Hijack - The terrorist group

LokoOne

I'm sure the UK poasters on here would know Hijack and (hopefully) dig them...what do others think?

dukeofdelridge

I heard and read a lot about them before I ever heard them, mostly about DJ Supreme's cuts. When I finally heard them it was definitely too late. Hard to remember, or even relate to, what it must've been like for crazy paramilitary looking dudes on stage in ol Ingerland. DJ Supreme was ridiculous though. Great.

I recorded it to mini disc while visiting a friend in the UK. Probably pretended to like it more than I did.

Zero chance I'm listening earnestly to it now though. If someone prefaced it with a story about them coming on stage with UZIs before Ice-T on US tour, and then we only had to listen to one or two songs, and they were the ones with the best scratching, then I'm cool with it. That'd be fun. But as a current listen, I can't do it. There's a little bit of Tim Dog "is this for real?" shit in there though...

I do always say "th th th th the terrorist group" after anyone says "hijack." That's stuck with me.

Records_Recycled

Incredible group and it's worth checking out the later press of the LP that they put out themselves that was doing the rounds on bootleg tapes before the Rhyme Syndicate LP dropped.

Records_Recycled

First 12" they released and my personal favorite...

Records_Recycled

If you're feeling the above tracks then you will probably like these too :-

Hardnoise - Untitled




Gunshot - Battle Creek Brawl



Son Of Noise - Keep It Going



Kobalt 60 - Concrete Show




Yes Euroman rap....


:feelin_it: :hard_as_fuck:

DJ_Enki

dukeofdelridge said:

DJ Supreme was ridiculous though. Great.

This.

Also, this:

I do always say "th th th th the terrorist group" after anyone says "hijack."

LokoOne

In Australia (all US poasters can switch off right about now.... hehehe) Hijack and the whole Britcore sound had a huge impact on the local hip hop scene, especially since most of the local scene were writers as where many of the UK britcore guys (aka Blade). I first heard Hijack in 92-93 when I was just starting to get into hip hop (actually i think they were the first non US crew I ever heard) and their accents and delivery stood out and the uptempo hard beats. Gunshot, Blade, Katch 22, Silver Bullet etc all had a massive following with local heads. I also always had an inclination to think the brit core sound had some influence on the early drum and bass/jungle scene (but thats just an opinion).

I think one of the Hijack guys (or more) got invovled in the rave scene in the UK and there was a popular rave song around here in the mid 90s that sampled their 'pow, automatic, feel the panic gots to have it' (which at the time all us holier than thou bboys thought was sacriligeous)


My anedote- Around 95, me and my mate that put me onto Hijack (and made me a copy of his dub of their album) while digging found a copy of the album on vinyl, and since he had the money at the time he bought it. For years he would brag about the score and I always gave him shit about beating me to the punch . A few months ago he sold all his dj equipment and record collection but pulled the Hijack album out of the lot and gave it to me, so Ive been playing it on a reminicing tip. It has some dated moments but I think it still holds it own. The only thing I cringe at is the overt RS dick riding. From what I heard the LP never even got released in the US locally, so the story behind all that would be interesting.

If half of what was said about their live shows is true then they are one group I wish I could have seen live at their peak.

also, one of the dopest album covers

MR_ZIMMS

Saw them way back with ICE T here in Rotterdam, Holland. Dude was dead serious & Supreme was awesome. Never forgot how short their show was....
And also, don't forget the Demon Boyz. Warmed them up by playing classic tunes in Nighttown, Rotterdam in the mid '90's as they made a comeback and they still sounded as fresh as their first album.

disco_che

LokoOne said:

In Australia (all US poasters can switch off right about now.... hehehe) Hijack and the whole Britcore sound had a huge impact on the local hip hop scene, especially since most of the local scene were writers as where many of the UK britcore guys (aka Blade). I first heard Hijack in 92-93 when I was just starting to get into hip hop (actually i think they were the first non US crew I ever heard) and their accents and delivery stood out and the uptempo hard beats. Gunshot, Blade, Katch 22, Silver Bullet etc all had a massive following with local heads.

Funny, I always thought all these Britcore groups were only recognized in the UK and in Northern Europe. What you describe happenend the same way with me in Hamburg, Northern Germany. Hijack was one of the first rap gruops I heard besides RUN DMC, Public Enemy and 2 Live Crew and they had an huge impact on me. As a 14 year old I was deeply impressed by the roughness and "hardcore attitude". Also loved the lightspeed cuts by Supreme. When the album came out I copped it on vinyl. Loved the cover artwork too. Easy to impress a teenager with gas masks and bowie knifes. I still hold the album dear while most of my other britcore records changed to the lower sections of thee Expedit. Around 1992-1996 Britcore was huge in Hamburg and other nothern cities. More than half of the groups on Hip Hop Jams where either from britain or were copying the sound. Moshpits where nothing unusual on rap concerts then. First time I heard Britcore was also celebrated in Australia.

Downstroke

Hijack fans, prepare to shit your pants! I've heard it on the underground grapevine that they have reformed and are recording again (sadly without Dj Supreme who now resides in Swizerland and hasn't reconciled with Kimanchi Sly to my knowledge).

I always was a huge fan of these dudes since I first heard Style Wars. This dropped just a bit after Public Enemy No1 came out, and they were accused of biting for using the Blow Your Head intro, but nobody could deny the pure ruggedness of that track.

