One Icon - This Is Rap CD [Frostbyte] |
Out on the circuit now is their debut twelve track album which gets going with the piano notes and clubby beat of (Shake It) Like You Mean It. This is a combination of a of a brag rap and a track introducing the crew and their hardness to the audience. There is a definite American influence to the sound and the vocals, but it does kind of work. Harder continues in the same vein, but increases the energy for the primarily synth realised production. Goldie Looking Chain get called out as the crew endeavour to intimidate. 3:45 has a creepy late night feel to it and the emcees really flow well on this track which like the other tracks generally focuses on the abundance of the crews skills and how they rate their shit as sick. Right up to date Krysiz really get bouncing with the electro and 808 for Keys. Generally head-nodding One Icon produce tracks to their formula and fit into a certain niche. The MCs Obivion, Oni and Covert work well as a team finishing off each others lines and generally going back and forth in a practised way. This Is Rap focuses on the state of UK rap where they take pop shots at Dizee and state that they aren't pop and are here to make the music better as rap is their life. They also lament how they can't make it on to TV and note how M J changed up his races. Again the beat bumps along permeated by a deep sax and adorning horror strings, gongs and gentle double bass as well as an Eastern sounding horn. Halloween moves on with an acid bass rhythmic strings and a synth sweep with the feel of a slowed down dance track. On the track we are enticed to ride with the crew as they take us to dark places we have never been. Axe men slaughtering virgins are some of the violent images conjured up by these poisoned minds. Back Wit' Tha Mic is auditory pollution, a fake guitar rock track made with syths which to me sounds just awful. I didn't mention it so far, but one of the MCs has a high pitched voice which increasingly grates and this track on which he mainly features was too much. Thankfully The Stand takes us back to a straight Hip Hop feel. A well arranged beat pattern immediately creates an up tempo groove and the judicial placement of percussion along with the bass line makes for a bopping track over which the MCs can get busy spitting fire and thuggin on the mic. Memories Gone By slows things up, but at the same time brings out the keyboard nature of the compositions. Whilst the tracks are well composed and sequenced for me it is the coice of instruments and sounds that overall give this crew a touch of a cheesy feel which is only made worse with the badly semi sung chorus. There is an 80's pop feel to this and it wasn't really creating any vibe with me. Regardless all MCs have shown that they can delve beneath superficiality and on this track spit some complex flows and concepts. As the LP enters the final leg Life utilises a more live sounding acoustic guitar sound combined with a heavy set of drums. This is an observational and emotional track which exposes some of the MCs inner feelings and it is subject matter like this that is so much more worthwhile than the empty posturing that was perpetuated earlier in the LP. In the chorus a distorted guitar is unnecessarily fed into the mix and it is on occasion the over elaboration of the production which can let down the tacks. The penultimate This Is Me is similar to the preceding track in terms of lyrical depth and the way a great guitar is flipped. These last tracks definitely end the CD off on a high note which makes me want to see what these guys progress on to in the future. The whole thing ends with the slow and depressing One Week In March which borrows from Eminem as the emcees rap from the point of view of a diary of a kid who is a nerd and is bullied at school and tragically is pushed to go totally berserk. After this I was left with mixed feelings. When One Icon get it right they are definitely capable of producing some heavy work, but as a whole I was thinking there were enough elements which didn't connect with my personal tastes to leave me with doubts as to whether I would pick this up or not. They really did pull it back with the better tracks and demonstrated a lot of potential and the ability to knock out some professional sounding material. |
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Intro |
Early Doors: 1979-1985 |
False Dawn: 1985-1990 |
Underground Years: 1990-1995 |
The Renaissance: 1995- 2000 |
The Future: 2000 & Beyond |
Artists & Discographies |
Send all comments, suggestions, & questions
to: (QED) |
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