Annotation

Description Of Music
South Wales has maintained a steady stream of high grade and fresh hip hop for a while now, particular high points include Cardiff rapper Ruffstylz bagging a Guiness World Record for longest freestyle ever, the Metabeats 'Metaphysical' album from 2007 (labelled Hip Hop Connection and Plan B magazine's UK hiphop album of the year), and last summers debut EP from Joe Blow titled 'Smoking Skills'. But Metabeats and Joe Blow are flanked by an entire crew of fellow emcees and beatmakers going by the moniker Squid Ninjaz. After uncountable mixtapes, EPs, downloads, and guest appearances, the Barry based crew has upped the stakes for 2009 by dropping their debut album 'Revenge Of The Blowfish'. The result is an effortlessly brilliant slab of undiluted hip hop. A headcount of the whole crew reads like ths: Joe Blow, Pergyl aka Metabeats, Cesto, Cervantis aka Lousain Hekla, Skamma, Ral Duke, Joe Dirt aka
Dogruffbeats and JDS. While the Metabeats album - stamped with the lyrical DNA of many of the Squidlings - had a party vibe in places, Revenge Of The Blowfish is a more sinister affair, packed with murky beats, creepy samples and a gritty alleyway feel. Track one boasts fifteen emcees, and they sneak Wu Tang affiliate Berreta 9 in at the end of the CD like it's nothin'. Welcome to Barry Town.
Background
Meatabeats, Cesto, Cervantis and Skamma met at school. Cesto approached Joe Blow in 1999 and they started making freestyle tapes. Before long the whole crew came together. The first debut on the shelves was the Optimas Prime 'Try B4 U Die' EP on Dial Up which featured Pergyl, Cervantis and Joe Blow on a track called 'Summer Time Vibes'. This was followed up by the HSG (Hurts So Good) EP - again on Dial Up Records and featuring four tracks giving listeners a wider introduction to the verbal dexterity of the Squids. This EP racked up rave reviews including 5 stars from DJ Mag. Joe Blow hooked up with legendary Cardiff rapper 4Dee in 2006 and going by the name Undecorated Veteranz they released the 'Music To Make You Stagger' EP, another Dial Up joint and with Optimas Prime's Stagga on the ones and twos that scored props from left right and centre, including a glowing review in Australian mag Peak Street. Meanwhile Cervantis, Cesto and Skamma were writing, recording, and performing
under the name Quiet Poison.Metabeats debut album 'Metaphysical' involved a regroup of the whole gang in 2007, going under the new moniker Squid Ninjaz. The album went on to notch up many rave reviews. While hiphop addicts were still reeling from it, the Joe Blow 'Smoking Skills' EP dropped scoring 5 star single of the month in IDJ and even a thumbs up in the Metro. But really they were just getting started. Now in 2009 the Squid Ninjaz are on fire and set to further etch Barry Towns position on the hiphop map with the
release of 'Revenge Of The Blowfish' this Autumn

Annotation last modified on 2012-07-11 15:14 UTC.

Discography

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