M9 drops his first solo album ‘Magna Carta‘ on Red Snow Records, I stepped out onto the cold cobblestones of London, pressed play and got educated..
Melanin 9’s Magna Carta weaves a fantastic tapestry of twisting, conscious wordplay across a plethora of great producers. Dark urban tales and inner city narrative paint a moody, regret-filled picture over a bleak London backdrop, this is an excellent offering from the Triple Darkness veteran.
M9 describes the Magna Carta as an ‘English charter that was written to liberate the people’, in relation to his album, that he wrote to liberate the people from the social, economic and political shackles of modern day life. The album fills the mind with vivid imagery, always the great story teller, M9 illustrates a number of grim realities and grim futures through his music, all of this done over tight drum loops and inventive sample work from the likes of Anatomy, Tony Mahoney and 7th Dan among others.
‘The 7 Blues’, ‘Love’s Stencil’ and ‘Colour Blind’ feature the beautiful sounds of Madame Pepper which work extremely well in contrast to M9’s gravelly tones. ‘Cosmos’ for me is a standout track with fresh, smooth production by Parental and of course the Jehst produced ‘Heartless Island’ that features the rest of Triple Darkness makes an impact. The singles from the album ‘White Russian’ featuring Roc Marciano from Flipmode Squad fame and solo acclaim and the Tony Mahoney produced ‘Organised Democracy’ are both hard hitting and impressive tracks where Melanin lets loose with intricate lyracism and an abundance of book and street smarts that quite clearly puts him in a league of his own. It was also good to see Evil Ed add cuts on ‘Landslide’ and Chemo mixed and mastered the whole thing, very impressive.
‘Magna Carta’ is out now on CD and digital, so if you like your music real, conscious and with a stiff uppercut make sure you grab a copy.
We caught up with M9 for some words about the album..
Check out the M9 video for the single ‘Organised Democracy’..