Any album that begins with a large crowd of people chanting 'Swollen, Swollen, Swollen' is probably worth a longer listen and 'Black Magic' is no exception. Canada's Swollen Members have been around for a while now – 'Black Magic' is their fifth album – but, despite respectable sales figures, they have never really made a great deal of noise in the mainstream hip hop scene in the UK and, listening to this record, it is genuinely difficult to understand why that is.
'Black Magic' is an excellent showcase for the Members as a group; rappers Madchild and Prevail display some excellently constructed, well-delivered and thought-provoking rhymes, while DJ and producer Rob the Viking's beats are consistently strong throughout. Tracks like 'Pressure' and 'Grind' prove that Swollen Members are capable of that ever-so-rare hip hop product: a catchy, commercially appealing track complete with meaningful, intelligent lyrics.
The guest appearances on the album are very good too; 'Weight' finds Ghostface – with whom excellence seems to come as standard – boasting that his “cocaine is whiter than colgate”, and dancehall star Mr Vegas makes a nice cameo on 'Dynamite'.
Despite the fact that the album is perhaps a little too long – and doesn't really boast anything hugely original in terms of production style and lyrical content – this is an extremely listenable hip hop record and, with a bit of luck, it should guarantee Swollen Members the mainstream success they deserve in this country.
Rating: 3/5
Label: TVT Records
Words:
Tom Ellen
