Is Henok Achido's video for "High On Life (When The Drugs Don't Work)" one of the best Independent rap video to ever come out in Europe? You decide. Here's my opinion:
It's one of the only rap videos currently in circulation that doesn't depict images of jewelry, cars, cash, models, and fashion; but that's not what makes the video great. The reason why this piece is so captivating is because tackles issues that are rarely spoken about in the hip-hop community. Issues such as isolation, depression, homelessness and mortality. It shows a side of urban life, that the public rarely gets to see. The social aspects, such as, the night clubs, parties, public gatherings, are replaced with images of confinement, paranoia, and desolation. When looking at the big city, we often focus on the lights, skyscrapers, and glamorous events, yet, we rarely think about the thousands of people confined within their apartments living with an array of social anxieties, addictions and mental disorders. We see a beautiful bridge in Brooklyn, but we don't see the people living under it.
Henok Achido, once again, proves that he's simply cut from a different cloth. A rapper that refuses to follow the mainstream trends of the music industry. Henok Achido has exalted himself to an unreachable plateau by creating one of the best Independent rap videos to ever come out in Europe.

"High On Life (When The Drugs Don't Work)"
Artist: Henok Achido
Music Producer: Vito
Album: Almaz Charming Child
Year: 2009
Director: Mattis Gustafsson & Oskar Ljungholm of www.slagskottfilm.com
Cinematographer: Erik Nordlund of www.skapetskasta.se
Editor: Alexander Widerberg
3D Imager: Fredrik Nilsson
Henok Achido on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/henokachido
Record Label: DLX Entertainment/Secret Society Club
Contact: thesecretsocietyclub@gmail.com

This is a great record for your summer playlist, "Stunna Shades" by Robin Rocks, featuring J-Son and Angelica. Fresh from Sweden. Enjoy!

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"Stunna Shades"
Artist: Robin Rocks
Featuring: J-Son and Angelica
Label: Unsigned
Year: 2009
Location: Sweden
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hellorobinrocks
Twitter: http://twitter.com/hellorobinrocks

This is an exclusive video (from the good folks at the Secret Society Club) of Kid Cudi and Henok Achido doing their thangs in Sweden at the Hultsfredfestival. Now, I know that I've mentioned millions of times that Henok is one of the best rappers… out, but now I feel the need to re-emphasize that fact and remind everyone one more time that this guy is going to become a global hip-hop icon when it's all said and done.
The people that follow Henok, that go to his shows and buy his music are fans of him for one reason and one reason only… because he's a good rapper. Not because he's rapping on trendy instrumentals, not because of his sneakers, or his borough… they just want to hear him rap… because he's clearly a good rapper. Nothing more nothing less. He's not following himself around with a camera, he's not walking around in shutter shades, he's not wearing the ball-gripping skinny jeans. His female fans aren't daydreaming about his image, they just wanna hear him rap. His male fans aren't envious of his clothing, they just wanna hear him rap. Most of today's new 2009 and 2010 acts are entertainers, they're not just rappers. They sing, they dance, they hop around on stage, they post funny youtube videos; they entertain people. They have little gimmicks; their clothes, their looks, their videos, their blogs, their sneakers, their dj's. Henok just raps, and that's it. They're aren't a lot of new rappers like that. Ghetts from the UK is one of them, but that’s really it. No matter how much you cut and slice it, Henok Achido is the real deal. No if, ands, or skinny jeans about it.

Let's get into this one, new music from Million Stylez of Sweden. This is a brand spanking video released about 9 hours ago, thanks to Universal Music in Sweden. The video for Million Stylez new single, titled "Love We Deal With", is directed by David Dawoodi, who is best known for his unique advertising spots for Adidas, Playstation, Budweiser and Lexus. This video, which looks like it was filmed on a moderately low budget, contains many great shots with numerous camera angles that showcase the musicians doing a live performance in an empty concrete building. Overall, it's a great video shot by one of the most creative directors in Sweden.

"Love We Deal With"
Artist: Million Stylez
Director: David Dawoodi
Country: Sweden
Year: 2009
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/millionstylezonline
Label: Adonai Music/Universal Music Sweden
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQEuoTC1En8&feature=channel_page

This is J-Son's newest video for his single "My Window" (produced by Addeboy vs. Cliff). The background vocals were sung by Yaiya, a Swedish pop singer who is currently prepping the release of her new song, titled "What's4Dinner", which features Eboi. The video was directed by the animation and stop motion wizard Arvid Tappert. Arvid Tappert has produced video clips for many major companies and he's also won dozens of awards throughout his amazing career.
The stop motion team which worked on the video did a phenomenal job in making seamless transitions during the frame by effects. Stop motion videos can be very difficult to produce, yet Gifford Film managed to make those visualizations very look easy.
The chorus of "My Window", which is sung in a similar fashion of Seal (from his album "System"), is about waking up with and knowing that you can accomplish anything that your mind can manifest. This song contains a valuable message about the importance of staying positive and making all of your dreams come true.
J-Son has a new album titled "Never Half Steppin", which is scheduled to be released during September of 2009.

