About a year ago, this writer read an article by the well respected Irish Blogger and editor of State Magazine, Niall Byrne, a.k.a. Nialler9, on the subject of Irish Hip-Hop artists. It took a “light-hearted” look at the state of the genre in Ireland, and the result was none too good. It featured a number of acts ranging from the dreadful to the more dreadful including a group of awkward lads singing about debt collection in front of a Subaru jeep, another few singing about Dutch Gold and Grannies. Others dealt with the age-old battle of ‘Marijuana vs. The Gardaí’.
The comedic element also featured. Naturally, the Rubberbandits headed up the hip-hop parodies, with the Cork-based stylings of Grandmaster Cash gaining an honorable mention (not pictured Dr. Feekinstein). Given that, in late 2009, the above was the state of the Irish Hip-Hop scene, we clearly had a long way to go to gain any sort of credibility and as a genuine fan of the genre, I was disappointed at the turnout. Well, The Bastard AKA Leigh and Blake, as part of the Exxon Valdes collective, have given a much-needed injection of credibility, creativity, and talent into the Irish Hip-Hop scene with their self-titled debut LP. The future of Irish Hip-Hop is here, as The Bastard themselves put it, “The Dawn of a New Era”.
The album eases us into Leigh and Blake’s world with the track Things Are Bad. The opener consists entirely of the infamous “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this any more” speech from the 1976 film, Network. This track sets the scene for the album; a dark, brooding look at humanity. However, I must get my one major criticism for the album out of the way now. I think the group relies far too heavily on samples taken from film. The first, third, and closing tracks consist entirely of movie quotation, the second track, and the lead off single, The Bastard, is guilty of this too. My reasoning for calling this aspect a flaw is that it shows a lack of creativity in what otherwise is an incredibly creative record. I can see that the chosen samples help the scene setting, but if the sampling had been a little more original, this would be near perfect for me. That mentioned, lets get back to it.
The first meaty song on the album comes with the second track, entitled Keep The Change. Big beats hung on a loop from Swan Lake power this number, the MC layering the dark subject matter on top, “scared to sleep, my demons on the lookout, the one that gets too close usually the one that gets took out”. The next notable track is the fifth, Down In The Hole. To me, this track seems the most complete. I’m not usually a fan of the whole Devil/down at the crossroads style of lyricism, but it just works here. The beat ties in so well with the vocals, and the synth in the second verse just makes it so funky, that I can’t help but get on board with it. Out West follows along in a similar vein to Down In The Hole, in terms of lyric style, taking a country/blues guitar loop and a distant saxophone as its basis. The growing darkness of the LP culminates thematic centerpiece of Memoirs. The spoken word track tells a tale of a man falling from youth and grace into hatred and age, “Night has fallen and the darkness blankets my mind, and not even love can illuminate it again”. The lead off single The Bastard follows. It’s a great track and an ideal first foot forward for the band, as well as people getting into them. The video is down below, and the LP can be downloaded from their Bandcamp page.
Track seven of the album, Memoirs, tells us, “F**k hope” and the speaker is clearly lacking it. I however, am not. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, The Bastard represent the future of Irish Hip-Hop and I can’t wait to see where it goes.
Drop-D Rating: 7/10
Published on Drop-D.ie, March 28th, 2011
The comedic element also featured. Naturally, the Rubberbandits headed up the hip-hop parodies, with the Cork-based stylings of Grandmaster Cash gaining an honorable mention (not pictured Dr. Feekinstein). Given that, in late 2009, the above was the state of the Irish Hip-Hop scene, we clearly had a long way to go to gain any sort of credibility and as a genuine fan of the genre, I was disappointed at the turnout. Well, The Bastard AKA Leigh and Blake, as part of the Exxon Valdes collective, have given a much-needed injection of credibility, creativity, and talent into the Irish Hip-Hop scene with their self-titled debut LP. The future of Irish Hip-Hop is here, as The Bastard themselves put it, “The Dawn of a New Era”.
The album eases us into Leigh and Blake’s world with the track Things Are Bad. The opener consists entirely of the infamous “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this any more” speech from the 1976 film, Network. This track sets the scene for the album; a dark, brooding look at humanity. However, I must get my one major criticism for the album out of the way now. I think the group relies far too heavily on samples taken from film. The first, third, and closing tracks consist entirely of movie quotation, the second track, and the lead off single, The Bastard, is guilty of this too. My reasoning for calling this aspect a flaw is that it shows a lack of creativity in what otherwise is an incredibly creative record. I can see that the chosen samples help the scene setting, but if the sampling had been a little more original, this would be near perfect for me. That mentioned, lets get back to it.
The first meaty song on the album comes with the second track, entitled Keep The Change. Big beats hung on a loop from Swan Lake power this number, the MC layering the dark subject matter on top, “scared to sleep, my demons on the lookout, the one that gets too close usually the one that gets took out”. The next notable track is the fifth, Down In The Hole. To me, this track seems the most complete. I’m not usually a fan of the whole Devil/down at the crossroads style of lyricism, but it just works here. The beat ties in so well with the vocals, and the synth in the second verse just makes it so funky, that I can’t help but get on board with it. Out West follows along in a similar vein to Down In The Hole, in terms of lyric style, taking a country/blues guitar loop and a distant saxophone as its basis. The growing darkness of the LP culminates thematic centerpiece of Memoirs. The spoken word track tells a tale of a man falling from youth and grace into hatred and age, “Night has fallen and the darkness blankets my mind, and not even love can illuminate it again”. The lead off single The Bastard follows. It’s a great track and an ideal first foot forward for the band, as well as people getting into them. The video is down below, and the LP can be downloaded from their Bandcamp page.
Track seven of the album, Memoirs, tells us, “F**k hope” and the speaker is clearly lacking it. I however, am not. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, The Bastard represent the future of Irish Hip-Hop and I can’t wait to see where it goes.
Drop-D Rating: 7/10
Published on Drop-D.ie, March 28th, 2011
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