London based Benny Diction teams up with Australian producer Able8 to drop Life Moves on Boom Bap Professionals. The LP marks two years in which the crew have spent creating music together.
If you look past the fact the opening bar is about ‘polishing a turd’ A2B bursts open the album with a saccharine cacophony of sounds drizzled in feel good vibes. Styling on a multi-instrumental tip Able8 sets the pace off with impressive production levels layered over Benny’s mellifluous flow. I make grown man music Diction insists as he spews out a confident set of bars on So Damn Music, illustrating his disdain for MCs he feels are below him. The beat piecing the track together is a sizzling, instrumental effort which unfortunately manages to contradict the swaggering undertone of the message throughout.
The crux of Life Moves however lies in the broad spectrum of emotions exhibited by Diction. Each verse penned is naturally believable and it’s easy to see this work means a great deal to both artists involved. Often poignant, sometimes goofy the eleven tracks are full of genuine integrity and refreshing honesty. With Over Here reaching acclaim from the Dj’s at Radio 1 and over in New Zealand on Base FM its hopeful that this record will reach more than just the small depths of the UK underground scene.
An accomplished release by any means but no new revolution for hip hop either.
Review by Lousie Brisbane (@louisebrisbane)
Check out the video for ‘Over Here’