He came out of nowhere with a new approach to the mixtape game and a respect for the others who laid the path for him to step up and forge his piece of hip hop history, but how did U.K based Knew Rulz : Tha Mixtape Author get his start on the scene.
With no friends in positions of power to aid him, it was simply hard grind, talent and a patient, positive attitude that have worked in his favour.
Before the name was ever thought of, there was a love & enthusiasm for good music. Knew Rulz was always a collector. At one point he felt that to put together his favourite songs would be interesting and would enhance his enjoyment of them. Naively, he thought that he would be the first to compile back to back heat, this ridiculous notion would be erased from his mind in the most spectacular fashion on hearing ’50 MC’s Volume 3’ by Tony Touch. This, more than any other mixtape, was most influential in setting the standard for Knew Rulz to work towards, so with help and advice from producer DV Wondah & Dark n Cold, he set out to start his own mixtape series in 2001.
The choice of name was, at first, a very difficult venture as he was not a DJ and did not want to pretend to represent something that he was not. It only became easy when he realised that the name should reflect his character, therefore Knew Rulz : Tha Mixtape Author was born as a statement or even a disclaimer to the fact that he is not a DJ, but a guy doing his own thing, making his own story and most importantly, having fun.
The first two mixtapes were simply compilations as he had no experience in mixing with turntables and was not interested in learning. However things changed when he discovered that professional software that aids music production can be manipulated to make blending music possible. From that point onwards he strived to learn more and more ways of using the software to enhance the enjoyment of his mixtape.
By 2004, Knew Rulz had made contact with most, if not all, of U.K’s underground hip hop scene in one way or other, so it was a no-brainer that he would progress to working solely with an artist. At that time he was adding the finishing touches to his then latest release ‘Miss Bufftivity & the Weapons of Mass Disbufftion’ and wanted to make the selection stronger so he approached MCD of the Legendary ‘Silent Eclipse’ to be special guest and create dubplate specials for him. Whilst creating those songs they started talking of doing a whole joint project combining their talents and know-how to making an impact on the scene with great music. After months of work, planning & investment, the end product was the ‘After Dark’ album released on their joint record label, ‘Knew Eclipse Records’, which featured many guest appearances from the likes of General Levy, Richard Blackwood, Pesci, Mr Ti2bs, Strappa Trees, Bury Crew, Rosita Lynch and the then up and coming talents of Theme, Nadine Charles, Doc Brown & Stylah of Poisonous Poets.
That same year saw the opening of his retail operation, a shop called ‘Knew Vinyl Basement’ which was situated in the basement of the ‘Dark N Cold 2’ branch in London’s world famous Oxford Street. It was through this shop that he began to have a more detailed understanding of the London hip hop & Grime scene. He started to host Open Mic Sessions on a Sunday which was attended by much of the younger generation giving a stage to two very talented DJ’s : Sleepa G who specialised in mixing Old Skool Garage & Tiny Rascal whose specialist field is Grime. This ‘Open Mic’ was the first in Oxford Street’s long history, in fact the shop itself was the first Black owned independent record shop on Oxford street ever!!!
When the building was due to close down, Knew Rulz had many offers from music businesses who wanted an insight into the Black Urban music scene, he chose to decline most offers as he enjoyed being in the drivers seat. A relatively new retail operation proved attractive, it was a shop called ‘Beathut’ who were in need of a U.K hip hop expert to head the homegrown selection, it was a perfect move for both parties.
Around the same period, a long time associate of Knew Rulz, called Rehab, extended an invitation into The Draft Pick DJ’s group, headed from New York by DJ Victorious. The group is set up in a way where each DJ helps one another. The group consists of DJ Victorious, DJ DUB, Wyking, DJ Asiatic, Rehab, DJ 279 & Knew Rulz.
Knew Rulz started the Draft Pick Monthly Mix show to help promote the U.K overseas, but also to continue building on his hard work thus far, it has lead to him gaining international recognition on another level and has expanded in working with Mr Dex and more recently D Shanks aka Traum on interviewing the artists who show an interest in his online music promotional movement. The mix show has been blessed by guest appearances from DJ 279, Smoothe Da Hustler, Trigger Tha Gambler, DV Alias Khryst, Rampage of Flipmode Squad, The Grit Boys, Eternia, TY, Supastition, Paul Wall, Lumes Flowne, The Juggaknots, Hezekiah, Termanology, Dizzee Rascal, Joell Ortiz, Median & Cesar Comanche of the Justus League and promises many an eyebrow raising cameo appearance so do log on to keep up to date with the still unfolding story of Knew Rulz : Tha Mixtape Author.
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So what does Knew Rulz have in store for us now?
Check this profile to keep up to date with his movements.
THE DRAFT PICK MIX SHOW YOU TUBE VIDEO FOR JUNE - HOSTED BY TERMANOLOGY
If you are an artist interested in sending music for promotional use on the Draftpick Mix Show, you can contact me via www.myspace.com/knewrulz or send them directly to [email protected] in mp3 format.
To purchase my mixtape ‘Undaground Undadogs Vol 3 : True Grind Edition – With Special Guest Cappadonna’ you can connect to http://albums.chambermusik.com/undergroundundadogs/undagroun dunderdogs.htm , they are also the best website for Wutang & Wu – Affiliate mixtapes & albums so do check them out!!!!