JANUARY;

After ending 2008 with an EP release and a national tour the KP boys started 2009 in chill mode.

Big Dave featured in an interview on TV program State Focus that month discussing The Workshop program and the Raw Stories Ep. Click on the image below to check out a video of the interview.



Another notable event in January was the purchase of a bankrupt Death Row Records; the gangsta rap powerhouse was picked up by Wideawake entertainment for a cool 18mil.

Death Row Records was a huge influence on KP Rekordz and it’s artists but the news was also very special to the KP team because Big Dave’s mentor and KP Rekordz supporter “John Payne” took on the roll of Senior Vice President at the label.



The KP team would again like to thank John for his continued support over the years.

FEBRUARY;

Things at KP began picking up speed again in February with Doug and Dave returning to the studio to continue recording for the album Loaded Dice.
Other acts involved in production, mastering and collaborations were The Outlawz, Crooked I, Fatal, Mista Serve, N2W, Farq N Trik, Alienspeaking studio and Tarekith.

Big thanks go out to all involved.

MARCH;

Loaded Dice recording sessions continued in March and Big Dave moved closer to the Capital after around six years out of town serving time in prison and conforming to an enforced ban from Canberra.
It was welcome news to the rest of the KP team and our hometown supporters.
To check out a blog Dave wrote regarding his return to the area CLICK HERE

With Big Dave’s return planning began on The Workshop program, a hip hop course targeting troubled South Canberra teens.

Also in March the KP team began filming for a documentary titled “Scene Of The Crime” around the Canberra region.


APRIL;

By April things were heating up for the year as the recording sessions for Loaded Dice and the filming for Scene Of The Crime both came to a close.

We dropped a promo video for Scene Of The Crime in April and if your keen to have a look at it click on the image below.



Big Dave announced in April he would be hosting and producing episodes for the Jailbreak radio show on 107.3FM Sydney on behalf of his Behind The Walls project.



While things were going well for KP at this stage of the year they weren’t going so well for others around town and both our mates and enemies alike were getting caught up in violence and the justice system so Big Dave sat down and wrote a blog about the whole situation. CLICK HERE to have a read of that.

MAY;

As things moved toward the middle of the year the KP lads hit the stage again to perform songs from their upcoming release Loaded Dice.

Big Dave, Doug and Grantwho? performed two shows in May, One as part of Hip Hop TV’s fourth birthday celebration at The Roxy Theatre in Parramatta and another as part of Tappit’s “Out Of The Shadows” event on the Central Coast.

The Roxy Theatre gig can be seen on Hip Hop TV Australia’s upcoming digital TV program.

If you would like to check out some short video’s from our May gigs click the images below.



Dave also popped up for Hip Hop TV online discussing the Death Row Records comeback, CLICK HERE to read that blog.

Other notable news that month was the closure of the Belconnen Remand Centre.
Many of the KP team have spent time held in old BRC and we were happy to see the back of it.
To read a Canberra Times write up on the prisons closure with a few words from Big Dave CLICK HERE.

JUNE;

The first episode of Jailbreak hosted by Big Dave titled “Locked Up Again” went to air and included an interview with KP artist Doug.

The show looked at why over 65% of inmates return to prisons and contained music by former and current inmates of Australian prisons.
Since this first show Big Dave has gone on to become somewhat of a regular host on the show and continues to pump local hip hop on air.

Big Dave commenced “The Workshop Program” at Galilee School in Kambah A.C.T in conjunction with “The Lift Project”.
Running through June and July the course introduced some troubled and homeless kids from around Canberra to writing and recording hip hop and aimed to build self esteem and hope.

For more on the Workshop Program CLICK HERE. (video footage and more on how the course ran available in 2010.)

Another thanks has to go out to JP for his words with the kids for The Workshop program at the beginning of session one.

Grantwho? released his popular “Chhkk Chhkk Boom” bootleg on Youtube in June but after several thousand views it is removed due to use of footage owned by Channel 9.

JULY;

The second of Big Dave’s Jailbreak shows went to air.
Titled “The Punishment: industry the show explored the recent efforts to privatize more of the NSW prison system.
Click the image below to listen to/stream the show now.

Behind the scenes mixing work for Loaded Dice was underway through July along with the editing and polishing up process involved with the Scene Of The Crime documentary.

Another notable July event was KP Rekordz decision to sever ties with UK9 after 10 months working together as part of the distribution of KP’s first commercial Ep.

KP Rekordz will announce it’s new distribution partner in 2010.