"My Window"
Artist: J-Son
Featuring: Yaiya
Music Producers: Addeboy vs. Cliff
Director: Arvid Tappert
Production Company: Gifford Film
Cinematographer: Hannes Isaksson
Strop Motion Photographer: Klara G
Set Designer: Anja-Lisa Rudka
Compositing: Sam Brandhild, Robert Eskekarr, Claudio Salas
Album: Never Half Steppin
Release Date: September 2009
Country: Sweden
J-Son's Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/jsonsb
Label: Same Blood Entertainment
Contact: Thierry@Sameblood.com

Addeboy vs. Cliff's "Beep My Beep" is one of the strangest video's I've ever seen. It's so strange, that it's almost brilliant! What do motorcycles, strobe lights and wolves have to do with "beeping" someone's "beep"? Who knows?
I really love the lighting used in this video; everything from the green lasers, the pink sky during the outdoor scene and the four vivid ominous lights that shine behind the thickening fog.
Overall, the best scene in the video has to be the sunset at :50 seconds. The sky looks absolutely amazing throughout that scene.
Addeboy vs. Cliff became international celebrities when they produced Adam Tensta's "My Cool" and "They Wanna Know" from the album "It's a Tensta Thing". They recently went on tour in Los Angeles and displayed their signature sound of electro synths, guitar and frequency filtering. Addeboy vs. Cliff are becoming one of the biggest names in Swedish dance music and production.

"Beep My Beep"
Artist: Addeboy vs. Cliff
Director: Mauri Chifflét
Production Company: Lillasyster Produktion
Cinematographer: Linus Rosenqvist
Producer: Jonas Mattsson
Country: Sweden
Year: 2009
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/addeboyvscliff
Website: www.addeboyvscliff.com
Booking: info@addeboyvscliff.com
Licensing: info@lightsout.se

This is the official video for the amazing remix of Major Lazer's "Hold The Line," from the album "Guns Don't Kill People… Lazers Do".  The video contains exclusive clips from some of Henok's live performances. You're going to love this!

"Hold The Line (Remix)"
Artist: Major Lazer (Switch & Diplo)
Featuring: Henok Achido, Santigold, Mr. Lexx
Album: Guns Don't Kill People… Lazers Do
Year: 2009
Henok Achido on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/henokachido
Major Lazer on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/majorlazer
Record Label: SSC/Mad Decent
Booking: TheSecretSocietyClub@gmail.com

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I really don't like this video. It's too American! Seriously… I love listening to Swedish rap because it's usually progressive, creative, different, avant-garde, and rebellious. This video just doesn't take me anywhere that I haven't been before. It's sounds very reminiscent of 2001 to 2003 Hip-Hop Club Songs and the video looks like something that I've seen before. Plus, where's the lyrics? Tensta? Eboi? What happened on this one? Lazee had the best verse out of everyone on this song. The whole record seems like it was rushed.

Now this is suppose to be Kartellen's big summer hit of 2009, and it probably will end up being their big summer hit of 2009… overall, it's probably one of the most marketable records that I've ever heard from Kartellen. I hope this record does really well over there in Stockholm. I just can't deny the fact that this record simply doesn't live up to the great Swedish dance rap records like Adam Tensta's "Dopeboy" & "My Cool"; Lazee's "Rock Away"; Paragon's "Aavisst"; and Henok's "Pusher" and "Can I". I wish the record had a stronger foundation of meaningful lyrics instead of "have fun and party". Freeway and Memphis Bleek already mastered the art of "have fun and party" music. I gotta hear something more progressive. So I'm just voicing my opinion on this one. I'm sure that some people will feel the same way.

I'm going to continue to support Kartellen because their music is simply getting better and better, I just hope their next single is a bit more thought provoking and ground breaking.

"Ga Loss"
Artist: Kartellen
Featuring: Lazee, Adam Tensta, Eboi, J-Son, Glaciuz, and MOFO
Director: Mikadelika
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Year: 2009
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/kartellen

Henok Achido is one of the only rappers that can perform without a hypeman. That's all I'm going to say. Buy the album!

"Stones In My Shoes"
Artist: Henok Achido
Footage: PopCirkus on SVT (Sveriges Television)
Album: Almaz Charming Child
Year: 2009
Henok Achido on Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/henokachido
Record Label: DLX Entertainment/Secret Society Club
Contact: thesecretsocietyclub@gmail.com

I'm calling this out early, even though the track is unfinished, and there's still 8 months before 2010, I honestly believe that when these two artists begin to establish themselves as two of the world's most popular rap acts, people will look back at this collaboration in the same light as the legendary 1997 Masta Ace & Eminem collaboration for Hellbound.
I got a chance to listen to this record about 3 months, ago over the phone; I still have no idea when the full remix will be done and released, but I know for a fact that it’s going to feature some pretty big names (you'll have to wait and see). This verse was recently placed on the new "Please, Hold" mixtape which is a gathering of some very very old XV songs such as Cooler Than Ya Boyfriend, along with some very new XV songs and remixes including this one right here. It's sort of a mixed bag for me since I already had 60% of those songs on my computer, but it's great for people that missed all the unreleased XV songs through the years and feel a need to catch up.

So pick that mixtape up, and enjoy the very short, yet memorable, verse from XV on this epic Swedish instrumental with one of the world's best rappers, Henok Achido.

Download: Right Click Save As

"Fly, Fresh, Forever (Remix)"
Artists: XV and Henok Achido
Producer: Filthy
Album: Please, Hold
Year: 2009
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/xtothevizzy
Contact: Xtothev@gmail.com