Fear of a Black Country

12 March 2010, 07:55

Having been brought up in the Black Country (don’t know it? check Wikipedia), emigrating to East New York, Brooklyn and then ending up in Massachusetts, I’ve had a lot to think about in the last few years. Not least was the evolution of urban music, British and American, and the differences and similarities between the two continental strains. I’ve been passionate about hip hop for many years now, and I grew up as British urban music went through many phases. Some of you will know what I’m on about here – I witnessed a very specific development, especially in Birmingham which quickly latched onto jungle and then 2-step and in more recent years baseline and funky. This, mashed up with hip hop, was the basis of my club going; sure techno and house were fine, but it didn’t have the energy or the swing I really wanted, and it never went so well with a Wray & Nephs. Now that I’m in the US it’s harder to see and hear the way things are going down back home, but much easier to get a grip on the state of hip hop, something that, despite everything, we tend to miss in dear old Blighty. It just means I have to keep up via merciless vinyl buying and Youtube surfing… so when Rich at TLOBF asked me for a column I thought it would only be fair to share.

E-40 – The Server

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqXk8Rl_nNM

E-40 is a rap survivor; the man’s been around for years at this point, has been responsible for some of hip hop’s most obvious vocal tics and yet he’s still never achieved the fame or status many of us feel he’s owed. Nice though that the man keeps on pumping out tune after tune, seemingly firing on his own creativity, operating just outside of any discernible movement or genre. This latest joint is from his forthcoming double album ‘Revenue Retrievin” (to be released as two separate albums – ‘Day Shift’ and ‘Night Shift’) and continues his maniac genre hopping fusing a chunky, skippy electronic beat with an African chant. As usual 40′s flow details seedy Bay street-life like an episode of the Wire, but the confusing clarity and cadence in his voice gives it a totally alien context. If the album manages to sustain this level of quality, I’d not only be very surprised (hip hop double albums have a very poor track record…) but I think we might be in for a ‘best of the year’, at least for me.

DJ Zinc – Wile Out

Firstly don’t be scared- I know Ms. Dynamite might not be the most credible name to spy on a UK urban anthem, but you should all know DJ Zinc by now. The producer is still probably best known for his proto-dubstep anthem ’138 Trek’, but since then he’s busied himself forging a genre he calls ‘crack house’. ‘Wile Out’ is probably his best example of the genre to date, with an electro-house bassline (anyone who had a bit of love for Wiley’s ‘Wearing My Rolex’ should know what I mean) shoved underneath some cracking vocal work from Dynamite-ee-ee. She’s been quiet in the last few years thanks to the usual label problems (has ANY UK urban artist not experienced label issues?) and family affairs but she seems to have returned to music invigorated and on top form. Well worth grabbing, and sure to be a fixture in clubs from Birmingham to Bristol and beyond.

Snoop Dogg – Gangsta Luv

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MuZfZDVbPI

Anyone who’s followed my ‘top lists’ recently will probably know of my unshaking love of Terius ‘The-Dream’ Nash. Referred to as Snoop’s ‘nephew’, Nash produces and contributes a syrupy chorus to this track, which is kind of ubiquitous with US Top 40 radio at the moment. And that’s no bad thing – hip hop and r&b has been in a state of flux for a while now, either pandering to the shuckin’ and jivin’ that Nas and Nick Cannon have called out, or simply falling into Mariah Carey territory. Nash has injected the scene with a much needed shot of adrenaline, and while he’s somewhat overexposed at this point, ‘Gangsta Luv’ show just why, giving Snoop the kind of 2010 heavy hitter he needs and accidentally writing another radio killer in the process. Then again, there’s probably nothing accidental about it – congrats on the new addition to the fam by the way, Terius.

Joy Orbison – The Shrew EP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p5nBx_xRZY

While he narrowly avoided being called Demon Albarn (snicker), Joy Orbison is still a little crack of humour in a scene that’s still probably best known for pale lads in hoods standing around checking each other’s trainers. Although there are labels around like Werk that have always taken their urban music with a side of slapstick, it is a scene that’s traditionally about as funny as Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. It’s refreshing then that there is a sentiment in Joy Orbison’s much lauded sound that really sounds… well… positive. From the track titles to the skittery drums, there’s a feeling that you’re being served with a smile, and ‘The Shrew’ is a perfect sunny follow-up to last year’s shocking one-two punch of ‘Hyph Mngo’ and ‘Brklyn Clln’. It’s definitely not dubstep, but there are certainly elements of the patented steppers low-end. It’s not garage either, but there’s that skittery beat the late 20-somethings like myself still remember so fondly, and it’s definitely not Funky… I think even with just a scattering of 12s Joy Orbison has struck upon a sound that we’ll be hearing many more iterations of in the next year or so. I mean, people want to dance, right? Most notable for me on this little beauty though is the inclusion of a remix from fellow Black Country escapee Darren Cunningham (aka Actress) which rewires the original into a bare-bones retro house number, all clipped kicks and Chicago-faced bleeps bringing to mind a time when the music was not only fresh but full of ideas. If this is any indiction of what’s going to be included on the forthcoming Actress full-length we’re all in for a very big treat.

