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UK Hip-Hop & Rap |
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Artist:
Stereo MC's
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List Price: £7.99
Our Price: £3.19
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Artist:
Roots Manuva
Given Roots Manuva's higher profile this time around, it was always on the cards that a new album might be a more commercial affair. But while Run Come Save Me is more accessible, it manages to retain the rawness that made its predecessor so addictive. When his self-produced, leftfield hip-hop debut Brand New Second Hand appeared in 1998, it was a clarion call for UK MCs to give up emulating US styles and focus on home-grown vibes. Three years and several collaborations later the renegade rapper is back with another adventure into wayward lyricism and maverick beat-work. "Witness (One Hope)" is a perfect example: an undoubtedly energetic and catchy tune, it ...
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List Price: £5.99
Our Price: £2.62
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Artist:
Roots Manuva
For a long time, it seemed like any sort of hip-hop that came from Great Britain was immediately labelled "trip-hop." But it's impossible to pigeonhole crews like Black Twang and London rapper Roots Manuva into that category--and sometimes it's tough to slot Roots Manuva into any category. Unfortunately, the production on this album is spotty, veering uncomfortably from the hopelessly fractured reggae of "Dem Phonies" to the live funk of "Fever". Roots Manuva's skills, though, are undeniable and he manoeuvres through tracks like "Big Things" and "Baptism" with a keen intellect and an impressive moral authority. His ragga-accented flow differs greatly from that of his Amer...
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List Price: £5.99
Our Price: £2.48
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Artist:
Roots Manuva
From his idiosyncratic delivery and leftfield lyrics to his rootsy basslines and dubwise studio tinkerings, Mr Manuva has always paid homage to his Jamaican roots. That he has always fancied himself as something of a dubmeister was made apparent on the dub version of his lauded single "Witness" (which appeared on Zero 7's Another Late Night compilation), but even before then he was remixing (as Walworth Road Rockers) Big Dada Sound's "Showtime" among others. Here, he gets to explore his "mixing-desk-as-instrument" ethos to the max, reworking tracks from his recent Run Come Save Me LP into spectral dubshadows of their former selves, as well as presenting a fe...
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List Price: £6.99
Our Price: £4.08
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Artist:
The Streets
So, what to do once you've pushed things forward, had a song and a little dance about it and sold the t-shirt? Push things back? Mike Skinner, aka The Streets, faced such a quandary following the comparatively aimless shambles that was third album The Hardest Way to Make An Easy Living which hobbled with neither a clear style or sense of self; a significant problem when he'd justified his existence on incisive social narrations, a unique voice and sharp musical intuitions. He was in need of either a hark back to the glory of his debut (2002's Original Pirate Material) or a full reinvention. As chances of him having enjoyed a rubbery kebab from a plastic tray...
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List Price: £8.99
Our Price: £3.47
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Artist:
Roots Manuva
If you've read any of the speculation surrounding Awfully Deep, you'll be aware that this is the down album from beleaguered Brit-Jamaican rapper Roots Manuva, a troubled work where he battles with the twin demons of depression and mental illness. Luckily, hard times can't entirely keep a good man like Rodney Smith down: barely two minutes into the bashed-up dub-hop of "Mind 2 Motion", he's already exhorting his audience to "Swing your pants!/ Swing your skirt!/ Shake away the hurt!" in an effort to keep the black dog from his door. And truly, this is a long dark night of the soul: on the excellent "Colossal Insight", Smith turns to God to save his sanity; on pi...
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List Price: £28.99
Our Price: £2.50
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Artist:
Black Grape
One of rock's most spectacular re-inventions, it was strangely comforting to see chemical generation poster-boys Shaun Ryder and Bez shrugging off the Happy Mondays' legacy, enlisting the ragga-voiced Kermit (Ryder's old drug-buddy) and returning as funk-splattered day-glo rap-rockers Black Grape. It's Great... is powered by those irrepressible Madchester vibes, but all conducted with a Hannah-Barbera charm that made Ryder's narcotically-inspired charms appealing again. Ryder, indeed, is on top form: "In The Name Of The Father" features the couplet "Neil Armstrong, astronaut, had balls bigger than King Kong / first big suit on the moon and he's off to play golf--ho...
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List Price: £7.99
Our Price: £3.92
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Artist:
The Streets
How do you follow an acclaimed debut in your own inimitable style without repeating past glory? The answer is simple--make a concept album. Mike Skinner's (aka the Streets) A Grand Don't Come for Free tells the story of his recent troubles and triumphs in a manner that is as much music-hall as it is friends chatting on the phone. The story is simple but the narrative is far more cohesive than a string of songs explaining the plot. His broken television, a pivotal part of the story is referenced throughout, as are warning signs that his girlfriend, Simone, is seeing best mate Dan behind his back. It may sound like a soap opera but is given added depth by the attent...
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List Price: £8.99
Our Price: £1.73
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Artist:
Plan B
A Brit-bred Slim Shady? Another The Streets? He'll be sold to you as both and although the Mike Skinner comparison is a lazy untruth, with his bold debut Plan B (aka Ben Drew) leaves the former trailing in terms of raw impact. This white boy tale-spinner from East London does owe an awful lot to Eminem, from the quick-spat-take-that fury of his microphone style (quasi-American accent to boot), to the bounce of his backing tracks, to taking the role of participatory narrator, devil's advocate and instigator. But every aspect that's been neutralised, parodied or packaged to turn Mathers into a one-man industry is exaggerated and left red-raw here, with an added vulgarity th...
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List Price: £13.99
Our Price: £6.49
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Artist:
Dan Le Sac,
Scroobius Pip
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List Price: £7.99
Our Price: £4.94
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