Nonwrestler Blog

Weekly mp3 #75: Roots Manuva - Witness (1 Hope)

Another jobbie from XLR8R.

I guess for most reading this, this track requires little introduction beyond confirming that it's the one that goes "witness the fitness". I loved the fact Michael Caine's character rolled around listening to this in Children of Men - makes abundant sense that an aging hippy / counter-culture type 20ish years in the future would be listening to London hip-hop rather than Bob Dylan or somesuch, and seemed like a detail that could be easily messed up.

London MC Rodney Smith typifies what I think of as distinctive in UK hip-hop - don't misread that as saying most UK hip-hop does sound distinctive - in that there seems to be a much closer connection between MC-driven music and dance music, plus the unmistakable impact of the West Indian / Caribbean population and all the musical history that comes with that.

Labels: music, weekly mp3

Posted at 6:00 PM