There were so many urban myths about the group doing the rounds before the album came out. I had a dub of the album from my boy a good 2 years before it got released, but when it was finally released, a lot of the momentum was sadly lost. It was a real shame cos these guys were so hardcore and uncompromising, and one of the very few UK groups who a London crowd would actually show love to. The whole Britcore thing that followed did put off a lot of domestic UK hip hop fans, and there is definitely a link between it and harcore/jungle. A hell of a lot of MC's and producers jumped ship round about 91-93, something that seems to happen frequently in UK Hip Hop circles when a new sub-genre emerges.

My Hijack anecdote is once I was DJing a house party in Brighton round 94 where we had this conservatory set up as a DJ booth. I was in there doing my thing and this dude with a big blow out afro came in there and was bopping away behind me, throwing loads of hand gestures and just getting down. I was sure I had seen this dude before but couldn't put my finger on it until he came up to me and said in the most distinctive voice in the world "you know the Hijackers are in the house!" Holy shit, it was Kimanchi Sly! I was suddenly overcome with nerves because dude was in my top 10 period, and it might as well have been Chuck D giving me props. Anyway, I got it together, played probably one of the dopest sets I ever did, and chatted at length with dude. He then became a fairly regular fixture at parties I was DJing back then, and I remember him blagging me and a friend at the door of various clubs saying we were his two DJs, Undercover and Supreme. I fell off the radar a bit after this for a while and haven't seen him since, but he did release a couple of decent 12"s nearly 10 years ago (as well as doing that dodgy Pied Piper UK Garage anthem!).

Delay

Downstroke said:

Hijack fans, prepare to shit your pants! I've heard it on the underground grapevine that they have reformed and are recording again (sadly without Dj Supreme who now resides in Swizerland and hasn't reconciled with Kimanchi Sly to my knowledge).

I always was a huge fan of these dudes since I first heard Style Wars. This dropped just a bit after Public Enemy No1 came out, and they were accused of biting for using the Blow Your Head intro, but nobody could deny the pure ruggedness of that track.

There were so many urban myths about the group doing the rounds before the album came out. I had a dub of the album from my boy a good 2 years before it got released, but when it was finally released, a lot of the momentum was sadly lost. It was a real shame cos these guys were so hardcore and uncompromising, and one of the very few UK groups who a London crowd would actually show love to. The whole Britcore thing that followed did put off a lot of domestic UK hip hop fans, and there is definitely a link between it and harcore/jungle. A hell of a lot of MC's and producers jumped ship round about 91-93, something that seems to happen frequently in UK Hip Hop circles when a new sub-genre emerges.

My Hijack anecdote is once I was DJing a house party in Brighton round 94 where we had this conservatory set up as a DJ booth. I was in there doing my thing and this dude with a big blow out afro came in there and was bopping away behind me, throwing loads of hand gestures and just getting down. I was sure I had seen this dude before but couldn't put my finger on it until he came up to me and said in the most distinctive voice in the world "you know the Hijackers are in the house!" Holy shit, it was Kimanchi Sly! I was suddenly overcome with nerves because dude was in my top 10 period, and it might as well have been Chuck D giving me props. Anyway, I got it together, played probably one of the dopest sets I ever did, and chatted at length with dude. He then became a fairly regular fixture at parties I was DJing back then, and I remember him blagging me and a friend at the door of various clubs saying we were his two DJs, Undercover and Supreme. I fell off the radar a bit after this for a while and haven't seen him since, but he did release a couple of decent 12"s nearly 10 years ago (as well as doing that dodgy Pied Piper UK Garage anthem!).

that shit's corny.

i met supreme in zurich. nice guy.

co-sign on hardnoise... the instrumental at least

spc

They were in a league of their own with that uptempo sound, together with Blade and Gunshot, I stil get goosebumps when I hear "Airwave Hijack".

DocMcCoy

I used to know Ronnie and Vince (Kamanchi and DJ Undercover) back in the 90s, and helped them out with a few things when I was working at MCPS. They'd got their masters & publishing back at the very point where there was a whole slew of rave/house tunes kicking around that had sampled The Badman Is Robbin' and Horns Of Jericho, so they did pretty nicely out of that.

They also produced and wrote the rhymes for this - that's them mugging near the beginning of the vid. I remember speaking to Ronnie about it, and said to him, "You did that for the money, right?" They did, and they made a good few quid out of it too, but they also did it because they're Man United fans, which was a source of intense disappointment to me personally.

Spacecho

I love their names - even their extended crew had great names. Personal favorite is "Insane Macbeth". Great stuff.

I found some of the lyrics unintentionally funny but the good always outweighed the bad for me.

Another favourite song of theirs is 'Daddy Rich' - one of those rap tracks where the r&b vocals fit the mood beautifully.

Don't go with strangers.

Menacetosobriety

Menacetosobriety

Menacetosobriety

Huntkillburyfinn's youtube channel is a goldmine

Menacetosobriety

an all time favourite

LokoOne

I have heard and dug some of the new Kamanchi Sly stuff but I didnt really dig the Mr Pink/Mr Blonde stuff they did in the late 90s...

One song of the Lp that is more relevant to me these days than when I was a teenager is Dont Go With Strangers, as I have kids in my life now so when i hear the song recently it had a whole different feel to me...

It would make a great (and scary) PSA record to play to school kids to warn them about stranger danger. I can even picture the Hijack crew in full regalia attending schools and giving safety lectures...hehehe

And I love Kamanchi Sly like everyone else but always thought Ulysses could hold his own. Wonder what happened to him?

"I appear, disappear, reappear...where? On the chandelier!"

And also this.....

LokoOne

I found an online stream of the Dj Supreme Hijack doco Turntable Trixters...

http://undergroundstrikesback.blogspot.com/2008/04/turntable-trixters.html

LokoOne

doble post