an incredibly short ...

DJ Kool Herc, Grand Wizard Theodore: DJ Kool Herc and Grand Wizard Theodore

Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, May 1997

DJS KOOL HERC and Grand Wizard Theodore, who recently played in London as support to the Chemical Brothers, may not be up there with yer ...

Blackstreet: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 3 May 1997

GIANT VIDEO screens above the stage are showing two members of Blackstreet rendered as puppets, and they're having a bit of a row about something. ...

KRS-One: I Got Next (Jive)

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 24 May 1997

AFTER 11 years as a recording artist, surely even the gargantuan ego at the heart of KRS-One must have been surprised when 'Step Into A ...

Mary J. Blige: Mary J Blige: Material World

Interview by Angus Batey, Vox, June 1997

WHAT'S THE most embarrassing item of clothing you've ever bought? ...

Primal Scream: 'Star'

Interview by Angus Batey, Vox, June 1997

The songTHE SECOND single to be taked from Primal Scream's forthcoming Vanishing Point LP, 'Star' finds Bobby Gillespie drawing on his personal vocabulary of revolutionary ...

Wyclef Jean: Logical Procession: Wyclef Jean Featuring Refugee Allstars: The Carnival (Ruff House)

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 21 June 1997

A LOT OF RUBBISH has been written about the Fugees since 'Killing Me Softly' elevated them to the dizzying pinnacle of pop stardom, and Wyclef ...

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones: Live Art

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, July 1997

PERIPATETIC FOOTBALL manager and TV raconteur Ron Atkinson once memorably berated an errant striker's inability in front of goal by claiming that "he couldn't hit ...

Puff Daddy: Smalls Wonder: Puff Daddy & The Family: No Way Out (Bad Boy Records)

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 26 July 1997

IN LIFE, only death is certain. For the religious, the prospect of paradise beyond the great divide provides an energising, vital motivation. For the cynics, ...

Ultramagnetic MCs: Critical Beatdown (Roadrunner/Next Plateau)

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, September 1997

KOOL KEITH is Liam Howlett's favourite rapper. And this relic from an age before 'Diesel Power' and Dr. Octagon shows why. ...

Rakim

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, November 1997

THERE'S A shadow across Rakim's face, but his brown eyes are shining. The man who is for many the greatest rapper ever to have picked ...

Busta Rhymes: Bump'N'Grundies!

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 13 December 1997

Pants! Lewdness! Spinal Tap-esque shenanigans! Yes indeedy, it's rap megastar BUSTA RHYMES giving it his inimitable 'Woo hah!' on a Stateside hip-hop extravaganza. On the ...

LL Cool J: Tellin' it like it is

Interview by Angus Batey, Vox, January 1998

Million-selling rap king, actor, ladies' man and now a no-holds-barred autobiographer… who in their right minds could resist LL COOL J? ...

All Saints: They Know Where It's At

Interview by Angus Batey, Vox, March 1998

And finally we have lift-off. Yes, 'Never Ever' may have taken its time getting there, but Britain's finest all-girl band have hit Number One, and ...

Terry Callier: TimePeace (Talkin' Loud) ****

Review and Interview by Angus Batey, Vox, March 1998

Long-lost singer-songwriter's classy comeback ...

The Hybirds: The Hybirds

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, March 1998

SOMETIMES THE simplest words are the most powerful. Plain statements. Single syllables. Don't pull your punches – hit 'em hard. ...

Madonna: Immaculate Projection: Madonna: Ray Of Light (Maverick/WEA) *****

Review by Angus Batey, Vox, April 1998

Music, motherhood and much, much more: real revelation from the world's most famous single parent ...

Gang Starr: Moment Of Truth (Cooltempo/All formats)

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 11 April 1998

IN HIP-HOP'S world of oversized egos and spiralling sales, few dare to admit weakness. So for veteran New York-based duo Gang Starr to return after ...

