Low-Life | UK Hip Hop Story | Dap-C - Character Building LP [Sin Nombre]

Intro

Early Doors:
1979-1985

False Dawn:
1985-1990

Underground Years:
1990-1995

The Renaissance:
1995- 2000

The Future:
2000 & Beyond

Artists &
Discographies

Dap-C - Character Building LP [Sin Nombre]

Tracklist:
1. Farley Jackmater Funk's Intro
2. A Lot's Changed
3. Auto Beatography
4. Cokehead ft. Universon
5. Baby I
6. I Don't Care Any More
7. Just Spitting ft. Universon & Dom P
8. I Only Smile When I Think Of You
9. Lunch Room ft. Blaze & Dom P
10. How Many ft. Universon
11. Wonderland ft. Dom P
12. Rock The Dancefloor ft. Dom P
13. I'm Still Here Dap-C - Character Building

23 year old Newcastle rapper Dap-C is a new name to me and he is set to be the inaugural release on the some time HHC contributor - Ben P's newly founded label Sin Nombre. After struggling to come up with a name for the label he settled on Sin Nombre, which means without a name in Spanish. Back to the focus of this piece Dap-C and I guess we should get out of the way first that he's spent a while at Her Majesty's pleasure after getting grassed up for a big fraud. We don't need to dwell on this, but it was during this period at the beginning of 2003 that Dap-C wrote and put together many of the ideas for this LP and so whilst you are listening to the record you'll see this as a recurring theme and Dap-C is not scared to speak on it. He has now located to Leicester a town which is awakening in terms of its Hip Hop output.

Dap-C has a very gentle delivery which is very relaxing and has a conversational element to it. This is especially brought out by the deep and heartfelt lyrics which are more frequently than not personal exposes of his inner feelings. Across a whole LP this semi whispered style begins to lack a bit of impact and variety of intonation. Overall although some of the beats really pump the feel is brought downbeat because of the lyrical delivery. Not to say that this is a failing at all, it is just Dap-C's style and that is how it is. It is up to you whether you like this or if you like shouting and major animation. I feel there is room for all styles.

One thing that is apparent is that Dap-C is not your usual MC, he s a bit of an enigma. One of his major plusses is that he raps about subject matter and doesn't really do the bragging thing. Of course his style wouldn't lend itself to that anyway, so he is sensibly doing what he likes in his own way. One confusion stems from that fact that he's blatantly not a dope fiend like most Hip Hoppers, but Coke is his drug of preference. Hearing this from the lyrics I would have thought that the tracks would be much more aggy and hyper, but on the contrary they are laid back and relaxing.

The LP opens with a mad sermon from old house producer Farly Jackmaster Funk, not sure about the connection there, it is probably due to Dap-C first getting involved in music as a Dance music DJ and bootlegger of old school dance classics and it does go on a bit. A Lot's Changed is a second intro a touch of a skit at only 45 seconds long. The first full track Auto Beatography is where Craig Dalziel gives us an intro to what he is all about. As the title suggests it is autobiographical where Dap-C breaks down details of things that have happened to him in the past and we get an taste of how he stays true to his roots. The track is dripping with emotion especially when he states that much of his playing up was due to wanting recognition from his family. Additionally it is interesting to to hear his accent and colloquialisms such as 'I am skill'. This doesn't make sense unless you know his background.

On Cokehead Dap-C gets into the mind of a Cocaine user and explores all the madness that can occur when you have a load up your nose. Cokehead features a guest spot from Universion another North East rapper from Sunderland I believe, now located in Leicester who crops up on three of the tracks. It is Baby I which is going to be the first single, backed with Auto Beatography, which is the first track that really grabbed me. The production is really sweet and the main vocal sample used in the chorus fits really well with the effected guitar. Perhaps this gets me because the lyrical subject matter matches the manner in which it is delivered. Conversely next up I Don't Care Anymore really gets dark. The beat features a pulsating organ and it is over this that Dap-C breaks down all the shit he has faced which has beaten him down and led to his attitude. He expresses that he's a victim of the system.

Just Spittin is a full posse cut and hypes things up a bit as the raps are delivered in a much more energetic style. A funky loop makes for track with potential to rip up a dance floor and with its very addictive chorus should have heads chanting along. I Only Smile When I think Of You is a tale of how Dap-C hurts during the times when he is distanced from his girl. The music box loop and painful lyrics will resonate with anyone who has experienced this emotional state. This is where Dap-C excels - exposing bare his feelings. This could lead to people having pop shots at him for not being hard enough, but rather I think to lay ones self open if the bravest route and he should be applauded for trying to deliver deeper more topical raps. The bare acoustic tapped out drums of Lunch Room make for one of the most simplistic tracks going and has a big feeling of a freestyle session recorded late at night. Dap-C kicks off for the first verse, Blaze takes on the second and drops a well thought out and somewhat different flow which he maintains till he stops. Dom Pistols rounds up the trio and shows that he doesn't just get nice behind the boards.

The chilled out tracks dedicated to girls re-surface with Wonderland where Dap-C whispers his verse over a great funky loop dropped in the mix by Dom P who also chooses to grace this track with his more normal delivery. The LP continues to switch between the laid back and upbeat more clubby tracks like this Rock The Dance floor probably the most jump up of all the tacks on the LP which also features Dom P on the vocals. For the final track I'm Still Here Dap-C possibly for the first time raises his energy for his delivery and doesn't whisper. I feel he sounds better for this and I wonder what the rest of the LP could have been like if he had taken this approach to more of his verses. The beat is heavy and makes use of some choice guitars as well as a real snappy snare.

On the LP there are a few nice beats from Mike-S and Kailbre but it is Dom-P from North Shields who cooks up some proper bangers. Previously having handled production for Fallacy here he steps back from the brink and hits us with some typically boom bap mid tempo Hip Hop. Not only is he across much of the production having dumped some serious midi data out of his sequencer, but he also delivers some guest vocals on a couple of tracks and I have to say it, he has a confident and more precise mid-tempo delivery which does seem to hug a beat better than Dap-C. In fact the main complaint I have about Dap-C and Universon is that some of their lines have just too many syllables in them and to fit them in they have to speed up and rap off beat. Additionally this also can lead to lines trailing off rather than ending with an impact. Universon also drops in another style which is really fast like some old Hiero or something like that. Whilst I couldn't deal with a whole LP of that it does change up the vibe of the tracks he appears on and being scattered across the LP, both Universon and Dom P give the LP variety and a lift in the required places.

So there are plenty of plusses when it come to this inaugural release on Sin Nombre records, but at the same time I can see things on this that means I can't be 100% on this.

mailto:[email protected] :: http://www.dap-c.com :: http://www.sin-nombre.co.uk