“Man of Gwent” – ‘Best Of’/Primer 2 Volume Collection available now
Initially planned for release in November 2021, the move to Bandcamp for digital distribution of back catalogue items, had delayed the release but just in time to serve it’s original purpose as a primer for people listening to the latest release, but of interest to anyone who enjoys Mink’s style (as lets face it, it never really changes too dramatically!) as well as containing some curio’s even for people sick to the back teeth of hearing from a old, fat, full-of-himself Welsh MC.
Either way, it’s now available for download from the official Bandcamp portal at :
https://mink-c.bandcamp.com/music
The good news is both volume 1 and 2 are completely free of charge to either download or stream online. Please note that this collection can only be streamed from Bandcamp and will NOT be available on general streaming sites.
The even better news is that for that £0, you receive a massive 40 track spanning the previous five albums (plus the unreleased ‘Dark & Deadly), as well as unreleased tracks, promos, featured battle tracks and even one brand new track that didn’t quite make the upcoming album. The breakdown is as follows, understanding that the bias towards ‘Blue Oval Sessions’ is due to that album being essentially released with zero marketing or fanfare, so given it’s a strong album, it felt right to give those tracks a bit more of a plug! :
- Tracks from Dark & Deadly (currently unavailable) : 2 (What if I fell off?, More the S than the M)
- Tracks from Prime Minkster : 5 (Prime Minkster, This is Not a Club Song, Rorschach, Michelles Song, Out Tha Box)
- Tracks from Prince of Wales : 5 (Mad Menu Maniac, Momma Didn’t Raise No Bitch, Son of Glyndwr, Blue Skies, Officer Friendly)
- Tracks from British Shit Kicker : 6 (Hit ‘Em For Six, Rhyme & Reason, Newport To Nottingham, PCP, The Entertainer, British Shit Kicker)
- Tracks from Blue Oval Sessions : 8 (They Call Me The Mink-C, Mathematics (ft Funda), Tank Full O’Four Star, Rappin’ Assed Bastards (ft Higgies Balls), Heard These Guys (ft Duckman), Ebony, Chapter One, Candyman (although this is a slightly changed version of Candyman, mixed into the intro for the album and also with a very unsubtle correction of an error at the end of the original track – you won’t spot it, errrr….)
- Tracks from Welsh Ninjitsu : 1 (track Adventures of a Masterspy pulled from streaming release. This compilation covers UP UNTIL this album which is why no regular tracks from WN are on the compilation. You’ll have to wait for Volume 3, listen on the major streaming sites or stump up £7 I’m afraid!)
- Battle Tracks : 4 (Battles vs Darkstar, Grymm, Skel and Barcs included, however the Barcs ‘track’ is actually the 3 tournament final tracks, so really the total number is 6!)
- Previously Unreleased : 9 – Which are The DooDoo Wop (Cover of LL Cool J song ‘The DoWop’), Singalonganminksta (a medly of short guest verses on various collabs and ciphers, And yes, I know one is repeated twice – it’s an extended chorus! ahem), Love Hip Hop (Promo track for British Shit Kicker release), Water (Fantastic story of New Orleans during the floods, never quite thematically sat with any album), Hadron Collider (a track after WN was released but was slated for inclusion – with revised lyrics – on the upcoming album however was dropped in favour of new songs that fit the theme much closer and the original released here), Free Saddam (ft IBS) (Well known song which for some inexplicable reason, never found it onto an album), Love For Real (same era as Hadron Collider – ie post Welsh Ninjitsu – this is actually the second version as contains a better structure with a hook – eeek a sung one!), Minkology (an oldie but goodie topical competition entry with a very un hip-hop theme!) and finally Stressed Festivities (Old track from HHC days that was going to be re-recorded and released as a xmas single until Covid did it’s thing – a number of other tracks from this time such as Highstreet state of mind and Hymn for the Prozac Generation couldn’t be justified this time, but may make it only a volume 3)
Enjoy the compilation, and please support the release of the new album in the coming months.