The Fall: Totale's Turns/Slates/A Part Of America Therein, 1981 (Essential/Castle)

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, May 1998

"I DON'T PARTICULARLY like the person singing on this LP," opines Roman Totale XVIII in his sleevenotes to Totale's Turns. "That said, I marvel at ...

Company Flow, Talib Kweli, Mos Def: Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Company Flow: Ladbroke Grove Subterania, London

Live Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 9 May 1998

COMPANY FLOW are the future of rap. Their schizoid debut LP, Funcrusher Plus, is the biggest thing yet from Rawkus, arguably the most influential NY ...

Janet Jackson: The Jackson Fave: Janet Jackson: Ahoy, Rotterdam

Live Review by Angus Batey, Vox, June 1998

"When I was 17 I did what people told me Did what my father said and let my mother mould me But that was ...

Ultramagnetic MCs: Gone — The Essential Guide To Yesterday's Heroes: Ultramagnetic MCs

Retrospective by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 3 June 1998

WHO THEY? Revered underground hip-hop pioneers from the late-'80s, Moe Luv, TR Love, Ced Gee and Kool Keith have long been consigned to the penury ...

Rakim: Ladbroke Grove Subterania, London

Live Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 6 June 1998

HE CALLS himself "God". ...

Snoop Doggy Dogg: Snoop Dogg: Da Game Is To Be Sold, Not To Be Told (No Limit)

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 29 August 1998

IT'S ONE OF THE most depressing stories in pop music. ...

A Tribe Called Quest: How The Quest Was Gone

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, September 1998

Say it ain't so! A TRIBE CALLED QUEST, one of the most loved and respected hip-hop bands ever, have bitten the dust. Here, they reveal ...

Shut Up And Dance

Interview by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, December 1998

IN A SPARTAN East London front room, two of the '90s most innovative dance music pioneers are attempting to explain where they've been these past ...

Faith Evans: Keep The Faith (Arista/Puff Daddy Records)

Review by Angus Batey, Muzik, January 1999

Notorious BIG's wife and R&B sensation's long-time-coming Puffy-produced second album ...

Canibus, LL Cool J, Wyclef Jean: LL Cool J, Canibus and Wyclef Jean: The '4,3,2,1' Beef

Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, 2000

WHEN CANIBUS recorded a verse for LL Cool J's '4,3,2,1' in 1997, he can hardly have realised what was about to unfold. ...

Lucy Pearl

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, 2000

"I ALWAYS like the idea of people getting together, like The Power Station, the Travelling Wilburys, groups like that," says Raphael Saadiq in all earnestness. ...

Badly Drawn Boy

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, CMJ New Music Monthly, October 2000

YOU'RE LISTENING to The Hour Of Bewilderbeast, the acerbic, eclectic and often quite magical debut album by English eccentric Damon "Badly Drawn Boy" Gough. ...

Coldplay

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, CMJ New Music Monthly, November 2000

"MY EYE'S REALLY hurting. I'm really stressed. I worry because my hair's falling out, and I don't know if that's important. Will people still buy ...

The Incredible Bongo Band: Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band

Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, November 2000

THE AVUNCULAR 56-year-old American sat in a suite in London's Dorchester Hotel doesn't immediately strike you as a rock'n'roll type, but Michael Viner has quite ...

Kool G Rap

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, 2001

FROM THE drivers' seat of his black GMC jeep, Kool G Rap stares intently at the police car. Despite the air conditioning being turned up ...

Minor Threat: Straight Edge

Report by Angus Batey, Dazed & Confused, March 2001

"I'm a person just like youBut I've got better things to doThan sit around and fuck my headHang out with the living deadSnort white shit ...

N.E.R.D.: Mojo Rising: N*E*R*D

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, August 2001

Rap and R&B excellence under the sway of moonwalking foxes and crazy Bonnie Raitt. ...

Saul Williams

Interview by Angus Batey, Dazed & Confused, August 2001

SAUL WILLIAMS runs his hand through his dreadlocked mane and grins. Fighting off a heavy cold a few hours before his first UK headline show, ...

