Style 43

Toronto underground hip hop is here! What, no applause? Not that I think there are thousands of you out there pining for that unheard Canadian ish, but let’s be fair here, America’s northern neighbours do tend to surpass them in most other aspects of being dope - not bombing the shit out of defenceless countries and free healthcare for all, for example - and so there is no reason that they shouldn’t smash all previous standards set in underground hip hop. Plus there is the fact that they have teamed up one of their best wordsmiths, Modulok, with one of our best beat makers, Bare Beats. The result is a brooding lyrical concoction laced over some of the nicest, jazziest beats I’ve heard this year.

The album opens with a track called “Happiness“, featuring Jabba the Kut, who pops up on a few more tracks as well. Now the first time I heard Modulok spitting, his voice reminded me a lot of R.A. the Rugged Man, but then at other points I wonder how I ever thought they sounded similar. Not that it’s a bad thing, R.A. is a sick lyricist (in every sense) and I’d be happy with the comparison.

Moving on from that we have “City“, featuring Appollo Creed on the mic and Jabba’s second appearance. Creed’s deep tones work well with Modulok’s style and the result is probably the best track on the album, in my opinion. I’m a big fan of jazzy horns and this track is flooded with them. The next track is “Trouble” and features a whole load of emcees from our side of the Atlantic - Perry Scaramanga, Kal Sereousz and Smokey. Keep an ear out for one of my favourite battle rhymes of the year, something about Peggy Mitchell, on the first verse.

Now I won’t spoil things with a track by track run down of the album, as I think this is one that needs to be listened to properly to get a real appreciation of the type of chemistry these two have got going on. Suffice it to say this is one of the most interesting and innovative albums I have heard in 2008 so far. Toronto and London have found common ground in Modulok and Bare Beats. They are both skilled in their respective areas of the art form and so this is one trans-Atlantic partnership we should be proud of. “Two Cities” is available now.

http://www.myspace.com/modulokandbeats

Review by Fyshh