With so much new spoken word and hip hop on the scene at the
moment it can sometimes be difficult to find something a little different,
Benin City achieve this far better than ninety per cent of other acts at the
moment with their debut album, Fires in the Park, a masterful piece of work from
one of the finest writers working right now, Josh Idehen.
If you’ve read this blog before you’ll be aware of my love
and passion for lesser known hip hop and spoken word artists, my adoration of
Sage Francis and Scroobius Pip being particular recurring features over the
past couple of months, Benin City will be my new obsession after hearing this
sublime piece of work.
Opening with People Will Say, the track begins calmly with
an instrumental piece making way for Idehen’s powerful vocal piece, an exuberant
flurry of his ideas and inner thoughts performed with expert timing and grace
throughout a particularly strong opener.
Next up is Faithless, seamlessly blended into from the
opener. Already a fan favourite after its release the track screams attitude
from the start mark with Idehen proclaiming “two fingers in the air”. Seemingly
a track the band is singing in dedication to the people who said they couldn't
make it.
Moving on we’re onto Wha Gwan, the song which actually say’s
the album’s title in the lyrics within the lyrics, I've never known why but it
always excites me when I hear it. This is a gorgeous sounding track with
masterful flow and musicality exhibited by the band throughout, one of my
highlights of the album.
Pencils follows with slower pace to the track preceding it
with a far more urban tone, in essence this track portrays the swagger Idehen
has a lead man, he’s got the confidence which still explaining to the listener
that he’s no different to you, he’s not a mega rich Kanye West type which is
refreshing to hear.
Beat heavy Winning Streak is up next, the band show that
they’re on their way up and the confidence they have in what they’re doing and
the dedication they have to getting to the top. This is a master class track
and a shining moment on the album.
“No chilling ‘til we get top billing” Benin City – Winning Streak
Next up is a short reprisal track just taunting you ‘til you
reach another stand out moment the album offers, Baby. The longest track on the
album by quite a large margin this is the bands most artist moments, it’s a
thing of true beauty showing off Idehen and the rest of the bands genius, a
truly remarkable piece. The entire track is reaching levels then dropping down
to nothing more than a spoken word piece, instrumental break points adding more
and more gravity to the words Idehen uses.
This is London part 2 follows, opening with a spoken word piece
by London poet Deanna Rodger; a sort of bitter sweet love letter to the capital
city, dreams of hitting the big time while working within it and the sheer
sprawling nature of the place and feeling ultimately insignificant while being
there yet knowing without you it is nothing. Idehen blasts in just after the
midway point offering his views, a love hate relationship that is all too
identifiable to the city’s occupants.
A far more personal track follows, My Love examines how a
person can interpret and use their own love, and it can be an amazing thing or
something that can be used to the advantage of the person offering it to
someone. The powerful instrumental piece which follows is perfectly matched to
the lyricism, the whole song seems to be leading to the finally which reaches a
tasteful climax.
The next track really shows off Idehen’s rapping skill, his
flow throughout D.A.M’s opening should be praised as one of the best performances
of the year. As ever the music compliments the vocals impeccably and producing
something that builds onto the sheer quality we've seen throughout the entire
album.
Only the Beginning sounds almost retrospective of the rest
of the record while still sounding like they’re only just showing the tip of
their creativity. A dark tone to previous tracks the song is a haunting piece
showing another extreme of the bands potential.
Winning Streak gets a reprisal with an instrumental piece
hyping the listening for the final track, So You Say. Closing this astounding
album was never going to an easy feat but this track is a great way to go out. The
instrumental and vocal harmony is as present as it’s been throughout the rest
of the album with a cheery sound and repetitive lyrical style they end in
style.
Overall this has to be one of the most enjoyable albums I've
listened to all year; track to track the album folds into each other with such
finesse it’s a pleasure to hear. With the passion shown by all aspects of this
album show that the music produced from them in the future is going to be
something very special, for now we've got what is very high in my favourite
releases so far this year.