Earl Scruggs: Rich Pickings

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, November 2001

Lightning banjo picker Earl Scruggs was there at the birth of bluegrass. Over half a century later he's back with a new album and a ...

Starsailor

Interview by Angus Batey, Arena, November 2001

BARELY 18 months ago they were an indie covers band, nervously dropping their own songs into a set comprised of other people's hits. But this ...

Bootsy Collins, OutKast: Funk: Bootsy Collins and OutKast

Interview by Angus Batey, Dazed & Confused, December 2001

What is funk anyway? A type of music? A sound? An attitude, a style, a feeling? ...

Sylvia Robinson, The Sugarhill Gang: Sugar Hill Records: Here's To You, Mrs Robinson

Retrospective by Angus Batey, Mojo Collections, Winter 2001

She took Motown as her blueprint and signed the first all-female rap group. But, as Angus Batey discovers, Sylvia Robinson and the Sugarhill mob spent ...

Busta Rhymes

Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, 2002

BUSTA RHYMES has a heavy cold and a brutal schedule, and he's already running three hours late. ...

Cymande

Retrospective and Interview by Angus Batey, Mojo Collections, 2002

STEVE SCIPIO pauses. The bass player and songwriter with Cymande is trying to recall what exactly his band's biggest hit, the reggae-funk masterpiece 'The Message', ...

Terry Callier: An Interview

Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, April 2002

IT'S JUST another rainy night in April, and the Green Mill, a bar on Chicago's north side, is hosting its regular Monday resident. Opening with ...

Ant and Dec: Ant & Dec: Sing When You're Winning

Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, 29 May 2002

Angus Batey meets the men behind the official England song, Geordie funsters Ant and Dec ...

The Notorious B.I.G., Tupac Shakur: Biggie & Tupac: Fear Of A Black Messiah

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, July 2002

Nick Broomfield's new film may well have solved the murders of Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur. Angus Batey went to seek out the facts. ...

Tom Jones, Wyclef Jean: Tom Jones and Wyclef Jean

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, Touch, November 2002

SO YOU'RE sitting there, in the London Metropole hotel, chatting to Wyclef Jean about his new LP, Maqsquerade. ...

The Roots: Hip Hop Erudition And Wit

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, January 2003

"I'M ALIVE NOW!" BARKS AHMIR ?uestlove Thompson, drummer and de facto leader of Philadelphia hip hop band The Roots, and music press consumer of impeccable ...

Bob Dylan, Wyclef Jean: Last Night A Record Changed My Life: Wyclef Jean on Bob Dylan's Infidels

Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, April 2003

I FIRST HEARD Infidels when I was about 15 years old. My brother was away, me and him were in different schools. I was more ...

Meat Loaf: Hello Goodbye: Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman

Retrospective and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, June 2003

They met to create musical drama. After years of huge success, it ended in managerial rancour and paralysed vocal chords. ...

Eric B. & Rakim, Boogie Down Productions, De La Soul, EPMD, Gang Starr, The Jungle Brothers, KRS-One, Marley Marl, Public Enemy, Run-DMC, Stetsasonic, Ultramagnetic MCs: Rhymin' And Stealin'

Retrospective and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, September 2003

Back in 1986 hip hop entered a golden age — lyrical revolution, sonic innovation, and individuality — that gave rise to such rap legends as ...

So Solid Crew: Urbane Warriors

Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, 19 September 2003

So Solid Crew are back to give us hip-hop with a social conscience, says Angus Batey  ...

Jamie Cullum

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, 4 October 2003

THE BRIGHTEST and most controversial new star to appear in the British jazz firmament in years is explaining how he first became interested in the ...

Vibe: the Hip-Hop Years

Retrospective and Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, 23 October 2003

For more than 20 years, hip-hop culture has shaped the face of popular music, fashion, even political debate. And for the past decade, Vibe magazine ...

OutKast: Come Together

Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, December 2003

For ten years hip hop duo OutKast have crafted wild, genre-defying music. Now, following their 2-CD masterpiece, it looks like that relationship might well be ...

