About the Author
ScottColenutt believes that hip hop makes the world go round. When not playing Mario Kart, or eating fajitas, he can be found here, reluctantly trying to force a career out of his scepticism.
Record Label: Sunday Best Recordings
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Taken from fourth album ‘Rum and Coke’, ‘Ganja’ is a reggae infused track which documents the experience of smoking your brain dry. Obvious? Maybe so, but the Dub Pistols were probably too high to care at the time. On board is UK hip-hop oracle Rodney P whose sharp flow rolls atop of the steel pans hypnotically, so laid back that it leaves the listener in a state of narcosis. This feeling is maintained throughout the track with subtle trumpet synths and occasional whistles of flute. This track is sure to be a stoners dream and a government nightmare. If you smoke, this will probably become a classic, if you don’t it’s still worth an aural toke.
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Rating: 7.0/10 (1 vote cast)
Record Label: Freestylers Music
It’s fair to say that in the mid-to- late 90’s Freestylers Aston Harvey and Matt Cantor were on top of their breakbeat game. They notched up hits here in the U.K and stateside, worked on remixes for hip-hop heavyweights Afrika Bambaata and The Jungle Brothers, released classic dancefloor tracks ‘Ruffneck’ and ‘B-Boy Stance’. Three further albums followed through the 2000’s but with less impact on the mainstream charts. Now entering their third decade, Freestylers have dropped the ‘Past, Present And Future EP’ which provides a glimpse into their fifth album ‘Calling Me Home’ due for release this summer. ‘Cracks’ has a great vocal break courtesy of Belle Humble, but the rest of the track is fairly predictable and monotonous, with the swamping synths sounding far too dated. ‘This City’ featuring MC Tali feels flimsy and cheap, with the piano riff sounding like a pre-set loop from Garageband and the chorus sounding overly tracked. ‘Bounce To This’ is probably the more imaginative of the three tracks. However it’s still incredibly dated which is exemplified by Will.I.Am clone MC Alaska inviting us all to “hold our hands high in the air and wave ‘em around like we just don’t care”. If you’re stuck in the past you’ll be looking forward to the new album.
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Rating: 5.5/10 (2 votes cast)
Record Label: 2000 Black Records
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‘Leave A Note’ and ‘Constant Questions’ are the first releases from New York based Silhouette Brown’s sophomore album. Since their self-titled debut in 2005 the production team of Dego, Kaidi Tatham and Bembe Segue have remained however there is a change on vocals with Philadelphia’s Lady Alma replacing Deborah Jordan. This is evident in the music, with Lady Alma adding Jill Scott-esque flair, which now sway slightly more in the direction of soulful hip-hop than jazz. Maintaining their offbeat sound though, with ‘Leave A Note’ boasting a head-nodding beat coupled with dreamy vocals and effects that leave you in a daze. The two minutes and forty three seconds are over so fast it’s as if someone slipped a tranquiliser into the bass. On the contrary, ‘Constant Questions’ seems to last an age, with a lack of structure and it’s one minute intro it starts to sound a bit flat around the three minute mark. This could be partly due to the infectiousness that ‘Leave A Note’ instils. This double dose flutters away leaving most I’m sure with a split opinion, but hooked enough to want to hear future releases.
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Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Record Label: Jam City
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The first release from A-Skillz’ squeaky fresh record label Jam City comes courtesy of production group The CB’s with Yolanda taking over on vocal duties. It’s a cover of Foster Sylvers’ 1973 classic of the same name, but to those of you who haven’t heard the original it will just sound like a Jackson 5 clone. Unfortunate but unavoidable. The CB’s have done a sterling job with the production of this track; it weeps nostalgia whilst still managing to sound modern and up-tempo. Though one flaw in the production is the hair-tearingly irritating background ringing from three seconds in, which sounds like a Nokia alarm clock. Aside from this, it’s a great re-introduction to a vintage track.
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Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Record Label: Bush Doctors Music
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‘Rockin’ On A Speaker’ and ‘Space Hoppa’ are the debut singles from London’s newest, yet mysteriously anonymous General Practitioners of dance floor funk. ‘Rockin’ On A Speaker’ seems destined to serve as background music to a car advert. It has that Chemical Brothers psychedelic feel about it which is not heavy enough for a night out, nor mild enough to be considered trip hop. Though it may be sharp enough to shift a few Citroens. Joint A-side ‘Space Hoppa’ is a more disco/house orientated track but it’a bland aesthetics -lack of vocals and instrumentation- will probably see it ordered to a dark corner in the depths of Dave Pearce’s Dance Anthems archive.
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Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Record Label: Frantic Records
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‘Freedom Come’ is a great example of the difference between inspiration and influence. Coventry-born Kenny Love takes inspiration from Reggae. You can hear it from the genuine tone in his voice and the message he is trying to deliver in his lyrics; trying to see the positive through the negative. You know that he has considered his lyrics and that they mean something to him. You don’t sing about ‘Peace, Love and Harmony’ if you don’t really apply those emotions to your lifestyle. On the contrary, somewhere during the production of this record he has been influenced by early 90’s dance music. The drums, keys and chord progressions are all dated. Though this ties in with the ‘Freedom’ aspect of the song, the production is so dated that it will have limited appeal to anyone under thirty. Hopefully someone inspired can remix this track and give it the justice it deserves.
