Tracklist:
01.
A Boy Named Su
02.
Street Poet
03.
Truble ft. Claire Roelands
04.
"Shhh" |
Boy Named Su are a five piece Welsh
Hip Hop act who are based in Cardiff. They came together in 2003 when one half
of the production team Victor & Hugo , (comprising ex-members of V Lloyd led
Manyana), met rap fanatic Alex Moody at a New Deal for Musicians course at
Warwick Hal Studios.
The Founder members, and creative section of the band are MC and lyricist Alex
Moody (alias Su), Nathan Rosser (writer and bassist) and Stewart Akkermans
(writer / keyboards). For live work they are joined by the explosive talents of
Adam Rosser on drums, and turntablist DJ Gid.
Since their conception in early 2003 a demo has been produced, and an entire
album tentatively entitled 'Witch Hunt' has been penned, including
collaborations with local RnB talent Claire Roelands and young Cardiff MC Troy
'CF11' Cameron. Dates are currently being played up and down the country, with
an aim to getting Boy Named Su recognised as the leading live Hip Hop act
currently on the Welsh music scene.
The CD starts off with the title track A Boy Named Su. The
sampled drums are heavy and raw P Brothers style. The backing is
sweeping strings and a rumbling orchestral mush making for a
particularly dark vibe. To fit in with this Su delivers real gruff
vocals which are typical in their braggadocios style. One of the themes
of the track is, 'what would living life as a boy named Su be like?' Raw
energy permeates the track, and as an intro to the group it makes you
sit up and take notice and I would love to see them getting rowdy
performing this live on stage.
Next up Street Poet changes up the vibe for a track which starts
off much less aggy, but soon the harsh elements creep in until distorted
guitars and feedback are overtaking the mix and Su's vocal inflections
soon get rougher as does his sentiments as he relates what it means to
spit verbiage on the ghetto streets.
Truble opens off with a Mexican guitar and the vocals of Claire
Roelands. In a way I'm feeling this more as there is less distortion and
more funk in this track. The Claire's singing and the guitar are dropped
for the verse which is predominantly a heavy bass and some open cymbals.
Su drops a faster flow and for me without the harsh edge to his delivery
sounds better for it. Like with Gutta I get the feeling that the
gruffness is overdone and a more natural performance would enhance the
end product. I have obviously become lightweight as I get older and for
those with some fight still within them should lap up the harder side of
Su's music.
The final track on the demo "Shhh" kicks off with some timpani
drums and sounds promising. It is, but not in the way I had expected.
This crew obviously have a preponderance towards a hardcore sound and
the imperative of this tack with it's Rocky type urging trumpets is
battle raps, tales of destroying competitors and alluding to his mental
instability. This demo shows that the crew have the skills and
techniques to take their careers on. They have their own niche and
should be able to cross over to a rock audience as well as a Hip Hop
one. Look out for A Boy Named Su soon...
mailto:[email protected]
http://boynamedsu.mysite.freeserve.com
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