Mandeep Sethi is a rapper from Los Angeles, now going to school in San Francisco. His conscious lyrics are a favourite with us here at INQ. It’s clear he is very much on the same wavelength as us and it’s a pleasure to introduce you all to him.

Only 18 his thought processes definitely seem older. His music is about experiencing, viewing, and analyzing the systematically perpetuated violence and oppression against minorities and immigrants in the United States. Hip hop serves as choice of weaponry to be used as a vehicle of dissent, retaliation, radicalization, and resistance.

He states “Growing up with a turban in the US, especially after 9/11, was a humbling experience, teaching me a lot about the way human beings truly act towards each other. It is a sad reality that we must confront, but race, class, and gender issues are pushed to the backburner of society's agenda, and must be addressed”

During the beginning of February we featured one of his first popular beats “Can’t you see” on our website, this track and others can be downloaded from his myspace now. During the last two weeks of Feb, we feature “1984” which is about the struggles of Sikh’s in India after supporters of the ruling Indian congress party descended upon Sikh neighbourhoods pillaging and killing many… Deep stuff.

To find out more about Mandeep Visit his myspace www.myspace.com/mandeepsethi

Good music is hard to come by these days. That is why Red Giant is a god send. Here at INQ we always try to keep you updated with ish that dwells beneath the mainstream, whether it be films, news, fashion, or music… We try to refrain from “biggin up” signed artists, however sometimes some of these “big” artists do create masterpieces which we feel the people need to know about and so do feature them, sometimes…

Every fortnight we showcase a music artist (s) through our website. People we feel need more exposure but due to the ignorance of the music industry have been overlooked or not given enough “air time”

Red Giant is an anonymous collective hailing from Kilburn. The collective have been creating food for thought for a while now. What makes these guys special is that they make their music for the people. To “free people with their music” infact. It’s clear they have something to say, the music’s phat intros and their use of metaphors may twist up your head, but it helps get what to say across in a discrete manner.

“We have come to fortify the belief in righteous deeds. Expel the devil from our own hearts and the hearts and minds of the masses. This is purely music in its most raw essence. We believe in the literal and metaphoric burning of those elements employed by the governments and media to Subjugate, confuse and misguide the people, especially our black and brown brothers and sisters. These elements I have mentioned exist in the form of wide spread propagation of violence, sexual violence and Promiscuity. Ultimately misleading people to believe that such characteristics are a virtue in ones nature rather than a social virus constructed to control and influence. FREE YOURSELF AT ONCE.”

To find out more about Red giant visit their MySpace www.myspace.com/redgiantepidemic

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Hip hop has immigrated…

Foreign Beggars are firmly part of the vocabulary of UK Hip Hop, ever since they emerged on the scene around 2003 with their debut album Asylum Speakers. This LP was a perfect remedy for the brand of smokers paradise beats and meandering lyrics that dominated UK Hip Hop at the time. For a group that has a front man rapper called Orifice Vulgatron, to command respect amongst hip hop heads always wary about their reps, has got to be saying something!

And the guy is one unique rapper. Hyper on the mike, he excels when he combines an attitude of humour with a rapid lyrical flow, where he’s gone mad spitting an avalanche of syllables, just for fun. Sometimes his flow can be too high on enthusiasm, it loses focus. I felt this was most evident on Hold On, but this was the track that turned into their anthem which blew up everywhere and became an advert for the LP – with the burning production and Skinnyman sharing the honours, this was a popular track out there.

Foreign Beggars is more than one dude though! You also have another rapper Metropolis, producer Dagnabbit, DJ No Names, and beatboxer Shlomo. Anyone who follows Hip Hop even loosely, would have come across these names somewhere doing their own things. The album itself features appearances from amongst others Skrein, Skinnyman, Kashmere, Dr Syntax, Taskforce and Tommy Evans – all household names in UK Hip Hop, making the LP a landmark piece of work that stirred up loads of interest. Plenty of jazzy samples adrift, brings out the sweet melody in hip hop, some funky, some deep. Examples include Where Did The Sun Go and Getaway which are dope productions on the LP. Mind Out is my best track off the LP for having a sombre piano loop, and a rap namechecking all sorts of local places in my local North London in a blazin style.

So I mention they are strong names since 2003 and Asylum Speakers, but how have they remained in the spotlight since? Well aside from the various solo projects (Look out for Metropolis’ album dropping in Spring), the band appear to be on the tour circuit big time, especially support for big names. There’s also been a new release Stray Point Agenda. Orifice Vulgatron and No Names hosted a weekly hip hop show on the BBC called Mic Check. You could despair at how many of the hip hop outlets on that network have sold out and continuously blank UK Hip Hop for accessible coverage, especially after they removed the legendary Excalibah. Mic Check had been a vital antidote for that, even if it was hidden away on the Asian Network. Their enthusiasm for showcasing the best in Hip Hop, especially from the UK, is unquestionable and made it an excellent music show that offered something different and flew the flag for UK.

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