If you have ever peeked into the welsh hip hop scene it would be impossible to not know of Rob Picton aka Joe Blow a veteran DJ and emcee of the South Wales underground…

…with an involvement in the music industry that spans two and a half decades. Since his earliest bookings as resident DJ at Cardiff’s legendary Hippo club when he was 16 he has not stopped creating and making waves in the South Wales DnB, jungle and hip hop scenes. Aswell as also being a founding member of the Barry based hip hop supergroup Squid Ninjaz, Joe’s skillful and confident verbal sparring with every release drawing critical acclaim and airplay from many major players on BBC Radio 1 and BBC 1Xtra such as MistaJam, Ace & Vis, Bethan Elfyn, Jen long & Adam Walton. Mr Substance on the other hand is somewhat of a mythological being. Highly revered as one of the greatest boom bap producers in the UK with drums to die for and a workrate that can hardly be matched. Since joining Bard Picasso Records it’s been impossible to not notice Mr Substance with releases dropping every other week constant radioplay and an evergrowing features list that’s second to none. So when two veterans get together like this you know what comes out of the exchange is going to be worth taking notice of. And the fruits of this labour ‘Alpha Ego’ is out now on Bard Picasso Records.