Album: Roots Manuva - Slime & Reason

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Just to let you guys know, I live in the land down under and there’s no doubt that we here in Australia don’t get much access to British Hip Hop. Yeah, we occasionally get a Dizzee Rascal tour, but on the whole, there ain’t much.

With that in mind is important to note that the British Hip Hop we do get on our shores tends to be pretty damn good. Roots Manuva’s new outing Slime & Reason is no exception. Notching up a fourth album, Roots is one of the rare breeds of Hip Hop artists that have been around long enough to be touted as a ‘Legend’.

Perhaps ‘Legend’ is too strong a term on a global scale, but in terms of the UK scene, there ain’t many bigger. There’s a real sense of his Jamaican heritage in Roots’ vocal style, and it comes as no surprise that he has spent much time studying the likes of dancehall king Eek-A-Mouse.

Now, I must state that Awfully Deep (2005) is one of my all-time favourite albums, so I guess I will always come to Roots’ albums with a high expectation. And, although I wasn’t completely blown away, Slime & Reason is a fairly tight album. I love the uppity nature of tracks such as Kick Up Ya Foot and 2 Much 2 Soon.

Roots has mentioned that he was trying to channel the Studio One aesthetic in this album (lofty standards indeed), and he gets really close. Although there are a few weaker tracks, namely the opening stanza C.R.U.F.F., this album really takes you to a time and place. Essentially I was at the whim of the musician, lost inside the realm of musicality created by this esteemed artist.

It’s no party album, it’s just a damn good exploration of music, created by a true musician (almost) at the top of his game.

Available through Big Dada Records