True story, to this day I still can’t pronounce Nephilim. If you were to ask me in person who he is I would probably reply with ‘Ne..ph..illy..Er this dude. Rap man’. Well gosh now that I’ve shared that secret confession with you, I really feel as if we’ve bonded on a special next level plane. Yeah? Yeah, so now I’ve exposed my soul to you, I hope you trust me when I tell you that this is a really good EP.
See what I did there? I came up with a really goofy intro to a review of an EP. Come up with a better and a weirder one I triple dare you. Pssh. Not in this lifetime mate.
Nephilim is one half of British duo ‘Think Tank’, and this little offering is his latest solo effort. You may remember that we’ve reviewed them in the past, and if you have a super brain box memory then you may also recall that at first we weren’t completely blown away. Think Tank as a whole and both Nephilim and SingerDread have always been talented guys, but if I’m honest it’s taken a lot of time and practice. Nephilim has never been one to take respectful criticism badly however (note that I said ‘respectful’, being told ‘you. are. shit. lol.’ is not constructive to making better art) and when things need fixing, or edges need smoothing down, he’s the first to admit it. Because of this he’s progressed as a rapper and now when I’m presented with his work, I am generally impressed.
Hoohoo praise indeed eh? Well yes, when it’s good and when I can listen to the EP on repeat a good 3 times over without getting sick of it then it’s warranted. The content has always been strong, and this time the lyrics show a definitely clearer direction; more time and thought has really gone into it. Although the track ‘GutterTrash’ is just straight up funny, because even politically aware MCs have a sense of humour you know? It ain’t all doom and gloom, or whatever those pop rappers would have you believe. They’re lying to you! Mans did steal your nan’s car!
What? Yeah, anyway.
At the same time I don’t feel as if I’m being preached to, because sadly even some of the most well meaning rappers out there have a tendency to drone on a bit. Yes, I know that the Tories are bad, yes The Daily Mail is racist, and yes I know that you are very sad about all of this. Me too homie, me too but if I’m just being talked at and not talked to it’s very easy to loose interest very quickly. Nephilim handles the topics of every day struggle in what I would describe as a ‘traditional hip-hop manner’. Does that sound lame? Bare with me fam, bare with me. I simply mean in the sense that it’s well paced, and solidified with good story telling and some good ideas to back it all up with. What I find surprising is that apparently Nephilim nearly trashed this whole record, when it’s some of the best stuff he’s done. Well I guess that goes to show, you’ll never fully appreciate your won art eh? Being an artist is such a daily curse.
I’m not going to leave out SingerDread’s contribution because of course he features, and I was really happy to hear him on ‘Weakend’ and ‘In My Eyes’. He brings his own unique style to this project, and it’s always good to hear the two together on a track.
Right, is that enough? Are you convinced? How about I tell you that if you like Task Force, Gensis Elijah, A.C and Leaf Dog then you might just like this too? Props I tell you, props. Also, don’t you forget about the artwork! Amazing work from Mr Benjamin Charman.
You can get your hands on this for free, of if you’ve got the money then a donation at the links below.
(Yes it I, Aimee. I have partially returned for this special occasion, but mostly because Stix asked me to and he’s my hombre)
