Wednesday 27 March 2013

40: Yungun & Mr Thing - Grown Man Business

Didn't like the look of this one - the cover screams "Ernest" and the title is a little embarrasing. First listen held this out - all bad rapping and so so production. But I kept going and over time it wore me down.

The list is starting to get interesting - as the wavering 40s disappear - we're coming into what I hope to be serious territory. On the face of it this shouldn't work, for the reasons stated above. And it starts badly G.M.B. (Just Like That) tries to give you a left hook, but it's weak and flops when it should punch. The thing that this record gets away with, where others don't is that they can do cheesy rap stuff really well. Peter Pan Syndrome should be terrible, but there's some real charm there and it works. Then it's straight into one my favourites - Forget Me Not, which is really sweet, soul harmony production and some lovely intentions. It chugs along being good and into the stand out track: One Step Beyond. Heavy soul production, good horns and drums and Yungun raises his game and you start to listen. Good scratching too.

So this album is weird - it's not straight up club bangers, or the tightly produced abstracts I usually go for but it's something else. A mature record made by people with genuine talent. It's a winner.

Here's the video for Forget Me Not:


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