The Hip Hop House Vol. 2is a collection of music from acts that’s played Sketchy Beats Cafe at The Hip-Hop House event hosted by Werd once a month. Including a mix of genres influenced and involving hip-hop.
Werd’s ‘HHH Intro Bars’brings all kinds of gritty-grittyness with 8-bit blips and a sweet little electro sampling track as the opener for this consortium of tracks spanning many sub genres of hip hop.
Tickle is equally solid in their message about ‘Austerity’, calling out on some of the dissolutions of our present government; a small taste of Spanish versing allows for a lovely opportunity to play with different rhythms.
Big Shamu has a more introspective look on things, with soul searching and offers you an ingestible ‘Shit Sandwich’; the words fall intricately in between the beats and the tracks being sampled.
‘A Little Feeling’is softer in meaning, butThey Call me Al. does a little bit of reminiscing, some struggles, some heartbreak, some talk about God; emotive and soulful.
Still with plenty of feeling is Solenoid with‘Superpoly Techniques’,but bringing a bit more funk; some old-school scratching features, with classic brass as the backdrop to skilful rhyming.
In contrast to the more guttural, Scottish-accent boasting ‘The Rant’brought to you by Wee D is raw and bold, the words to beat ratio is really on point, bouncing around those quarter beats and triplets with ease shows this track is skilful and entertaining.
‘Big Balls’, as the title suggests, is gutsy with a hard rock backdrop by Devils in Skirts, but the adage of the Scottish accent in many of these tracks brings a uniqueness that could never be replicated from other countries.
Ripping up the lyrics G-Mohas a lot to say but the title ‘Uh’gives off a nonchalant perspective; lots of stories to be told and simplified to one word – it’s artistic prowess at itsheight.
While Simmons Is Old’s‘Love is the Lust’beckons similar sampling to ‘Devils in Skirts’ it’s much more grunge, the slow dirge of sounds that swoon in the background nicely juxtaposes the rhyming, which is like a rippling waterfall washing all over winding, bending guitar chords.
The variety of sub genres represented on this album is impressive, ‘Patrick Swayze Pt1’by Kid Robotik is on another end of the spectrum from ‘Steady Moving’by Blasfima Sinna X Konnsky.
Even the flavour of Scottish accents is diverse with CRPNTR’s ‘Couch Tatty’compared to One Oz in ‘Busweiser’.
While not all artists chose to place emphasis on their native tongue,Cherry Diesel sound a lot more like American rock/hip-hop with ‘Renegade’, the way that each artist has shaped their own music is a testament to the talent of Scottish musicians out there.
Spawn Zero’s ‘Price of Love’ communicates a reflective account of a past relationship, dealing with growth and life, while a much slower but similar sentiment is up next in ‘Bad Dream’ by DVS Gomorra.
There’s a mixture of electro feels in ‘On The Build Up’ by Madhat McGore, ‘Assignment’ by Ashtronomik and ‘Colours’ by Stutter Jack.
‘Hawd Oan’ is a different kind of beat with Guvanile ripping out super smart rhymes, filling the lyrical spaces with phrases only local people might get; lots of play on words cleverly used to paint a picture of urban life.
‘Battle of Mind’ is just as clever, with a more introspective message from B.A.R.E JokeZ, unlike ‘Money Snatcher’ that starts like an exert from some kind of early 80s game track – Young Brido converges these sweet sounds with a not so sweet story.
‘What Can I do’ has a similar backing from Zesh, Garry Fraser paints the reality for many young Scots through a keen use of beats a tone to set a mood that tells of frustrations a self-discovery.
The feeling changes a little bit with a flash back to some old-school soul in ‘Put the Mic on’ from Diamond B and in ‘How it Goes ft. Infidelix’ from Ironmaster.
This brief interlude is broken with a language shift in ‘Lament’ by Bad Eyes, again platforming the diversity and expertise present in this album.
‘In it 2 Win it’ from Sinister South is coming at you with a confident flair, lyrics are bold and set up on some brash beats; simplistic in form but solid in message.
A complete contrast comes next in ‘Introduction 2 Shifty’, but with equally dark content from Shifty Mac, despondent with the state of things.
‘An Artist’s Desent’ is a suitable end to the compilation, Deeko samples a soft little vocal embued with a sense of sadness placed next to the depth and strength of bold rhymes.
The Hip-Hop House Vol.2 by The Hip-Hop House
Words: Rachel Cunningham
Rave Child 