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UK Hip Hop: International
617 - Always (Accura Records) May 2002
Accura Records
617 with Tony Blair
617: Blu-G, D.R.A., Accura
Download Always.mp3
I really didn't know what to make of this when I first heard about this track. Featuring Tony Blair eh? The press says ALWAYS is the first Hip-HopTrack to feature THE PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR!! Well, it ain't quite like that. We have heard  how he likes music, or at least the Cool Brittania effect and I'm sure Euan has been blasting something in Number 10, but Accura, who appears to both be the driving force behind the label and the money man, has sampled both Tony Blair and David Frost to piece together into a collage collected from speeches. With Tony's increasingly staccato vocal delivery it sounds half realistic and is definitely a laugh, but the crew are definitely overplaying this angle. 

617 collectively are (in order of performance), Blue-G , aka Ballistic aka Fabian Lewis formerly of Terra Inc who joined 617 in 1996, DA aka Darkstorm aka Capital D and finally Ed Accura who is the founder and producer of the group and has a history in R&B. 

'Always' the track obviously draws on Accura's influences and is an infectious feel-good tune with a unique style. Tambourine Hi-Hats play over a metronomic beat that is lost in the bass line which has perhaps been filtered and lost too many harmonics. To complete the simple beat there is an occasional muted backwards piano. For the chorus we have the crew singing about 'Always making sure the crowd get down, and always getting down in London town'... etc.

Next up on the CD is a small interlude done as if it were a short spot on the radio featuring Jiggy and Dhunn which is followed by the original mix of Always and then the uncut raw mix which sounds a bit more gritty and perhaps less compressed. Finally there is a bonus track Adjust Da Bass which is really an 'Always Pt.II' rather than a totally new effort, and is to my ears a substantially better track, nice electronic highs make this track suitably dropped in time for summer, but still aiming for an accessible sound and not really doing it for me. Apparently there is also a special video to look out for as well. 

Contact 617:: Email: [email protected] :: Tel: 07956 186 049
Visit 617 on the web:
www.entertainment617.co.uk
 

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