Opening Who Needs Actions When You Got Words are the two highly sought-after tracks, originally released as limited 7” singles – Kidz and Sick 2 Def – the tracks which cemented ’s position at the forefront of a modern wave of acoustic-style hip hop.
Graphically describing acts of violence, they set the tone for the rest of the album – a look at life in East London through the eyes of a young man who has
lived there and has developed a talent for transforming his experiences into heartfelt but modern urban poetry. Indeed, Kidz elicited an unexpected reaction when it was first aired on Radio One. Confused callers apparently complained that the track glorified black violence when in fact a close listen to the lyrics reveals that in fact the opposite is true.
The album, taken as a whole, is a string of kitchen-sink reportage, lamenting everything from underage sex, hard drugs and even harder dealers. Growing up in Forest Gate’s council estates and at the super-tender age of just 21, Ben “” Drew has seen an awful lot and with this in mind, it’s no wonder that he’s flavour of the month with the broadsheets, just as Dizzee Rascal was when he first landed a deal.
But an ordinary working-class hero rapper Drew is not. Sure, his lyrical flow is punctuated with x-rated obscenities but there are also some soft moments, in particular a sincere love song called Charmaine in which Drew admits he’s “fallen – just like a leaf in Autumn.”
What marks out from his contemporaries however, despite their mature and honest temperament, is not the lyrics. It’s the austere accompaniment of an acoustic guitar. This gives what would otherwise be an incredibly brash, perhaps slightly threatening collection of songs a welcoming glow that opens
them up to a wider audience, increasing their potential listenability and longevity at least tenfold.
Absent are the heavy, rolling basslines and tales of guns and girls that the uninitiated might expect to hear from an up-and-coming UK MC. In their place are some arrestingly clever stories and strikingly emotive melodies. “Is this Forest Gate guitar-wielding rapper the new Mike Skinner, the English Eminem or the hip hop Arctic Monkeys? asked NME magazine. I’d say he’s all of those things and a much more.
Rating: 4/5
Label: 679 Recordings
Link: www.time4planb.co.uk
Words by: Sarah Chapman