Wyclef Jean: The Preacher's Son ****

Review and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, December 2003

That "one time, two times" bloke out of the Fugees makes an album for MOJO readers. No, really. ...

Jay Z: Jay-Z: The Black Album (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) *****

Review by Angus Batey, MOJO, January 2004

A final autobiographical confession from one of rap's giants ...

Missy Elliott, Timbaland: Missy Elliott: This Is Not A Test! (Elektra) ***/Timbaland & Magoo: Under Construction Part II (Unique Corp) ***

Review by Angus Batey, MOJO, January 2004

Virginia's avant-garde hip hop twosome are still on the right track on their respective new LPs, but have they started to run out of steam? ...

Kanye West: The College Dropout (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) ****

Review by Angus Batey, MOJO, May 2004

Super-producer takes up the mike for his "solo" debut. ...

N.E.R.D.: N*E*R*D: Fly Or Die (Virgin) ****

Review by Angus Batey, MOJO, May 2004

The Neptunes party like it's 1973 ...

Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz: Lil Jon: Time to crunk it up

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, 15 January 2005

He's crazy. He's drunk. He is "crunk". Angus Batey meets Lil Jon ...

The Game: The Documentary (Interscope)

Review by Angus Batey, The Times, 29 January 2005

JACEYON TAYLOR, aka the Game, is keen to point out to his listeners that rap was not his first calling. The 25-year-old turned to music ...

Joss Stone

Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Express, March 2005

WHEN YOU'RE a pop star, life rushes by at a furious pace. And things are so hectic for Joss Stone right now that the only ...

Out of tune: Customers suffer in the music download war

Report by Angus Batey, The Times, 26 March 2005

This month, a group of unnamed people became the first casualties of the UK music industry's war on internet piracy, when the British Phonographic Industry ...

Faith Evans: Time To Try Again

Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, 30 April 2005

Two UK No 1s have not made the former Mrs BIG a household name in this country. Faith Evan's new album might just do it ...

Midge Ure

Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Express, May 2005

"LIFE'S GREAT," says Jim "Midge" Ure, smiling as he sips a soft drink at a corner table in a tiny upstairs cafe in Bath. "If ...

Rhymefest

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, 2006

ONE OF the most unexpected meetings in English Parliamentary history took place in late October, when Rhymefest sat down with Conservative Party leader David Cameron. ...

The Thick of Hip: Touré's Never Drank the Kool-Aid

Book Review by Angus Batey, The Times, 25 February 2006

WRITING ABOUT MUSIC, Elvis Costello once remarked, is like dancing about architecture. If that were true, writing about hip hop, with its inherent wordiness, its ...

Roots Manuva: Britain's deepest rap star

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Telegraph, 9 March 2006

ROOTS MANUVA, king of British hip hop, tells Angus Batey about his new album, his "moronic" sense of humour — and why he pretended he ...

Hank Williams III: It's country but not as we know it

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Telegraph, 16 March 2006

"GARY JUMPED INTO a metal beam and that messed him up a little bit," shrugs Williams of his mohawk-sporting bassist, whose head injury on the ...

Gnarls Barkley: Say Yes To Droogs!

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, MOJO, June 2006

Welcome Gnarls Barkley, The Hip Hop Superband Who've Scored The Planet's First Download-Only Number 1. ...

Timbaland: "I'm up here. Everyone else is down there."

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 8 August 2006

TIM "TIMBALAND" Mosley, the most in-demand music producer in the world, is tired. But the task of staying awake is made easier because, right now, ...

Lupe Fiasco: Food and Liquor

Review by Angus Batey, Daily Telegraph, 23 September 2006

FROM ARRESTED Development to the Streets, hip-hop history is littered with rappers who wowed critics and had pop hits but left the cognoscenti cold. ...

OutKast: Idlewild

Review by Angus Batey, MOJO, October 2006

After their last album suggested a split, OutKast get it together again in spectacular fashion. Just don't call it a comeback, says Angus Batey. ...

