Jul 02, 2010
Cappo
Ghengis
Son Records
In the mid ’90s, UK hip-hop rose to the top of the underground sound, tying in neatly with smoky trip-hop and dusty breakbeats. Messily parcelled, the sound was never in danger of breaking into the mainstream, but it did provide a path for traditional MCs - one that ran alongside the hyped-up nature of drum n’ bass and garage. As those two genres gave way to grime and dubstep, the MCs’ style remained mostly unchanged, but it was that music that popped through the underground and was eagerly swept up by the mainstream. Traditional UK hip-hop, meanwhile, stayed underground.
OK, so Roots Manuva played festivals and Blak Twang, Skinnyman and Ty also garnered acclaim (though nowhere near as much as when Estelle teamed up with Kanye to go global). Sway, Dizzee and Klashnekoff all walk the line between grime and hip-hop with Dizzee being the most prominent UK ‘rap artist’ around. Though 2010 brings heavy rap releases from Ty (‘Special Kind Of Fool’), Skitz (‘Sticksman’) and Nottingham’s own Cappo, is there room for traditional UK hip-hop to make an impact on its public?
Cappo has been around a long time. Blessed with a better flow than Jehst, a gruffness to match Xzibit and an accent for Westwood to envy, Cappo is probably the UK’s finest hip-hop MC. Mostly unheard of (unless you stuck with The Herbaliser through the years), ‘Genghis’ is Cappo’s latest effort to capture the rapture of the Western world.
Following hot on the heels of last year’s oddly titled ‘Spaz The World’, ‘Genghis’ is entirely self-produced and features no guest MCs. ‘Genghis’’ greatest strength is its willingness to stand deliberately in the shadows in terms of its content and delivery. For those that remember the P Brothers cranking out releases on Heavy Bronx Records in the ’90s, the beats of Genghis are predominantly dissimilar. Though Cappo enjoys including samples from mid ’80s hip-hop classics (as he does on the electro-tinged ‘Barcode’, the thuggish ‘Most Wanted’ and New York jazz vibes of ’Loyalty’ and ‘Turns and Twists’ amongst others), his eyes are firmly set on rhyming in the present.
Entering the arena with a live freestyle intro (as he does on ‘Spaz The World’), it doesn’t take Caps long to reveal his unique style as he rhymes over the atypically orchestral beat of ‘Complete Faith’. Interminably British, Caps comically spits, “With that extra fresh strength like Trebors, I give 20, hit you up for 16 more!” A moody piece, ‘Complete Faith’ provides ground to ably demonstrate Caps’ verbal talents.
The British Empire far outstretched that of Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great and Rome’s - so why the reference to the leader of the Mongol Empire? “It’s a name and a word that symbolises going all-out barbarian style and gaining international acclaim.” (Interview in Knowledge Magazine). Cappo is still way off international claim, and yet ‘Genghis’ is packed full of superb lyricism and thudding hip-hop beatery. ‘Gilgamesh II’ is just one of many examples as its pulsating synths exude a thin grip across the track while deep Darth Vader-like breaths enter and depart like a frowning riposte to The Beatles’ saccharine breaths on ‘Girl’.
‘Genghis’ is an addictive and breathtaking slice of UK hip-hop: one of the best to surface in a very long time. Listeners are advised to accept Cappo’s takeover.
'Ghengis' is out now on Son Records