DVA – Natty/Ganja 12″

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VIn-1Kw1w4

I can’t say I know a lot about DVA, save him having dropped a few mixes I have downloaded in the past. Do I know what the guy looks like? Well not really, but then I bought this 12″ on the recent form of the trailblazing (and oddly unpredictable, given the scene) Hyperdub label and was knocked for six before even getting a minute into the track. I suppose ‘Natty’ is squashing itself into the Funky idiom, but there’s a lot more going on here than you might think; referentially we have elements of world music, a slinky R&B influence in there somewhere and fuck knows what else in terms of the squelching synthesis. It ain’t like any house music I’ve ever heard, that’s for sure, and where Roska and co. draw clear lines to 2-step, speed garage and US house, ‘Natty’ is a much more slippery customer. The B ‘Ganja’ however is less arresting, working as a more traditional pseudo-sequel to Benga & Coki’s influential ‘Night’, but not to worry – this is ALL about ‘Natty’.

Young Money – Bedrock

I spend a lot of time these days playing the radio. I never did in the UK – there wasn’t really a lot that spoke to me other than local pirate stations (bigups to Kool FM, Walsall posse boooooom) so I never really bothered. It was a nice bonus then that on moving to the US I could get hooked in straight away to Hot 97 in NYC, and listen to the hip hop and r&b that I kept reading about on blogs and in magazines. Then I moved to Boston – no more Hot 97, or so I thought, as in the U-Haul on the way into the city I searched the frequencies frantically until I heard Lil Wayne’s familiar drivel. It seems that in most major cities there’s a half decent urban station, and since the end of last year every one of them has played ‘Bedrock’ about once every fifteen minutes. Coming from Lil Wayne’s famed Young Money crew it’s something of a ‘group’ effort, but it would be pointless naming all of the arbitrary members that make an appearance. All people really care about is the inclusion of megastar-to-be Drake and future hypestress Nicki Menaj. Menaj has the nasal tone and x-rated sound to make everyone assume she’s going to crack the fem-rap glass ceiling, but what amazes me is that despite all her stylings, she says absolutely fuck all. Let’s hope her next outing’s even a modicum more creative yeah? Drake might be using his Blackberry to crib rhymes but at least they’re saying something, no matter how drippy. Despite all this however, ‘Bedrock’ is a fantastic tune, it’s pure pop but somehow shows the way US hip hop has gone in the last few years. There are elements of trance (or at least EU dance music) snaffled from Timbaland, sugary harmonies straight out of R.Kelly’s secret songbook, and then the overarching influence of hip hop’s most prodigal son Lil Wayne. I’ve heard it a few thousand times at this point and I still dig it… so something must be working.

Pangaea – Pangaea EP (Hessle Audio)

Dubstep was surprisingly never a genre I could 100% subscribe to. Sure there were little flashes of greatness here and there that I really enjoyed (Burial, early Tectonic, etc.) but it was too slow, too plodding, neither here nor there. Was it supposed to be played in clubs? I went to a few early raves and felt a huge sense of disappointment; while it was definitely music that was meant to be heard loud, the sweaty room of moody lads didn’t do much for me. Then, it started to change – for one reason or another the tempo went up, and elements of other genres started to seep in. We had Zomby, Martyn, Untold and Pangaea doing things with the dubstep mode that for me made it a hell of a lot more arresting. Gone was the plodding darkcore nonsense and in was production skill, slinky basslines and a lot more passion. Pangaea’s ‘Memories’ was one of 2009′s best loved ‘dubstep’ 12″s and this crucial double pack follows up the hype admirably. Blending a mixture of forward-facing almost Purple Wow-sounding tracks with clubbier numbers, Pangaea has come dangerously close here to a coherent long-form release, something the scene sorely needs. The record kicks off with its most successful track: ‘Why’ blends a Gemmy-flavoured, soulful vocal cut with the production that made ‘Memories’ so damn fine. Bass, a chopped break, atmospheric samples and a dubwise stab that’s begging to be played loud and proud… more like this, please.