Ultramagnetic MCs - Critical Beatdown 25th Anniversary Tour! July 11, 2013

The veteran Bronx hip hop outfit Ultramagnetic MCs promise to shake the building down as they visit Band on the Wall on the back of their world tour celebrating 25 years since the release of the seminal Critical Beatdown.

Released in 1988, the height of hip hop's first great breakthrough, Critical Beatdown was unmatched in originality, ferocity and innovation. Breaking new ground in sampling techniques the Ultramagnetic crew took the time honoured screams of James Brown to sinister new territory, tearing up and spitting out gnarled cuts of vicious funk. Armed with the E-MU SP1200 sampler, primary producer Ced Gee brought avant garde experimentation to the street, laying the foundation for sample manglers such as Dilla and Madlib. With Critical Breakdown Kool Keith and Ced Gee cemented their reputation as rap's densest lyricists, spitting elliptical imagery with a deranged flow unsurpassed over twenty years later. Despite the album's crunchy lo-fi aesthetic and lyrical acrobatics tracks such as 'Ego Trippin' and 'Travelling at the Speed of Thought' became genre-shaping singles sampled by the likes of Nas and Gang Starr. Critical Beatdown has become a testament in hip-hop heavily influencing groups such as Public Enemy, Cypress Hill, House of Pain, Nas and The Prodigy, who sampled the song “Give the Drummer Some” for “Smack My Bitch Up”.

Ultramagnetic is back together and ready to give the world what they are missing, a true authentic hip-hop show! Having recently performed at BB Kings co-headlining with Raekwon in New York and hitting the stage with Portishead at the All Tomorrows Parties “I’ll Be Your Mirror” festival, they are ready to hit the road! Ultra rare, ultra special, Ultramagnetic - advance booking strongly recommended for what promises to be an astonishing show by these vital figureheads from hip hop's golden age.

Official Website: http://crd.fm/2hj