Styly Cee, pretty much the daddy of Nottingham Hip hop, responsible for the rise and rise of some of the most prolific emcees to ever grace the mic in the UK including Cappo and Recent movie actor Scorzayzee, has decided to drop an atomic bomb on us in the form of ‘Notts Vintage’.
Bridging the gap between Son records ‘Ghengis’, Cappo’s self produced LP and this year’s forthcoming Styly Cee album, Notts vintage sits perfectly between offering up a serving of rehashed bangers from the last decade. On the boards Styly delivers his trademark boombap sound throughout while Nottingham’s finest tear up the mic. Midnyte, Karizma, Lee Ramsey and femcee C-mone along with out-da-ville’s Scorz all maintain the hard to ignore quality of raps while Cappo just effortlessly blesses each track like it’s his last.
Quick breakdown on some of the standout tracks.
Serpico Raps ft Cappo:
The main theme on this track is Cappo reflecting on the highs and lows of the hip hop industry, the subcultures it creates and the problems with how certain executive producers perceive the game and how it should it be run. The honestly of Cappo’s approach to his lyricism is noticeable here and the sense of his passion to towards hip hop in general is refreshing and inspiring.
Want What’s Yours ft Scorzayzee:
A track that I remember hearing on a mixtape that I got free with a copy of ‘Hip Hop connection’ around six years ago. In light of this fact you have to take into consideration that automatically it will be under criticism from an objective point of view but alas once again it becomes apparent you cannot question the timelessness of good hip hop. It sounds just as dope as it did back then. Scorz’ leads us down a road showing us characters faced with every day hardships such as a woman dealing with her husband cheating and a cancer ridden streetsweeper. A very deep track that truly exemplifies scorzayzee’s versatility as a story-telling emcee.
No Frills, No Pills ft Midnyte
Undoubtedly the definitive answer to the Nottingham rap scene at that point in time. The backdrop is made up of a heavy bass guitar taking chunks out of your ear lobes complemented by the perfect Styly Cee drum loop while Midnyte smashes it with a ‘no frills, just bars’ series over verses juxtaposed by a hook that would get the most uptight music fan out of his seat and bouncing around.
Notts vintage is an absolute banger of a project and its easily understandable to see why Styly Cee would want to release to this material. It would be a crime to sleep on such rich, neck snapping hip hop
A lot of the references will go over younger listener’s heads due to the time of the recording of tracks but really that’s scraping the barrel in terms of criticism. This is an Ode to an era of hip hop uninfluenced by today’s totalitarian media and a good insight into the vast heritage created by Nottingham’s premier acts.
The album can be purchased over on Son records website. If you really have a thing for nostalgic UK Hip hop or just Hip hop in general don’t sleep on this project, it eclipses so much of the drivel we are subjected to in today’s day and age.