Your reviewer has previously stated his belief that DJ mix albums are something of a mixed blessing in these very pages and to be honest, "Badmeaningood" does little to truly re-align this perception.
The thing is, your enjoyment of what is essentially ROOTS MANUVA'S (aka Rodney Smith) personal, hip-hop heavy playlist depends on your tolerance level for what is at the end of the day one man's indulgence. I mean, what represents a four course feast for one man is the next man's dog's dinner in these situations.
Nonetheless, you're more than happy to let him entertain you with some of the archival treats on display here. After all, your reviewer can only applaud copiously on being re-introduced to the liquid gold Northern Soul of Willie Hutch's "I'm Gonna Hold On" or the sweeter than sugar kane, Jamaican vibe of Sugar Minott's "Crazy Sound Boy." Even better, this writer would happily become Rodney's personal rickshaw sevice for a week simply for including The Beat's edgy, Ska-Pop classic "Mirror In The Bathroom." As Rodney rightly admits: "As a child, they (The Beat) were one of the first cool, credible groups." Right on, my man!
The resolutely old skool leanings of Roots' hip-hop selections here also go down smoothly, wth genius cuts like Eric B & Rakim's evergreen "Follow The Leader" and NWA'S "Straight Outta Compton" reminding why they both sounded so fresh at the time and retain a relevancy today. I can also find a soft spot for Braintax and Taskforce's "Godnose", with its' faintly ridiculous "We don't give a fuck" refrain. Rather like Shaun Ryder's partiality for Geto Boys, this is subversive fun in a peurile, laugh-at-the-teacher-behind-your-sleeve kinda way.
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Good vibes and your reviewer part company with Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Caught Up", though. I've always had little time for the Wu-Tang and related's offensive bitches an' ho's schtick and this sounds like underachieving, profane schlock to these ears. That people hold OBD and his cohorts in the kind of esteem that should only be reserved for the likes of Public Enemy continues to make my blood boil.
Sadly, also, much of the remainder is either innessential or irritating, too. I grant you Soul II Soul's "Keep On Movin'" still cuts the Coleman's, but a lot of the MC-ing - in particular Deckwrecka feat.MCD and the migraine-inducing Outkast - has you rapidly reaching for the skip button, while some of the other cuts are just plain mystifying. Let's face it: Freeez's "IOU" was always ghastly disco funk 20 years back, so why regurgitate it again now?
Consequently, "Badmeaningood" zigzags between the great and the gauche in the expected alarming fashion.However, Rodney Smith has always been one of Sarf London's more colourful characters, so this writer is usually willing to cut him some slack, even when some of his bizarre ideas - like the one involving bananas, Paul McCartney and an inadvisable dub reading of "Yellow Submarine" - read better on paper than on excution.
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