Wednesday, March 17, 2010

What SCRIPTURES do the STREETs produce?

If there is one album i currently have no problem playing consistently on repeat, it is, not an album, but a mix tape!
It is the mix tape that took two years to wrap! The mix tape that puts some of my favourite persons on various tracks and flirts with genres while still keeping its core target audience happy!

It's Street Scriptures, brought to you by the very talented, very crazy, highly respected team, Knighthouse!

Ill tell you straight off the bat that one thing the Knighthouse Family know how to do, is create powerful hooks. One minute listening to any of their tracks, and you probably have the chorus down. But are hooks enough to make a song?
Well, ask the millions who listen to ‘The Finest’ what is said in any of the verses, and possibly only twenty percent will try to answer. ‘Ijinle Pam Pam’, ‘Purple’ and their other pre-released singles work the formula well- killer hook , interesting blend of artistes, groovy beat (or, as i am really tempted to say, ‘dope’ beat).
But can three...four...singles and two err.... remixes (we say err... because deep down, we all wish ‘Finest’ was not remixed, no matter how much it still makes us shake our body ‘small’) translate into an album?
It’s what we sought to find out as we sat down to a relaxed afternoon, Street Scriptures playing!




Listening to this mix tape, i realised i could play a game- Guess The Artiste!
Knighthouse has only gone and featured EVERYBODY, his cousin, and a few of their friends, on their mixed tape! And they somehow find a way to find a space and place for each voice, in its own preferred style! So when you spot Modenine on a track, you know the way it will lean, and when Skuki gets on a track, it is to take the mickey and have some fun. You might wonder though, if one or two risks could have been taken; switching the styles and messages up a bit!
Nevertheless, Street Scriptures provides a platform (my favourite word) for new acts to get heard side by side with established voices. And this works well on so many tracks including, ‘My Thoughts’ (Mode Nine and Ade), and ‘Make It Better’ (Ice Prince, Mo Cheddah, Mobie and Fumbi). And when we say voices, we particularly loved Ayeesha on ‘Hate’, Sabre on ‘Number 1’, Mo Cheddah on ‘If You Want Me’, and Fumbie on ‘Make it Better’. While most of the songs were produced by Knighthouse, there are some other producers on the album like Tha Suspect, Kraft and Jesse Jags.
Another thing about the mixed tape? There’s a Jekyll and Hyde feel- there are the feel good-bordering –on-pop songs, (like, ‘If You Want Me’ Mo Cheddah featuring Sasha P, and ‘Purple’ or ‘Ijinle Pam Pam’) and the straight up hip hop tracks (like, ‘Before i Wake’, Kraft feat. Dj Klem, and ‘I Dare You’ with Blaise, XYZ and Terry tha Rapman!). This means if you like your music mostly soft, you might find some tracks jarring at first... but be patient and listen again!

Our favourite skit on the online version of the Street Scriptures, is ‘KH RADIO’. It is one of the funniest skits we’ve heard in a while! Sauce Kid and M.I also come through on some really cool interludes! ( We love Sauce Kid more with each track, interlude, skit, freestyle and feature we hear from him!). With 25tracks making the eventual cut, you wonder about the songs that did not make it!
The songs that did make it are interesting, challenging, fun, and entertaining! And we in particular have a few songs on repeat!
- Number 1
- Ijinle Pam Pam
- Hate
- Live at 51 (Vector? Pype? Hell yeah!)
- Make it Better
- I Dare You (Blaise holds her own and then some! Also features XYZ and the always on point, Terry tha Rapman), and of course,
- The Finest!


Congratulations to Knighthouse for giving a mix tape that does not rely only on the strength of its pre-released singles to entertain! There are so many other tracks to fall in love with on the album that is surely a hit. What is the difference between a hit and a classic? Time
And only Time will tell if Street Scriptures is just a hit, or if it transcends time and is truly a classic, collectors item!

Should you get it?
Mos Def!
It definitely gets the T Stamp!

And don’t forget, if you buy online, then there is a surprise waiting for you further down the line.
That is all i am allowed to say!

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