Ghostface Killah: Coronet, London ***

Live Review by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 11 October 2006

"IF YOU listen to my lyrics, you'll know I'm a soul baby," confesses Dennis Coles midway through a typically eccentric set. "And you've got to ...

Dr. Dre, N.W.A: Jerry Heller

Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, January 2007

JERRY HELLER may just have the most undeservedly bad rep in the history of hip hop. ...

Russell Simmons: Taking the words out of their mouths

Comment by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 30 April 2007

When Russell Simmons says rappers should stop saying "bitch", "ho" and "nigger", he doesn't go far enough. ...

Destiny's Child, Kelly Rowland: Kelly Rowland: Destiny Fulfilled

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 15 June 2007

Kelly Rowland reassures Angus Batey that, despite the all the conspiracy theories, she has not had a phantom baby, her new album isn't bitter about ...

Pharoahe Monch: Hip-hop gets its sense of humour back

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Telegraph, 16 June 2007

PHAROAHE MONCH'S sales record is modest, but his music makes up in resonance and impact what it may lack in commercial clout.   ...

John Legend: Soul Food For Thought

Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 20 June 2007

Feted by everyone from Kanye West to Paul McCartney, John Legend could easily rest on his laurels. But the cerebral singer/producer tells Angus Batey he's ...

Talib Kweli: Jazz Café, London

Live Review by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 9 July 2007

IF THERE ARE TO BE WINNERS AND LOSERS in what has become hip-hop's year of living introspectively, it would be difficult to think of a ...

Beverley Knight, Candi Staton: In Praise of Gospel Music

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Telegraph, 23 July 2007

IN THE BOWELS of the BBC's Maida Vale studios, a spirit is stirring. Spread around the large room, a band, choir and two singers are ...

Black Eyed Peas: Will.i.am: Peas In Our Time

Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, 10 August 2007

The Black Eyed Peas' frontman Will.i.am tells our correspondent how "happy" music took him from the ghetto to the Top Ten ...

Alison Hinds: Notting Hill Carnival: Alison Hinds ready to reign at Carnival

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Telegraph, 23 August 2007

'Roll It Gal' by Alison Hinds will be the song that rules this weekend's Notting Hill Carnival. Angus Batey meets the Barbadian star. ...

Sean Kingston: Instant Messenger

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 31 August 2007

Three months ago, no one had heard of Sean Kingston. Now he has a No 1 single and a MOBO nomination – all thanks to ...

Harry Connick Jr: Renewing New Orleans

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Telegraph, 30 September 2007

Hurricane Katrina almost killed the New Orleans music scene. Now many of its players are coming back – to a musicians' village in the heart ...

Alicia Keys: The Ascent Of Alicia Keys

Interview by Angus Batey, The Times, 10 November 2007

A family death hit her hard but Alicia Keys found inspiration to go on — on top of the Great Pyramid ...

Maroon 5: The Band They Hate To Love

Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 16 November 2007

They've sold 2m albums in the UK, 10m in the US. But they can't get a good review. Angus Batey goes backstage with Maroon 5, ...

Gnarls Barkley

Interview by Angus Batey, unpublished, January 2008

N.B. This piece was going to run in the Mail on Sunday's Live section, but due to problems with photos — or, perhaps, a fear ...

Realistic Crew, Suhancos: "This is Hungary - we don't have stars": Realistic Crew and Suhancos

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 29 February 2008

Hungarian hip-hop has been going strong since 1984, and its musicians are keen to be recognised globally. The problem: they're just not Hungarian enough. Angus ...

Terry Callier: The Jazz Cafe, London

Live Review by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 24 March 2008

ABOUT 40 MINUTES into this riveting performance, Terry Callier cuts to the chase. "We've talked about so much stuff now," he says with a shrug, ...

Alec Empire strikes back

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 28 March 2008

"I FIGHT BACK!" a grinning Alec Empire blurts, explaining why his iPod contains only three albums (by John Coltrane and Stockhausen) but has been filled ...

