I was recently recommended the new release from Dayse & Aver, with the immortal, "try it, I think you'll like it". Oooooookay (Roger Moore eyebrow), I thought and made my way to their blog. At said blog I discovered that they were offering a free download of the E.P. and after listening for the third time in a row I found myself writing an e-mail to Aver asking where the hell I could buy a copy...
Aver's beats are not only accomplished they are made from breaks (remember breaks?), not one single sounds-like-you-just-followed-through modulated kick resides here, nor any horrid synth plug-ins from Pro Tools. The music complements the concept and content of the rhymes perfectly to create a whole. We don't have some half-arsed Malletesque word association over a beat purchased via the internet for a few quid from some bloke who doesn't know the MC; what we
do have is a producer, DJ and MC all pulling in the same direction with undoubted talent.
In a time when the hip hop faithful are forced to endure squalid rhymes about keeping the label on your flat peaked hat (really????), the aspirational lyrics about fucking dykes , or some cat rapping about how dope he is when your great grandmother could merk him, we have in Dayse a guy who thinks about more than how he can blend in with the crowd whilst whining that he should be noticed for being even more the same than anyone else. Dayse has flow, he has wordplay and, most importantly, he has a point.
Socially conscious, darkly comic, conceptual songs (yes, songs!) with a down to earth narrative are strung cohesively together with skits and non-music that reinforce the stance and core message of the EP. All of which makes for an interesting and refreshingly challenging repeated listen.
I sincerely hope to hear more from Dayse & Aver and the Natural Curriculum camp in future and also hope that, re-invigorated by such releases, more artists feel moved to step up with similar clarity, purpose and unashamed celebrations of intelligent, heartfelt hip hop, giving us all some hope that this two-albums-and-six-mixtapes-per-annum drivel isn't where a culture that created kings sees it's demise.
Dayse & Aver, salute!!!!
show some support for NEW underground, independent hip hop and buy one of the remaining, limited-as-fluck 8 track vinyl EP 's
HERE
