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Billboard Chart Topping Bluegrass-Meets-Hip-Hop Phenomenon Gangstagrass To Tour The UK!

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Gangstagrass = Gangsta rap meets Bluegrass and this summer, the Billboard No.1 band are heading to the UK to headline Oslo in Hackney, perform and hold a workshop at the prestigious Cambridge Folk Festival and raise the roof at not to be missed shows at Huntingdon Hall in Worcester and Mechanics Hall in Marsden.

Think Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg walking onto the set of Coen Brother’s ‘O Brother Where Art Thou’ and realising that the two sounds actually combine like eggs on toast.

These two sub genres of music controversially used over the years to depict and represent the political unrest between black and white America, and beyond, are able to break down these futile walls and integrate all colours to enjoy two very different types of music in a gumbo pot of gangsta fusion. It’s just glorious and needs to be seen and heard to be believed.

Over its decade-plus as a genre-demolishing world-touring band, Gangstagrass has spent countless weeks on the Billboard Top 10 Bluegrass chart, the first time real hip-hop MCs appeared on that chart; received an Emmy nomination and UNESCO’s International Innovator Award; taught workshops for k-12, colleges, and national conferences; been featured on PBS and covered by Forbes and Vice, the Wall Street Journal and NPR, Rolling Stone as well as publications dedicated to Hip-Hop, dedicated to Bluegrass, dedicated to Americana. The common thread of it all is that they are bringing people together across political, racial, generational, socioeconomic, and demographic lines.

Their audiences have conservatives and liberals, libertarians and avowed socialists and folks who don’t care one iota about politics, people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, rich and poor, great-grandparents and little kids and college students and everyone in between, and they’re all in the same space enjoying the same thing. There aren’t many spaces in America today where that happens, or many parts of the world sadly, but Gangstagrass takes that very American ideal — of all kinds of different people and different perspectives welcomed and blended to create something greater than the sum of its parts – and embodies it in a way that has everyone up and dancing. This is surely what Mel Brooks had in mind when he made ‘Blazin’ Saddles’ in the 1980s?

Check out Gangstagrass performing ‘Bound To Ride’ on PBS ‘The Cavern Sessions’-

The band has released six full-length albums to date, with tracks featuring Nitty Scott MC, Dead Prez, Demeanor, Kaia Kater, and legendary rap team Smif-N-Wessun among others. Rench, the Brooklyn-based country and hip-hop producer who is the mastermind behind Gangstagrass, crafted the instantly-recognizable ‘Long Hard Times to Come’ featuring T.O.N.E-z that opened every episode of FX show ‘Justified’ and earned Gangstagrass a 2010 Emmy nomination for Best Theme Song – more proof that Gangstagrass “paved the Old Town Road.”

Taking full advantage of the improvisational aspects and virtues of both hip-hop and bluegrass, including frequent three-and four-part harmonies, MCs Dolio the Sleuth and R-SON the Voice of Reason trade verses and freestyle alongside the unparalleled skills of fellow vocalists Dan Whitener on banjo, B.E. Farrow on fiddle, and Rench on guitar and beats.

This summer, Gangstagrass will bring their unique bluegrass-meets-hip-hop phenomenon to the UK to headline Oslo in Hackney, perform at the prestigious Cambridge Folk Festival and raise the roof at not to be missed shows at Huntingdon Hall in Worcester and Mechanics Hall in Marsden. Around the dates, brand new Gangstagrass single, “Up High Do or Die” will be pre-released as a download in the UK only via an exclusive QR code.

The latest Gangstagrass album ‘No Time for Enemies’ was released in August 2020 and quickly rose to #1 on the Billboard bluegrass charts. The next Gangstagrass album is well underway, and more 2023 tour dates are upcoming across the USA and Europe.

Gangstagrass 2023 UK tour:

July 26- Huntingdon Hall, Worcester

July 27- Oslo Hackney, London   

July 28- Marsden Mechanics, Marsden

July 29- Cambridge Folk Festival 2023, Cambridge.

Listen to Gangstagrass ‘You Can Never Go Home Again’ on Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/track/7EyRBo5D7Ez4VlL44TfRVr?si=adcc445e18ca4020

Take a watch of Gangstagrass’ video for ‘Ride With You’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwKtsyTSe5M

Get tickets here: Gangstagrass.com/events

We Speak Hip-Hop

Thirstin Howl The 3rd drops “Feet On The Gas” video ft. Rampage The Last Boy Scout

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Lo-Life General Thirstin Howl The 3rd has dropped an official video for new single “Feet On The Gas.” The track/video features Brooklyn neighbor (and Flipmode Squad member) Rampage The Last Boy Scout (AKA Ramp Lo) and was produced by Zay Skillz.  The video was filmed at NBA hall of famer Kevin Garnett’sContent Cartel Studios and was Directed by Thirstin Howl The 3rd for Skillusions Films andDirected by Stephen Box Lo Gonzalez for Gold Box Film Studios with first assistant director Dana Dane (of “Nightmares” fame). 

Garnett also has a cameo in the video in addition to a number of Thirstin Howl’s other famous friends.  Other cameos include DJ Muggs, Dwight Howard, Affion Crockett, Paul Pierce, Smooth B, King T, Psycho Les, Mellow Man Ace, Dana Dane, Young Hump and Caviar

Watch official video for “Feet On The Gas”:

This track appears on the new Thirstin Howl The 3rd LP, The Last Shall Be Thirst out now via Skillionaire Global Enterprises on digital and CD format.  In addition to this track guest features and producers on the album include DV Alias KhrystYoung Hump (Digital Underground), Tash (Tha Alkaholiks), Snaggapus, Dana Dane, MC SupernaturalPsycho LesVaronaRebecca BillipsBeme Mystique, DJ Muggs, Statik SelektahDJ HeronStu Bangas and Giovane Platone & OG Bigg Dabb.

Another video from the album “Ultra Ill Magnetic Street” (featuring Young Hump) previously dropped (link below).  The track/video pays homage to Ultramagnetic MC’s and Kool G Rap.

Watch official video for “Ultra Ill Magnetic Street”: https://youtu.be/tkCLQrWwtoo?si=8WwCJDFfVD0ojKff

“Ultra Ill Magnetic Street” is taken from the forthcoming Thirstin Howl The 3rd LP entitled The Last Shall be Thirst to drop this June via Skillionaire Global Enterprises

Also coming this year is the long awaited short musical film Don Chicharron which also features Latin Hip-Hop legends Hurricane G (RIP, who was the first female member of EPMD’s Hit Squad), TMP AKA The Microphone Prince (the first latin emcee to sign to a major label),DJ Exes (also of Grupo HNE) as well as Lo-Lifeaffiliate/emcee Luey The 4th.

More info: https://thirstinhowlthe3rd.com/

https://www.instagram.com/thirstinhowlthe3rd

https://www.instagram.com/younghumpdu

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