the mitchell brothers - a breath of fresh attire

[gumdrops]

had this for a few days - beats arent as inventive as i had hoped from hearing the first two singles, some of it is a bit too redolent of merely average UKHH. if it was anyone else but the streets backing them, im not sure there would quite so much fuss, but overall, its pretty good. theyre good at making 'songs', rather than just cutting and pasting miscellaneous verses in between choruses, and like the streets, have a good sense of narrative. while theres nothing really grime-like like about this cd, there is a similarly low budget air about the production and the vocals are mixed quite high which makes the fidelity seem quite demo-like.

 

[Logan Sama]

Skinner and The Mitchells IMO don't make Grime. I think it's just quirky UK Hip Hop which takes influences from other scenes. They don't really play any part in the Grime scene.

I don't mind some of their stuff though, I prefer most of the guest appearances though over their actual bars! ie: Sway and Kano on Harvey Nicks and Routine Check respectively.

 

[gumdrops]

sway is kinda funny on harvey nicks, but after hearing both his mixtapes, he seems like a bit of a one trick pony. everyone in grime and uk hip hop seems to absolutely love him though. he must be a nice guy.

 

[Tactics]

hmm..

had this for a few days - beats arent as inventive as i had hoped from hearing the first two singles, some of it is a bit too redolent of merely average UKHH. if it was anyone else but the streets backing them, im not sure there would quite so much fuss, but overall, its pretty good. theyre good at making 'songs', rather than just cutting and pasting miscellaneous verses in between choruses, and like the streets, have a good sense of narrative. while theres nothing really grime-like like about this cd, there is a similarly low budget air about the production and the vocals are mixed quite high which makes the fidelity seem quite demo-like.

lack of inventive beats? then I guess Mike Skinner must have had his hand in the production then...

I need to hear the LP to give my total opinion but from the early stuff I've heard they got murked on their own s***...TWICE! These guys are supposed to be Ghanaian! *shakes head in disgust*

 

[3underscore]

prefer most of the guest appearances though over their actual bars! ie: Sway and Kano on Harvey Nicks and Routine Check respectively.

Not so strange that they were the first two twelves then, logan?

 

[Coxy]

Mitchell Brothers at Fabric were a joke, sorry...

And I wouldn't say they had 'owt to do with grime, likewise Skinner.

 

[DJL]

How can you say they have nothing to do with grime when they have grime MCs on their tunes, play gigs alongsde grime acts and Skinner even appears on LOTD3 which is the scenes signature DVD series???

 

[Logan Sama]

They have Kano on a tune. Kano being on the label Mike Skinner is signed to

And I've never heard them on a pirate, seen them perform at a grime event and out of all the grime/garage djs I had only ever heard Mac 10 play about 2 of their tracks prior to them being signed to Warner. To me they are nothing to do with Grime.

Doesn't effect whether their music is any good or not, was just clarifying where they have come from and what scenes and channels they have traversed to arrive in their current place in the music world.

 

[gumdrops]

lack of inventive beats? then I guess Mike Skinner must have had his hand in the production then...*

thats a tad unfair. skinner has produced some great beats - the push things forward remix with roll deep, the remix for get out my house with bruza to name but two (im naming those two cos im guessing you hate skinner's vocals!)

 

[DJL]

They have Kano on a tune. Kano being on the label Mike Skinner is signed to

And I've never heard them on a pirate, seen them perform at a grime event and out of all the grime/garage djs I had only ever heard Mac 10 play about 2 of their tracks prior to them being signed to Warner. To me they are nothing to do with Grime.

Doesn't effect whether their music is any good or not, was just clarifying where they have come from and what scenes and channels they have traversed to arrive in their current place in the music world.

Fair enough they haven't done pirate (although their tunes have been played on Rinse) but I have seen them perform alongside Dizzee Rascal and a PA of Forward riddim. Plus they have played at Empire in MK alongside other grime acts at certain events. To say they have absolutely nothing to do with grime is a bit black and white.

The labelling of music "genres" should be outlawed as it brings rules and guidelines to new music being made instead of freedom. Am I not a grime DJ because I haven't played on pirate radio although I play the records???

 

[Tactics]

you know what?

thats a tad unfair. skinner has produced some great beats - the push things forward remix with roll deep, the remix for get out my house with bruza to name but two (im naming those two cos im guessing you hate skinner's vocals!)

his first LP was fantastic but the second just showed his lack of talent...he really couldn't carry off the concept of it. He is a very clever guy though. Business wise I mean. He's so so leaning to sterile beatwise though.

 

[mpc]

the vengaboys of grime

 

[gumdrops]

im starting to wonder if these guys are kinda a joke. i mean, they have something, but their lyrics are far too simple at times, listen to it enough times and theres nothing more to listen for. its like theyre rapping for infants at times (sort of like the streets, really). plus, a lot of the beats are really muzaky/lightweight.

edit: ok, after careful relistening, the beats are paper thin, pack no punch, and sound pretty feeble. which is actually part of what might be appealing, they make no aim to sound heavy, or hard, or steely like american production. same thing for how they rap, its kinda of humorous, tongue in cheek, on the borderline between earnestness and satire (or just plain stupid!), so you cant accuse them of taking themselves too seriously like a lot of american rappers. its harder for british rappers to pull that offm generally. so tjheyve done well to move right past that (not that unlike the streets really). they have some good songs, good stories, but the way theyre rapping is slightly too simplistic at times. i love how theyre going all out with the english accents, its nicely exaggerated, and a bit OTT, but all in all, this album is a bit of comedy britishness. panto-britishness. no wonder they took their name from eastenders!