I was listening to James Brown's "Sex Machine" when it hit me. Listening to James Brown elicits the same feelings in me as listening to Tommy ILL: I'm a little dirtier, a little sexier, and it's alright if I throw up a little from binge drinking. James wants me to party and so does Tommy. Tommy ILL, for those unfamiliar with him and therefore most likely puzzled by my confusing conclusion, is a Wellington-based hip-hop artist who lays down some enchantingly filling lyrics and beats.

I picked up his Toast & Tea Kettles EP sometime earlier this year; it's hard to remember exactly when, since it's become part of the family, going into regular rotation in my cd collection and regularly played on my sporadically played internet radio show. His throbbing voice goes deep, and he douses his lyrics in humour, keeping things fun, hence the power he has over my party urges. If you pick up the EP, you're in for a treat both visually and aurally, as Neon Sleep designed the visually stimulating car crash cover.

In my art collective and event planning endeavours with Makeshift, I jumped on the opportunity to have Mr. ILL play at the Makeshift "Nature vs. Man" gig a few months ago. Seeing his beats splayed out in front of me was equally (and then some) enthralling as his EP. To add to his live show, he's even got a hype-man to keep the energy moving and maybe to act as a farcical addition to his celebrity status (see,I’m So Famous).

He spreads his humour outside of music, writing a hilarious and often nonsensical blog called "beats, me?". for stuff.co.nz, a website with just that, a lot of stuff: sports, world and national news, entertainment news, etc. Tommy is a web developer/graphic designer by day, so his blog comes well-equipped with ridiculous images he's tweaked to suit his (and no doubt the readers) fancy.

Make yourself a gin and tonic, turn up Toast & Tea Kettles and head over to his blog.