The Roots: It's Like A Jungle Sometimes...

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 25 April 2008

They are a hip-hop purist's dream, constantly touring and constantly praised. But behind the scenes, the Roots have a fight on their hands. Angus Batey ...

John Mayer: Famous Girlfriend Blues

Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Telegraph, 20 June 2008

John Mayer would prefer to talk about his guitar-playing, but what everyone really wants to know is how he's treating his woman, Jennifer Aniston. "I've ...

Alicia Keys: The Girl's On Fire: Why Alicia Keys Is Such Hot Poperty

Interview by Angus Batey, Mail On Sunday, 30 June 2008

Alicia Keys is red hot right now: Prince wants to be her towel roadie, Dylan wrote a song about her, and Halle Berry head-hunted her ...

Wu-Tang Clan get it together

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 11 July 2008

"I'LL BE HONEST with you, and I'll be honest with your paper," sighs Robert Diggs, managing to sound both emphatic and resigned at the same ...

Wu-Tang Clan: Shepherds Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 17 July 2008

THE MOMENT WHERE IT ALL CLICKS INTO PLACE for the Wu-Tang Clan comes about halfway through their rambunctious, chaotic and uncommonly exciting 70 minutes on ...

Ne-Yo: 'Do I Have To Sell My Soul?'

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 18 July 2008

He's an R&B singer, and songwriter to the stars. But when the music stops, Ne-Yo vanishes from the spotlight. He tells Angus Batey why that's ...

John Legend: "Don't blame hip-hop for everything that's wrong in the world," says John Legend

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Mail, 19 July 2008

"A LOT OF THESE places are disappearing," says John Legend with a rueful smile. He is sitting at a grand piano in the middle of ...

Russell Simmons: The Hustler

Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 18 September 2008

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons helped Run DMC, Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys make it big. But is his greatest talent self-promotion? Angus Batey meets ...

50 Cent: From The Firing Line To The Firing Range

Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 1 October 2008

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is in a strangely revealing mood as he discusses working with De Niro and Pacino, how getting shot harmed his record ...

Estelle: The Guardian profile: Estelle Swaray

Profile by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 17 October 2008

Mobo win is vindication for singer who had to move to US to find success. ...

Hank Williams, Hank Williams Jr., Hank Williams III: Go your own way: Hank Williams and his progeny

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 24 October 2008

Hank Williams changed the face of country music. How can his descendants live up to that? Angus Batey finds out. ...

Kanye West: 808s & Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella) ****

Review by Angus Batey, MOJO, November 2008

NB This record wasn't made available to reviewers properly, due partly to Kanye still working on it at the time MOJO went to press. As ...

Rakim

Interview by Angus Batey, Hip-Hop Connection, April 2009

I GUESS you could say he's been away. But he's never strayed far. ...

Age of Chance's Bangers and Mash-ups

Retrospective and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 8 October 2009

Sampling, dance-rock, cross-genre cover versions ... Age of Chance did it all 20 years ago, but no one was listening. As their back catalogue goes ...

Joss Stone: Colour Me Free!

Review by Angus Batey, Yahoo! Music, 16 November 2009

FIRST THINGS FIRST: yes, the cover art is awful. She isn't the only artist to bang on a bit too much for some people's tastes ...

John Mayer: 'You can't make music as a famous person'

Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 19 November 2009

"I BASICALLY VISUALISED a record called Battle Studies as a way to sum up the last two years of my life: what I've learned and ...

Alicia Keys

Interview by Angus Batey, Daily Telegraph, 22 December 2009

SHE WRITES all her own songs, can play them live and has never been seen emerging from a club looking the worse for wear. Alicia ...

So Solid Crew: 'What We're Doing Is Bigger Than Music'

Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 14 January 2010

After a dramatic rise and a messy, destructive fall, So Solid are back. This time they intend to keep the tunes – and the money ...