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Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Record Label: Imani Records / Tri-Sound
Noel McKoy is no stranger to British soul. See, he’s been singing soul longer than I’ve had one. Therefore it does feel somewhat strange to be describing ‘Brighter Day’ as his debut album. Having fronted the James Taylor Quartet through the Acid Jazz movement, making a critically acclaimed album with his family and also collaborating with artists such as Omar, Beverley Knight, Mica Paris and Vanessa Simon; this is hardly an introduction, it’s fair to say he’s earned his stripes. Therefore there are no surprises in the fact that this album is simply classic soul from start to finish. So much so that it’s almost cliché. Opener and title track ‘Brighter Day’ is a vocal-explosion from just a few seconds in. A heart-grasping opener with traces of inspiration from Sam Cooke. ‘Great Big Gap’ is essentially a re-work of The Four Tops’ ‘I Can’t Help Myself’ with everything down to the song title screaming ‘Motown’ so loud that you forget who’s even singing. Unfortunately from ‘Special Delivery’ onwards, it becomes difficult not to think ‘this sounds like…’ during every track. ‘Fly Away With me’ sounds like the Isley Brothers, ‘Love In The City’ like Bobby Womack, ‘Jealousy’ – Barry White. This is a shame as McKoy’s vocals are unparalleled in today’s industry. His vocal range is incredible; stretching from his deep rasping on ‘Determined Man’ to the sweet spiralling falsetto’s on ‘Merry Go Round’. Ultimately the downfall of ‘Brighter Day’ is that most of it’s problems lie within its pleasure.
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Rating: 7.0/10 (2 votes cast)
Record Label: Immortal Kingdom
“Girl I need you, that’s no lie, girl I need you or I’ll die, girl I need you to make this right, girl I need you.” Hardly the words of a King, in fact, hardly the words of a five year old and that’s as good as the lyrics get. Nevertheless, ex London party promoter King (aka AQ Wolf) has put down his party poppers and returned to his first love, ‘music’. He really shouldn’t have. The aforementioned ‘lyrics’ are merely words loosely tied to an auto-tune drowned melody which are disguised as lyrics. The production is so minimal and linear that it’s an insult to any producer who has ever worked hard to perfect their craft. Sometimes it’s good to try something new, unless you’re David King.
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Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)
Record Label: Easy Star Records
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Since their last album ‘Pressure Point’ in 2005, John Brown’s Body have suffered the death of their bassist, Scott Palmer, and numerous line up changes before re-grouping, re-assessing and now resounding through reggae.With their new line up, comes a new sound. Though they’ve always been considered progressive this is arguably their most audacious album yet. Forget reggae revival, this is reggae revamped. The U.S band’s focus on taking reggae into a new age sees ‘Amplify ‘ explore areas of ska and trip hop whilst still managing to maintain a traditional reggae style on tracks ‘Give Yourself Over’ and ‘Zion Triad’. Opening track ‘Amplify’ touches on hip hop with a beat that wouldn’t sound out of place on an old Rawkus record but ultimately falls short of being a successfully crossover due to it feeling somewhat loose with a rap carelessly thrown into the mix. A waste of an opportunity that they have themselves created. It does get better though, ‘The Gold’ sounds like a lost tape from The Specials fully equipped with a great horn section and catchy bass line. ‘Sky Juice’ and ‘So Aware’ are trippy yet tender and fall somewhere between The Stone Roses and Massive Attack. ‘Ghost Notes’, a tribute to late band member Scott Palmer, is chilling but beautifully written. ‘Amplify’ is daring, ambitious and shines a light into new areas that reggae can be taken.
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Rating: 8.0/10 (5 votes cast)
Record Label: Roc Nation
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Jay-Z had almost everything before this album was released so it’s a testament to him that he still has such a hunger for producing great music. Having not just sat back and churned out a throwaway album that still would have sold based on previous success. Instead, he’s further cemented his position as the C.E.O of rap by adding ‘The Blueprint 3′ to his repertoire. Jay-Z’s business sense means that he has made a record with a mixture of tracks that will please everyone from the hardened rap fan to the commercial pop market. For anyone else it’s difficult to make that move without losing credibility but Jay-Z instils such intelligence into his lyrics that you can’t help in appreciating him equally as a rapper and as a music entrepreneur. ‘Run This Town’, ‘Empire State Of Mind’ and ‘Young Forever’ are the more commercial tracks on the album but are so well produced and have enough lyrical depth to make them street anthems. ‘On To The Next One’ is a club tune similar to Lil Wayne’s ‘A Milli’ and ‘Thank You’, ‘Death Of Autotune’ and ‘Hate’ all show Jay-Z’s versatility in flow and wordplay. He’s had more number one albums in the U.S than ‘The King’ Elvis Presley; he’s already the King of Brooklyn and now I shall proclaim him as The King of Rap.
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Rating: 10.0/10 (1 vote cast)
