Urban World

Skepta: ‘Microphone Champion'. First studio album.

Can he really transform from his producing days?

Listening to this album, it is made apparent that Skepta is an extremely underrated artist. Not sure if I'd class him as the ‘Microphone Champion', but he definitely has an ear for hit records. As his first mainstream album, he has set the bar very high for himself. From his opening track ‘reflecting'; that sees the absence of a chorus, to numbers like ‘oh my gosh, oh my days' and ‘ed hardy party', creating hooks that your sure to catch unto, Skepta produces a consistent flow of hits.

For the grime lovers, disappointment is not an option, and for the pure music lovers, you will appreciate the combination of unique sounding instruments and unpredictable flows - however, his lyrics are rather predictable. Basic metaphors such as ‘spray my ting like after shave' can compare to an MC just starting up, but hey, who still focuses on lyrical content these days? His execution is on point, his rhythm is unique and his beats are amongst the best beats produced so far from a grime artist!

What is especially great with ‘Microphone Champion', is the various collaborations with U.K artists. I'm not talking grime MC's, but artists from a variety of urban music genres. Jay Sean, contributes to the hook of his sexy tune(well it definitely made me feel sexy!) ‘lush', whilst Giggs spits some hard bars in ‘look out', which finds Skepta out of his comfort zone taking on rapping. Didn't go down to well on his half, but it's still a banger.

The creativity with this album showcases Skepta's producing background prooving himself to be of the same, if not higher, calibre as other MC's in the game . If Skepta tops this album with his next, he definitely poses as a threat for the British urban music scene. Watch out!

RATING: 4/5