AUGUST;

August began with the release of a promotional video for the Loaded Dice LP which you can watch by clicking the image below.



Finally after working on the Loaded Dice album and Scene Of The Crime doco for all most 9 months the boys dropped them both online as free releases on August 15th.

Since hitting the net in mid August both releases have totalled over 2,500 downloads and have also been streamed regularly around the web.

Being free releases we did not run any paid advertising (Besides a small add in our hometown music mag BMA) so we have relied on word of mouth and the internet to get these releases out there so a special thanks goes out to everyone who has shared a link, sent someone to our site, pumped the news on myspace and facebook, burnt a cd or dvd for a friend or even just spoke about it round your way!

Much respect and again big thanks!

To Download "Loaded Dice" CLICK HERE and to stream the album CLICK HERE

To Download "Scene Of The Crime" CLICK HERE and to view the doco online CLICK HERE

 

Still on the subject of the net back in August we launched our new Facebook group which you can visit and sign up for by CLICKING HERE.

SEPTEMBER;

September started well but then turned out to be a bit of a dark month for everyone at KP.

Post the release of the new cd and dvd The Illawarra Mercury (Wollongong Newspaper) ran a story about bad boys who have turned out to be good Dads prominently featuring KP artists Doug and Big Dave.

Tragically just days after the story ran KP artist Doug was arrested on charges relating to a robbery and was remanded in custody until sentencing.
You can read the Mercury article titled “Sins Of The Father” by clicking the image below.

Doug has plead guilty to the charges and faced several court appearances since his arrest but at the time of writing this 2009 wrap up he was still awaiting sentencing.(Dec 7th 2009).

For a video update on the situation filmed around the time of Doug's arrest click on the image below.

In the final weeks of September Hip Hop TV released snippets of it’s 4th season on the net including interview and gig footage of KP boys Big Dave, Doug and Grantwho?
You can view the video by clicking the image below.



BMA magazine Canberra also featured a mention of KP in September including news of the album and Doug getting locked up.

Another notable event in September was the first official release from the now resurrected Death Row Records.
The first release was a remastered version of Dre’s classic the Chronic with new music and a dvd containing a rare Dr Dre interview.
For a short album review from KP CLICK HERE.

OCTOBER;

Big Dave’s stay on Jailbreak continued with the episode “Rhymes N Razor Wire” going to air, this episode was a show about the links between prison culture and hip hop culture including how the topic related to Dave’s time in the big house.

Dave was back behind the mic again in October recording the first single for his 2010 debut solo album.
The single titled “Days Gone By” is another factual life tale from Big Dave walking you through a journey from delinquent teen struggling to pay his rent to days in the weed game, time in prison, time building a rep in the rap game and eventually building an independent record label.

Death Row kept things moving to with the release of Snoop Dogg’s “The Lost Sessions”.
As with The Chronic release copies of the new Snoop LP were available free to members of kokyprik.com, stay tuned for more giveaways thanks to JP and Death Row Records.

NOVEMBER;

Work on “Days Gone By” continued and R n B vocalist “Kitty B” visited the KP studio to lay down a hook for the song.

Dave also met with director Sarina Talip and began work on the music video for “Days Gone By”.
Canberran’s may be familiar with Sarina’s work as a journolist for the Canberra Times. (You can read a 2008 special She wrote on local hip hop by CLICKING HERE.)

The music video and song “Days Gone By” will be released in early 2010.

Also in November kokyprik.com was archived by the National Film And Sound Archive.
The NFSA make culturally significant pieces of Australian music, film and media available for future generations.
Another bonus is a copy of our site will soon be available in over 1400 libraries across Australia.

A big thanks goes out to Rohan of the NFSA!

DECEMBER;

To finish up the year the KP team has been spending December arranging the Days Gone By music video while the song is in the States getting mixed and mastered.

Filming begins on January 30th and we hope to bring you our first professional music video in late February or at least by early March.
Keep an eye on our site for more details and updates.

In the mean time Big Dave has dropped a new blog about a few things you can expect from KP in 2010.
You can read that by CLICKING HERE.

It’s been another strong year here at the headquarters and like every year we want to warn everyone that there’s no letting up for KP.

We will be back next year stronger, faster and even more focused with more original ideas, more original music, more gigs, more video’s, more true Aussie street culture and some BIG surprises!

Again thanks for your support out there, with your back up were showin em whats really up!!!

Much respect from Big Dave, Doug, Grantwho?, Dean and the whole KP team.

See you in 2010 guys!!
Dean.