Sat 07 Mar |
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| Black BritanYaa Windrush Vol.2 Abduction Entertainments Yo don’t bum (wind) rush the Black BritanYaa show! This album is just spectacularly and brilliantly different. It’s different because it doesn’t have the usual beefs and sniping of rival rap acts or gloating about how many records they’ve sold which often permeate hip-hop records, which is fine, but ‘Windrush Vol.2’ from Black BritanYaa is a breath of fresh and fulfilling air. Instead Black BritanYaa actually has something significant to say on ‘Windrush Vol.2’, and they use the full revolutionary force of hip-hop, in which to say it. Black BritanYaa – the Yaa bit of the name by the way is a Ghanaian name, from the Ashanti or Akan tribe for a woman born on Thursday, so the name Black BritanYaa is a way for them to be proud of being British as well as paying homage to their African heritage – is the brain child of East London producing duo Segge Dan and Daddy Ash, who are also helped out by Skamadan, Stone Mattick, and Diva. And Windrush is a reference to the boat that Black migrants arrived in Britain on in the 1950’s. The likes of Black BritanYaa are the next generation from those original migrants, hence the volume 2 part of the title. ‘Windrush Vol.2’ this album pays homage to Black music, both in Britain and elsewhere in the world which is where the album is really fantastic, its steeped in UK hip-hop flows, but also taking in bouncing and rugged up reggae, to ska, to dub, to delirious high life, and Jungle of ‘Junglist Movement.’ On the stirring opening track ‘Windrush (The Excursion)’ explains the title more as they say ‘taking our history back to those who came before us, Black pioneers from the 50’s and 60’s, to this generation and to those who will come after the chain is forever linked’, as well as detailing the Migrants arrival, and finding out the negatives and positives of living in London, where they quite literally ‘step of the boat and into the cold’, that’s both the cold weather and cold reception that they received, and still receive. But also on this track, and throughout this album, they tell the youth of today not to be ashamed of their past, of their heritage, in fact to stand up and be proud of it, and not to forget it, as well as being proud of being British. There are mentions of several Black pioneers throughout this album, on ‘Lonely Roads’ they mention Malcolm X, Kwame Nkrumah, and Fela Kuti. When was the last time you heard a reference to Ghana’s first Prime Minister Kwame Nkrumah, he also fought for Ghana’s independence in 1957? Its this kind of a record which makes it so goddamn good. ‘Lonely Roads’ also details some of the problems of love too. Then there’s the reggae rock steady thump of ‘Illegal Aliens’, which takes the Sting song ‘Englishman In New York’ and turns it on its head, by explaining how it is to be a Black person in Britain where it seems to be twice as hard, despite the fact they were born and are proud to be British. Its this dual of pride and bitterness that Black BritanYaa are attempting to tackle on this album and how to find a common ground with it. As the chorus goes, ‘Am I an alien, am I illegal alien, I’m a black man in Babylon.’ And as Segge Dan spits out with some righteous force ‘A man gets beat whose from the ends but he’s still seen as an illegal alien.’ It seems that even in the place where you live you get treated worse then an illegal alien in this country. The lively ‘Dem Mans Illin’ see’s reggae riding roughshod over some rough and ready hip-hop beats, with some Mystro-style London slang spewing out of the speakers. ‘Devils Peak’ sounds particularly moody and wouldn’t have been out of place on Jurassic 5’s first album. Check out ‘Rise’ and ‘My Life’ too. Then the UK soul legend Omar joins Black BritanYaa on closing track ‘Libation’, where Black BritanYaa come across like a slowed down version of Roots Manuva. So ‘Windrush Vol.2’ is a serious and politically charged record, but it’s the politics and the history which is told in a great and unique way, and with the confident sound of hip-hop fusing with reggae and an afro-beat back bone it tells it in an entertaining way it should make many people prick their ears up and listen. You’ll be hard pushed to find a more fulfilling album this year or next. © Ben Bradford www.myspace.com/britanyaa |