'If You Haven't Got A Vision Then Fam Where You Goin'

He may have been ruthlessly upstaged by the old guy with the loafers on the Movement Documentary, but Semtex's blog isn't bad and I might just have a look at it sometimes. I had a brief look earlier, and saw that Wiley's forthcoming album, See Clear Now, has been delayed until January 2009. Bravely ignoring the fact that Semtex was probably right, what with his contacts in the scene and all, I looked on play.com and the worst of nightmares was confirmed.

Unlucky if you pre-ordered.

It's not that long to wait, but all the same I was eager to hear what the final product would sound like. With January and a new year not being far away, it's unlikely the CD will be changed, so hopefully lots of people will buy the tracks and download them onto their new and shiny ipods, and that youngsters will get the CD with the tenner they got from their auntie Sally. And so on.

I don't know if there will be any repercussions, since the delay isn't that long, added to the fact I'm not sure of the anticipation for See Clear Now, but it doesn't sit that well in the process that's led up to the album's release. Surely someone could have had a eureka-moment and realised that yeah, Christmas isn't long after November 10, maybe we should take this into account, rather than giving a date and not sticking to it.

I'm not that fussed really. Even if the title track is ridiculously catchy. As long it doesnt affect Race Against Time, which it shouldn't, then I'll be happy.

P-Money: P-Money is Power Review

Being one of the few MCs that has consistently gone to radio this year, and in the aftermath of the well-received promo A Little Back Then With Now, P-Money should be regarded as one of the best MCs of 2008. As a result, P-Money Is Power had high expectations. Unfair or not, it didn't match up to them.

The mixtape was a fair attempt with some good concepts, and the refixing of various MCs' bars was successful initially in The Grime Scene Part 1, and followed up in the wide air-play of Sounds and Gimmicks and P Is a Rascal. However, on the mixtape itself, the idea of taking different lyrics and making them into a new form was one in which the novelty quickly wore off. The attempt to reference as many people as possible tends to lead to a lack of focus on the track, resulting in little being said. There was hype on occasions, but maybe a Sounds and Gimmicks-like track could have been much more effective as an interlude since the track, running to nearly four minutes, did get boring by the end.

New subject matter is appreciated in a scene where content is narrow, but all the same Watch Your Drinks was an odd track, even if the message was valid enough. The track's beat wasn't great either, which is a sentiment that can be said for a fair few tunes on the CD.

However there were exceptions, with Big Shot's contribution providing hype and impetus that was vital to the success of a track like P Is a Rascal, and the Dot Rotten beats were generally good even if he has made better. All the same, the beat for Talking To Trainers was one of the best there, along with Wonder Boy.

The Motive, Slammer, London Boy, and What Did He Say Remix were also good tracks, and Talking To Trainers is also memorable, even if the metaphors were used too much, an offence that Sounds and Gimmicks is also guilty of. However, the style of references worked well on the intro, which related to the tracks that followed in a clever way. The CD 'intro' is often a wasted attempt at introducing the listener to the CD and the world it tries to portray, but this happily wasn't the case here.

P-Money is currently one of the first MCs a grime fan would want to hear on a radio set or at a rave, and he's certainly one of the better MCs out there. He's raw and has an impeccable flow yet, on the evidence of this CD and as an artist, he's not quite the finished article.

'Hit 'Em Like a Lightning Bolt, 5000 Volt It's Your Own Fault'

It happens less these days, but still a beat that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up always results in replaying the beat at least ten times or something dumb that like that.

Dot Rotten Beat (Radio Rip)


It might be the strings, it might be the mini-drop, it might be the Dizzee Rascal sample that matches other Rotten beats such as Can't Test My Crew, the one with the Fugees' Ready Or Not excerpt, and Skepta's 'every time you see me wearing the glove' sample. Either way, the beat has an atmosphere to it that is a combination of all the individual elements and, even if it is a little old, the result is a joy to listen to.

The audio might not give justice to the clip from where I got this from, which was when Dot had a tantrum because Logan didn't deal him like one of them guys. So just listen to that if you like Youtube and Logan's mixing. And if you enjoy looking at comments from people who have the inability to think properly.