Liverpool braces itself for MOP

Image: MOP

It's been quite the year for hip hop in the city of Liverpool, in particular the city's Kazimier venue which has hosted landmark shows we attended form Peanut Butter Wolf, Pharoahe Monch and Ghostface Killah. Friday 5th December things get real rough in the venue again when Brownsville duo MOP hit up the club, and what a showcase it threatens to be.

Since exploding in 1993 with the single 'How about some Hardcore' (check out the video above, directed by a then unknown Hype Williams), Billy Danze and Lil Fame have represented hip hop and it's most grimy and aggressive, with critical success matched with commerical appeal.

They're remembered most for the two singles spawned off 2001 opus Warriorz, 'Cold as Ice' and 'Ante Up', the former soundtracking a toothpaste advert and the latter an anthem about robbing chains that was all over daytime radio, arguably two of hip hop's most weirdly brilliant crossover moments.

Over their career they've been signed to heavyweight record labels Loud, Rocafella and G-Unit, worked with hip hop heavyweights like Busta Rhymes and Redman, and even pop starlets Victoria Beckham and LFO, to create one of the genre's most beguiling bodies of work.

It's their association with D&D Studios and the king of the boom bap DJ Premier which excites the heads though (case in point the scintillating 'Follow Instructions' below), and their ability to represent the gritty underbelly of hip hop at its most visceral. 

This December they'll be bringing that thugged out spirit to Liverpool, with support from the city's venerable crate digging institution No Fakin'. Grab your MOP tickets by heading here or following the ticket box below.

Want to know what to expect? Check out our thoughts when we saw Ghostface Killah touch down in the same venue in July.