Usher: "The fans want my soul"

Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 29 April 2010

Baring his soul is second nature to R&B superstar Usher, but although he has documented his recent divorce on a new album, he's got to ...

Brad Paisley: A Different Kind of Cowboy

Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 10 June 2010

Brad Paisley is not your usual Nashville country star. He talks about how Obama made him proud to be American – and why he dreams ...

CeeLo Green: Cee Lo Green: "I'd do a lot more damage if I could"

Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 30 September 2010

There aren't many musicians who would consider releasing an expletive-laden viral hit to be selling out in some way. Angus Batey meets the remarkable pop-soulster ...

Blade, KRS-One, Public Enemy, Ruthless Rap Assassins: The hip-hop heritage society

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 7 October 2010

Why aren't Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions and other classic hip-hop acts lovingly reissued in the same way as other genres? Because guardians of rap's ...

John Legend, The Roots: John Legend and the Roots: Hearts, Minds and Soul

Report and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 19 October 2010

John Legend and the Roots' album of '60s and '70s protest songs is no mere history lesson – it's an open letter to a divided ...

Amanda Ghost: not in Kansas any more

Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 24 February 2011

NO ONE WAS MORE SHOCKED than singer-songwriter Amanda Ghost when she was asked to run Epic Records. She talks about what peeking behind the music-industry curtain taught ...

Lupe Fiasco: "I have the right to speak out"

Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 3 March 2011

"SOLZHENITSYN PUT IT VERY QUAINTLY," says Lupe Fiasco. "Basically, there's a duality in everything — there's two sides to every story. Sometimes they complement each ...

The Hoosiers: Pop 'til you're dropped: The Hoosiers' major-label woe

Profile and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 24 March 2011

How tight is the margin between being the toast of your record company and being a failure? One chart place, as the Hoosiers found out ...

DJ Kool Herc DJs his first block party

Retrospective and Interview by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 13 June 2011

DJ Kool Herc DJs his first block party (his sister's birthday) on 13 August 1973 at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, Bronx, New York ...

Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Grand Wizard Theodore: Grand Wizard Theodore accidentally invents scratching in 1975 (or does he?)

Retrospective by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 13 June 2011

AMONG hip-hop's canonical creation myths, few are as perfectly formed as Grand Wizard Theodore's invention of scratching. ...

A Tribe Called Quest: 20 Years On: A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory Revisited

Retrospective by Angus Batey, The Quietus, 10 October 2011

20 years after it was released and a month before the UK premiere of the Tribe Called Quest documentary Beats, Rhymes & Life, Angus Batey ...

The Jimmy Castor Bunch: Remembering The Everything Man: A Jimmy Castor Interview

Retrospective and Interview by Angus Batey, The Quietus, 20 January 2012

Angus Batey pays tribute to the late Jimmy Castor, and we publish an extract from an extensive interview the journalist conducted with Castor over a ...

Public Enemy: It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back

Review by Angus Batey, New Musical Express, 26 October 2013

REGULARLY CITED AS one of the greatest albums ever made more or less since the day it was released, perhaps the most striking aspect of ...

Al Green: 10 of the best

Guide by Angus Batey, The Guardian, 20 April 2016

From a chequered career, the tussle between the religious and the secular is audible on all of Green's best songs – even the ones he ...

Data, Driven: Spotify Under Surveillance

Book Review by Angus Batey, The Quietus, 30 March 2019

An academic team's look under the hood of the music-streaming giant arrives as worries over Silicon Valley snooping go mainstream. Angus Batey surveys the bookshop ...

Theon Cross: Cross Currents: Jazz Re:Fest 2019

Live Review by Angus Batey, The Quietus, 30 July 2019

The Jazz Re:Freshed crew celebrate another year of progress for their movement and their music with their seventh one-day festival in Brighton. Angus Batey goes ...

Richard Russell: Better Music Through Listening: XL's Richard Russell Interviewed

Interview by Angus Batey, The Quietus, 11 April 2020

The XL Records boss on his first book, new LP, and how not to be a dickhead. ...

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