Hare and Hounds

Ugly Duckling is a hip hop group that formed in 1993 in Long Beach, California. Ugly Duckling’s members are Dizzy Dustin, Young Einstein and Andy Cooper. The group’s style is alternative hip hop, influenced especially by old school performers such as the Native Tongues. Most of their songs follow the creed that hip hop is about having fun and often mock the clichéd gangsta emcees who dominate the mainstream. An example of this can be heard in the song “A Little Samba” and in “Smack,” in which they rhyme about the enormous wealth about which mainstream emcees brag, and the ridiculous nature of their possessions, such as gold name plates on their cars, pet sharks, and jetting off to Bermuda on private planes.
Being heavily influenced by old school hip hop, it conforms to the original basics of hip hop music: turntablism and MCing. The group’s DJ, Young Einstein, forms the backbone of the group: he is renowned for performing very complex scratches both on the record and live, unlike in most modern hip hop where the DJ has been pushed to the back in order to emphasize the emcee. He is also the owner of a famous dookie gold chain that is the subject of the group’s song “Eye on the Gold Chain,” and is donned by Einstein during most live performances of the track. The group is renowned for its live shows in which they perform various antics on stage and interact with the crowd, getting it very hyped and affording them the reputation as brilliant live performers.

Main support is Kinny – Caitlin ‘Kinny’ Simpson is half Jamaican and half Native Indian and was born in Canada. She is a classically trained Opera singer, but her love for reggae and jazz always came first and touring with a reggae band resulted in her visiting Norway and deciding to live there. This is where she met Espen and beautiful music began! After the release of the album, Kinny became a regular visitor to the UK with gigs at The Big Chill, Cargo, Jazz Café, Concorde 2, Native, and across Europe. From these travels she hooked up with a variety of producers and started making some fine, fine music. Her track with TM Juke on his Forward album was a sign of things to come. Since then she has worked with Nostalgia 77, Hint, Diesler, Quantic as well as being asked to write lyrics and record for Massive Attack. From befriending and working with the musicians and producers around her, her songwriting and collaborations excel from the warmth and personality she puts into the music (along with a special talent) and she delivers some wonderful music.

Smileymic is a modern day one man band, creating his loops live on stage by beat-boxing, triggering samples and playing instruments including guitar, bass, keyboard, glockenspiel and cow-bell! In under two years his one man show has seen him go from winning a local battle of the bands competition to opening for acts like Son Of Dave, The Heavy and De La Soul.

DJ Mylz is the original founder of the Midland’s most successful hip-hop and breaks night, Heducation. He has shared stages with artists including De La Soul, Sugarhill Gang, DJ Yoda, Scratch Perverts and The Bays. With over 2000 gigs under his belt, Mylz never fails to entertain – expect the finest in funky and old school hip-hop, with a smattering of funk and soul.