Posted at 21:17h
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Interviews,
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South London’s
Speech Debelle snuck in the back door this year with alternative Hip Hop album
Speech Therapy. This time last year, many of us had never heard of her. Then in September, having developing a media buzz surrounding the album’s June 1st release on Big Dada (British home to Hip Hop from the likes of
Roots Manuva and
Ty), the 26-year old proudly won the Mercury Prize 2009 awarded to the year’s ‘best British album’ for her unique blend of jazzy, soulful Hip Hop.
Admittedly, I’m not too satisfied with that genre description either – but this difficulty in placing Debelle is probably what attracted the Mercury Prize judges in the first place.
A name which has brought some credibility and an edge to popular music is the electro production outfit Chase and Status. Composing outrageous breaks, beats and often teaming up with an array of underground (and the odd superstar) talents, the duo of Saul Milton and Will Kennard have up to this point destroyed many raves with their earth shattering compositions and off-the-wall anarchy which comes with their sound. The duo hope to build on their recent chart successes with a successful second album.