Let's get one thing straight right now and I am sure many of you already know this, but there are tons of dope hip hop artist who are not from the good ol USA, whether we are talking about our neighbors up north or our former rulers or just about any other country in the world, hip hop is world wide so it is about time my blog goes international. Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to The Hinderance, a hip hop group from England that features MCs Passive 65ive and Issuez and on the ones and twos ManOne. In an effort to whet our appetitives for their sophomore full length album "GoodAll" The Hinderance have released the free EP "Ape SHHH" letting us know that England has more to offer hip hop than Slick Rick. But what is the deal with this album, can a fan of "American" hip hop really enjoy the music from the UK? Quick answer is of course they can, music is the universal language but let me explain to you in a bit more detail the quality of this album, so here we go.
The album begins with "Intro A is for Ape" which features the song styling of of Tiny Tim and an ABC like lesson on the fact A is for Ape. (maybe that is too much to say for a 15 second track, oh well.)
"Sauce" starts quietly with just some every vocals before the track really begins with Passive 65ive spitting the first verse of the album. Passive reminds me Mike Ladd with a British accent, by that I mean, be ready for a flow that is not your standard cadence or phrasing, or even more bluntly, listen with an open mind and ear and you will check all that is being said (which is A LOT.) My favorite line segment of the first verse is "disrespect to the normal and voiceless." The second verse goes to Issuez and he continues the ideas of Passive 65ive at the disgust of the corruption and ignorance of the human race.
One of my favorite producers, Dig Dug, offers his remix of "Bizarre OH" where Passive 65ive and Issuez take you on a verbal mind trip, so if you are looking for rhymes that you do not have to pay attention to and can listen to mindlessly, this is not the track for you, or really the album for you. Actually let me take that further...this isn't even the blog for you but thanks for reading this far. So no quotes for you on this track...listen to it for yourself and tell me if I wrong about just how dope it is.
Now on to the next track, "Road Wrap" begins sounding like an old western TV show but with heavy drums as the story of Ricky, who I would describe as a suburban wanna be hustler, but as the gravity of the situation becomes obvious the beat transforms as Passive 65ive and Issuez reveal the somber reality. The words and the way the beat plays off of them make "Road Wrap" a great example of hip hop story telling.
What would project titled "Ape SHHH" be without at least one sample from "Planet of the Apes" and that is exactly what the track "Paws" is, coming in at just :32 seconds, it a bit of an interlude to the EP.
Original member of The Hinderance, DJ Hotel, produced the Issuez solo track "Child's Play." I'm always a fan of when a song contains mutiple references to some of my favorite entertainment references (music, tv, books, movies, etc) and this is one of those track and you know what, I won't tell you which ones there are because that is half the fun so just listen and enjoy.
Not to be out done Passive 65ive offers up "Doughboy vs Dr Manhattan," over a one of the most toned down beats on the album. Now this is not to say the beat is boring, far from it, it just has a totally different sound (probably because it is by a self taught Goth musician, Viktoria Matthews and producer R- Adaptor) and features some impressive scratches by ManOne. My comic book nerd self highly enjoys Passive's discussion of, Dr Manhattan, the character created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.
Issuez and Passive 65ive come together again (along with ManOne) for the EP's final full length song, "Mantra." Synths dominate the beat composed by ManOne, creating feeling of an upcoming robotic takeover or maybe just a great sound for meditation depending on your point of view (meditating tends to lead to me thinking of robot or alien invasion, hmmmm.) Both MCs open up their mind and give the listeners some create stream of conscious verses while making sure they doesn't wonder too far off. The album ends with "Outro (Jane Goodall)" in which, via a audience recorded speech, Dr. Goodall offers the listener a chimpanzee greeting.
Overall "Ape SHHH" does a few things very well. First it introduces you to the Hinderance, if you didn't already know them, secondly it shows lets the world know that hip hop is not a US only art, the movement that started in the Bronx has reached the world and wherever you are, you can find artists making quality hip hop. But what it did best for me (besides letting me hear some damn good music) was get me ready and increase my anticipation for their full length album "GoodAll," which can't get here soon enough.
Stream and Download the EP for FREE here
Your a boss <3
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