Roots Manuva Album: “Brand New Second Hand”

Roots Manuva - "Brand New Second Hand": Roots Manuva (aka "Rodney smith"), has managed to crave out something of a niche following for himself in the UK, since this his 1999 Debut "Brand New Second Hand", a supremely talent Rapper/Producer, who's intriguing take on UK life, through a distinctly Jamaican ideals and mentality, have garnered him various awards in the UK press (and narrowly missing a 'Mercury Music' award) . Unfortunately for him, the UK hip-hop market, just isn't anywhere near as big as it's US equivalent, and so, his albums (all critically appladed), just haven't managed to translate into significant sales. But please don't let that stop you from picking up this album for one of the UK's most incisive and distinctive voices.

One of the main appeals of Roots Manuva's work, isn't just the swaggering beats or the distinctly original approach to production, which is a mixture of swaggering rhythms, hard-edged beats, syncopated percussion, a strong tendency toward dubwise beats, bottomless bass and reverberating vibes, or oddball squelches and aggressive sounds and energetic thumps. It's that it owes as much to: Ragga, Dancehall, Electronica, & Dub, as it does U.K. Hip-Hop, and although there's a strong element of bass heavy sounds, it's the diversity and ingenuity of production throughout the album that immediately impresses.

but as hugely impressive as the production sides of things are, it also equally as much to do with the fact that he is a distinctly impressive lyricist/Vocalist. One that sees things from a decidedly UK urban standpoint, throwing his thoughts, views, ideas over a great many social concerns / injustices / inequality, and yet is able to command a presence and strength in his persona, that transcends his contemporaries, and pushes him into a field of of his own. He is intelligent, humble but most of all conscious, pouring scour on: weak-minded individuals led into temptation ("Movements"), trying to make sense of life in general ("Juggle Tings"), The problem of the mind playing trick on you ("Strange Behaviour"), which are all delivered with a gritty and slightly gruff vocal delivery that cement the seriousness of his subject matter. His themes although resolutely embedded in a strong urban take on things, belie the fact that he is arguably one of the finest talents in the UK rap scene, and few (if any), come close to matching his production skills, style, voice and rhymes, as they are all so uniquely him, that nobody else seems to mimic quite the direction he seems intent on taking his music.

Roots Manuva may always seem to condemned to a cult audience, not because of a lack of quality control on his albums, but purely because it's far harder for UK acts to make waves internationally, and coupled with the fact that Roots Manuva's label (Big Dada) has seemingly lacked the marketing muscle to truly push him into the general public consciousness. Instead having the rely on Critical acclaim (of which he has had a great deal), and word of mouth, to draw people into his curious mixture of Dancehall inflected Hip-Hop. All Roots Manuva's albums demand investigation. yet each release, sees him finding his feet & confidence with each successive album, and for those that are yet to actually buy an album of his, and are undecided, I'll suggest that this album is the perfect primer, if you've heard some of his work, and are curious for more. And this will (hopefully) lead you onto his subsequent albums, which grow broader in sound and lyrical complexity, culminating in 2005's exceptional career best.

This album is slamming. Run Come Save me was dope, very dope. Witness was deff. the song of the year last year. But I stumbled on this album, his first major release, and it is even better. Beats are ridiculous. Ryhmes ... ridiculous. The only wackt song is track two, besides that, complete satisfaction. If you an American underground head that likes old Boot Camp, old Jeru the Damaja, and just dope hip-hop - you'll dig this.

I find the allegations that the production on this record is lackluster shocking. Not being a huge dancehall fan, I tend to dislike some of the dancehall influenced numbers (such as dem phonies) though juggle tings proper and wisdom fall work far better and big tings gwidarn is great; I also have little patience for the two skits, which seemed to add little to the album, only serving to interrupt the overall flow. However, tracks such as inna, soul decay, strange behaviour (without question my favourite dub-influenced hip-hop track ever), sinking sands, clockwork, fever, oh yeah and motion 5000 are simply outstanding. The production on this record (which Manuva self-produced for the most part) is truly excellent, far more innovative (not to mention listenable), in my opinion, than most of the underground hip-hop out there. This is largely due to the prominent dub (of the Yabby You variety) influence; Manuva artfully blends subwoofer-punishing bass lines, meticulously programmed beats and with inventive ambient touches (give oh yeah a listen to see what I mean) to create some of the freshest independent hip-hop released in the past few years on either side of the Atlantic. As for Manuva's idiosyncratic flow, it does some getting used to, but he clearly is no slouch in the rhyme department. Those who doubt Manuva's lyrical prowess should check out Clockwork, perhaps the most conventional track on the record but also the most focused. Manuva's relentless delivery alternatively recalls Equal Rights-era Peter Tosh (Brand New Second Hand takes its title from a track on Tosh's debut LP, Legalize It) and Jeru the Damaja. This record is ample proof that British hip-hop is a force to be reckoned with.

Rae and Christian are often credited as displaying that British Hip-Hop is around and sounds good. But as dj's/producers they have SFA to do with it's renewed respect I feel. Because Roots Manuva and dj's such as Leftfield have had the most to say. With the long awaited follow up to Leftism, Leftfield feature Roots on thier newest album. And in 'Phat Planet' he does a grand job too. However when I brought his debut long player; Brand New Second Hand' I was blown away.

Not being a hip-hop fiend or anything of that description, I immediately took to Roots' disjointed breaks and chopped-up beats. Respect double big time must also go out to Mr Manuva for refraining from employing a US accent - while only a minor effort, it serves his talent well. And finally, I was drawn in by his political bend, "the IMF wont write-off the third world debt, 'cause they profit from holding it down". Mr Manuva is the Master!

The other reviews of this excellent album have missed or ignored the point. Yes, it's a great achievement of brit hop, but more interestingly, its a statement of defiance against and a declaration of war on the evil machine. Conspiracy theorists may understand what Roots Manuva means when he warns that "Soon there be no dollars, no yens no pounds." Whether or not you go as far as, like the artist, wrapping your head in foil so you "don't catch those beams", Roots Manuva's message of the importance of the individual is powerfully delivered.

Talk about essential listening