For the past four or five years, the commercial face of UK Hip Hop has been dominated by one man. Roots' "Brand New Second Hand" and "Run Come Save Me" (and its sister remix set "Dub Come Save Me") have been hailed as both a new dawn and bona fide arrival of the UK in this US dominated, and some may say mutilated, scene. The latter album even managed to spawn a couple of hit singles in "Witness (One Hope)" and "Dreamy Days". He slowly became the only widely recognised face of the movement, like it or not, and seemed untopplable from his throne, and rightly so. Over the past year, however, the rise of Skinnyman has thrown a new name into the hat, simultaneously upping the ante and proving that there is a market here for something a bit more in-line with our way of thinking that the multi-millionaire ghettopimphustler bullshit P Diddy, 50 Cent et al churn out. The "Council Estate of Mind" LP has shifted units consistently since it's release and gathered a good deal of media interest, so it seems, temporarily at least, a new king has been crowned.
Into this climate comes Manuva's third LP proper, arriving a good few years after his previous effort and setting the scene nicely for either a successful reclaiming of the throne or a glorious failure trying. The super-fresh sounding single "Colossal Insight" has raised plenty of eyebrows and Stantons everywhere (for a couple of days after being given a copy I listened to little else) and the hip-hip world, or at least our little corner of it, waits with baited breath for the remainder of the past couple of years' work from Mr Rodney Smith.
First impressions from the album sleeve alone are of a more sophisticated, mature Roots, and the opening horns and stripped back beats of "Mind 2 Motion" compound this with a noticeably tougher, edgier feel than his previous work. The verse, catchy-as-the-plague chorus, verse structure is still in evidence, though, and a certain 'pop' (for want of a better word) sensibility is evident from the off. "Awfully Deep" follows up, coming across as a serious pillage of old skool rave soundbanks blended with the kind of introspective vocal we've come to expect from Roots. Managing to retain an absolute cool whilst the beats party, and capturing the listener's ear with something beyond "jump around" rhymes isn't, I'd imagine, as easy as it seems. Kicking off with a clear two fingers to the tried and tested hip hop formulas, the air of a man matured is immediately evident here.
Thats not to say this album is too grown up for its own good, though. Sure, something like "Too Cold" stands as probably his most introspective work ("Sometimes I hate myself, sometimes I love myself"), and indicates perhaps a little too much time spent thinking about this ride we're all on, but "Colossal Insight", whilst being a little exhausted in outlook (at one point we're told "This may well be my last LP"), is so dancefloor friendly its criminal, and the North African skank of "A Haunting" is an upbeat, exploratory groove full of bounce. Elsewhere, "Thinking" is forward looking hip-hop is in its purest, bass driven form.
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Its interesting to note the variety of styles and rhythms Roots explores here, from the aforementioned Africana of "A Haunting" to the the tech Bhangra of "Warped Medicine", the twisting electronica of "Chin High" and the operatic backing vocals that pepper "Rebel Heart", this is definitely a man whose spent the past couple of years absorbing some new sounds as well as thinking about his own. I've spent a few long nights in recording studios myself and, for me, this album is as much about the production as it is the rhymes. In fact, in places "Awfully Deep" is absolutely nothing to do with hip-hop and there are a handful of cuts here that will probably be a notch too far outside the average B-Boy's frame of reference for comfort. But, for the casual listener or those with eclectic tastes this is the record's strong point. I mentioned Skinnyman earlier and it has to be said that Roots' latest is in another stratosphere completely from "Council Estate Of Mind". Two children born to the same woman but fathered by men of entirely different intellects. I found Skinnyman's effort a bit eager to tick every hip hop box, and fair play to him - the results are great if that's your thing, but Roots seems to be on a mission to do the exact opposite, avoiding every formula in the book and coming up with a new set of boxes that his peers will need to start trying to tick if they want to keep up with him.
Despite these qualities, though, I still get the impression we're yet to see his best work. There are many great sounding ideas and quality deliveries here, but, to me, it all seems to point to something even greater around the corner rather than make a definitive statement in its own right. If he can manage to take his previous three (and a half) LPs and condense them into one disc, he's sure to make one of the definitive hip-hop records, UK or otherwise. Until then, let's just pray he keeps up the record shopping and continues to lead rather than follow.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A3587998 for exclusive footage of Rodney performing in session at Maida Vale studios, plus a video interview.
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