FDT - Mystro

ut now on his own Don’t Bizzniz imprint, UK hip-hop emcee Mystro presents the F.D.T. EP. I’ve been following Mystro for nearly ten years now and he’s always been one of the freshest and slickest emcees in the UK. He’s also one of the nicest and most hilarious guys you’ll find in the scene – which reminds me, you have to check out his “Mystro Investigates” video series on the Spine TV site, very entertaining stuff!

The F.D.T. EP spans ten tracks and just over half an hour of music, which includes a few rather humourous skits as well. Where plenty have come and gone over the years in UK hip-hop, Mystro is still at it and still doing it strong. I think an element that has contributed to his longevity is his ability to laugh at himself and generally have fun with his music. Been plenty of complaints about UK hip-hop being too moody and negative, but Mystro manages to find a near-perfect balance. Plus, ultimately, it’s just good music and he’s a wicked emcee.

Tracklisting:

01. The Truth
02. F.D.T. Radio Skit 1
03. Banishment
04. Live & U Learn
05. Thorish
06. F.D.T. Radio Skit 2
07. Maintain
08. Aquarius
09. F.D.T. Radio Skit 3
10. The Urge

Things kick off with The Truth, a hypnotically melodic track with a fierce cypher containing some pretty clever lines! It’s a real head nodder of a track – the simplistic parts, like the main piano melody and the brass stabs, work tightly with the slick verses and breakdowns. Banishment is a fiercer track, bit darker, but the narrative is brutally honest, essentially referencing the need to remove bad influences from your life. The third full track is Thorish, a track with a heavy beat and subtle brass backbone. It has a retro vibe, but Mystro keeps it fresh with his rapping – and like a battle rap, it hits hard. Maintain takes a step back for a moment and I’m really feeling the construction of the track with it’s multiple stabs and general organised chaos. Proving to be one of the most popular tracks on the EP, Aquarius is a more chilled number indeed. Warm key samples and gentle percussion, dance gracefully under Mystro’s verses. The final track is The Urge, with its sharp use of heavier guitar samples and a banging beat. Certainly a more bleak narrative to this one, plus it’s interesting to see Mystro delve a bit into a slightly different sound. It’s frank, but he’s just telling it as it is!

F.D.T. is a solid EP and a good showcase of decent UK hip-hop, specifically from a solo artist. Mystro is genuinely an amazing emcee, as you’ll hear for yourselves, and I cant help but wonder how good it would be if he’d do work with some of the newer cross-over producers. The very thought of Mystro rapping over a Suzi Analogue or fLako beat makes me feel dizzy! Essentially this a wicked EP though, and it is available on iTunes right now, so check it out!

The Exit Strategy - Invisible Inc.

It is full steam ahead as Kashmere, Verb T and Ghost head back into the future on this time train of thought. Mystery and musical magic is conjured time and again in this work of full substance that employs a detailed and distilled formula.

This is undeniably a journey into the sonic mind-scape of titans, with genre defying productions and lyricists at the height of their craft. They have created an album of breath taking perceptions to unleash on to an unknowing and as yet unready audience. Defiantly moving and growing from the last crew project "Seldom Seen often heard", an organic depth manifests itself in a collection of tracks that prefer synth over samples, gloriously re-taking ground from dub-step and grime and placing it firmly back in the hip hop realm. In so doing they move as one ahead of the curve, in line with the ethos of Project Moon Circle and the ingenuity of DJ IQ, in parts a club driven frenzy and in others a vision of the synth laden heavens. Considering the freedom of thought that the crew builds upon, the development of sound scenery is remarkably fine tuned by Ghost, one of the most consistent and livest producers making beats in the UK.

With more concepts and sound-scape than Floyd, the rappers verbally tour inner spiritualism of psychedelia to absorbing effect. The mystical motifs well-used by Kashmere raise the imagination to his 'metaphysical design' and are the perfect foil to Verb T's earthly sensibilities, although they both take and lend to each others strengths in what sounds like their finest collaboration so far. Where Verb T's strong chorus binds together the cogent verses of the three rhymers, they are keen to add breadth and depth to the track. Kashmere's abilities to weave words fluidly between engrossing narrative and sharp dialogue is symptomatic of how sick his rhyming really is. Using a referencing system ranging from the cherished figures of history, great books and visual magic, to the heights and depths of outer and introspection. His images are so vibrant that on this record his performance is all too far off the scale to measure. Verbs perfectly catches that balance between real and unreal that symbolises the wide variety of experiences explored on the album. He makes steady inroads into the art of the author speaking into the mind of the listener, his lyrics are a virtuoso orchestration of the listener's imagination, in an act that sees his transition from quality writer into distinguished poet.

In this project the poetic sense Verb T has earnestly developed, becomes the link between a deep surrealism and the pure cogency and desire to express a clear reality. Kashmere's rhymes appear embossed into the track and when he emerges the listener is summoned on to a new plain of existence, an act of the imagination that is only possible when authors such as these are in full control of the fine arts of penmanship and delivery. Asaviour appears now and then to provide the odd track with a touch of his refined graceful flow , pushing the ideas of the other MC's forward and allowing a varied focus of styles. Dubledge's feature gives a versatile and smooth conversant flow, bringing extra flavour, and keeps to the themes, styles and fine values instilled in the work. The use and high standard of backing vocals bring the album's aspirations into full achievement creating a whole sound, leaving no part of the structure without detailed quality. There is a good balance of main vocalist to features, however a longer album including more friends of the collective may have diluted the dense and ultra strong substance that Invisible Inc. is written in.

They may have cracked the paradigm shift currently sweeping between commercial and underground, in the process they have definitely broken the mould.

Reviewed by J-Bodes