SotD - Substance Abuse

Neil Gardner is a bit of an audio guru, being the brains behind an award winning spoken word production company. But sometimes he likes to retreat from the digital studio to listen to some music analogue style, on vinyl. This time he says indulges in some Substance Abuse...



Format: 7″ Blood Red Vinyl



Side A: KutMasta Kurt Remix – a superior slice of old-school hip hop slathered with saucy scratch trax and sensational street-level MCing. Simple but effective beats mix with traditional loops and get down samples, as the group lyrics and solo verses build biographical and compelling stories. Solid low rhythms pulse out with a pirate radio vibe. The purest form of traditional 80s hip hop – intelligent lyrics coupled with classic beats. So good to hear the KRS crew back on wax!

Side B: Original Version – a darker rap sound blended with a 90s hip hop feel. More aggression and attitude and a lower/bassier tone. With cleaner/simpler repetitive loops, this version allows the lyrics to stand out and you experience a more colourful vocal performance, stronger and more forward yet still underpinned by an insistent musicality



Finyl Thoughts: so old school they haven’t even built the damn school yet. Hip hop perfection with trad group vocals and solo break-downs – nothing but pure class!

First published on From the Listening Nook - Find Neil in his nook @listeningnook


Images - Neil Gardner