rescuing musical virtue in distress.
It’s the curse of our modern lifestyle. You find the one that you want to spend the rest of your life with but then gradually gravitate towards spending so much time indulging your own passions and pastimes that you neglect the one thing that should be most important in your life. We all need space but... Continue Reading →
It is always hard to find new places for music to go. That’s true of any genre but perhaps more so in the case of rap and hip-hop which often seems constricted by rules and regulations of its own making, shackled down by their own sonic chains. And whereas many try to find a new... Continue Reading →
The best music always has something to say. And it is worth remembering that all movements that matter, from rock’n’roll to hip-hop, from punk to grime, have been born out of dissatisfaction, restlessness and outrage. Throw into that mix Rockie Brown, who has never been shy in coming forward, has never been one to hold... Continue Reading →
I guess the reason that so many rappers throw so much clutter into their songs, multiple layers of electronic washes, unnecessary musical multi-tracking and all manner of sonic distractions, is to hide the fact that they just aren’t that good at handling the lyrics. Which is ironic for a musical form which is all about... Continue Reading →
If hip-hop and rap, and the myriad cross-pollination and hybrids that they spawned, were all about pushing boundaries and creating new musical worlds, it is now left to those in the underground and skirting the peripheries of those forms to be left holding the torch. As this once revolutionary genre settled in to a safe,... Continue Reading →
As debut albums go, this is certainly great value for money, not just for the 35 tracks that are found on it but for the diversity of music and the who’s who of guest artists and contributors who feature here too. When left to his own devices his songs seem to tip their hats to... Continue Reading →
Music doesn’t have to always concentrate on the more serious aspects of life, sometimes it is enough to dwell on its simple pleasures. In fact, music is generally better when it sticks to such a brief, when it remains relatable and fun, it becomes something that the mainstream can revel in rather than aim at... Continue Reading →
Rap music is all too often the sound of aggression, revelling in a belligerent, devil-may-care attitude and a celebration of, for want of a better word, greed. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Who says so? Muhlatto says so, and Use Me is a song which offers a response to such "use and... Continue Reading →
Idle Time, the debut track from Dolo Don, offers some old-school soul vibes as it kicks into life, a wealth of cascading strings and a rising dynamic before cutting back into a starker, more contemporary delivery which matches the directness of his honest tone. He’s a pragmatist, keeping his head down, not being swayed by... Continue Reading →