Yungun and Mr Thing
Straight Jackin’UK MC Yungun (aka Essa) has been bubbling on London's underground hip hop scene for some time now, collaborating with some of its leading lights and putting in a memorable appearance on Lowlife's Food compilation. This set of dancefloor-oriented bootlegs sees him come with a poppier sound sure to go down well in the clubs and cement the foundations of his burgeoning solo career. He has a convincingly British sensibility (the challenge for all UK rappers) which can encompass Stellas and Alan Partridge but which successfully negotiates the minefield of cliches ever-present in assertions of identity – 'Save your red, white and blue for the toothpaste packets', he urges.
The first tune, Bachelor's Anthem, is a club banger based on a jiggy Neptunes beat which sees Yungun extend his vocal chords (and his scrotum??) to produce a piercing falsetto chorus which is set against a powerful, fast flowing delivery from this 'graduate MC/with a batchelor's degree'. Lyrical bravado is off-set by a keen sense of self irony ('I'm a grimy hip-hopper / and if I blow up I might buy a dish washer').
Straight Jackin is a kind of megamix of different beats which Yungun adorns with a militant vocal which asserts that he's a 'track rider / man flyer / than hang gliders'. Confidently switching from one beat to the next, he proves that he's not one of those 'whack rhymers / weak when I speak / like cats with Alzheimer's'
10 Yat Commandments lays down some tongue in cheek rules for dealing with the ladies over a premier beat, with Yungun wisely suggesting that 'If you find out that she's jail bait / bail mate'.
This record deserves to do well because it's accessible and has a musical and lyrical sense of humour and fun which is so often lacking from UK hip hop. Hopefully it will bring this relatively neglected sound to the ears of people who wouldn't otherwise engage with it.
The first tune, Bachelor's Anthem, is a club banger based on a jiggy Neptunes beat which sees Yungun extend his vocal chords (and his scrotum??) to produce a piercing falsetto chorus which is set against a powerful, fast flowing delivery from this 'graduate MC/with a batchelor's degree'. Lyrical bravado is off-set by a keen sense of self irony ('I'm a grimy hip-hopper / and if I blow up I might buy a dish washer').
Straight Jackin is a kind of megamix of different beats which Yungun adorns with a militant vocal which asserts that he's a 'track rider / man flyer / than hang gliders'. Confidently switching from one beat to the next, he proves that he's not one of those 'whack rhymers / weak when I speak / like cats with Alzheimer's'
10 Yat Commandments lays down some tongue in cheek rules for dealing with the ladies over a premier beat, with Yungun wisely suggesting that 'If you find out that she's jail bait / bail mate'.
This record deserves to do well because it's accessible and has a musical and lyrical sense of humour and fun which is so often lacking from UK hip hop. Hopefully it will bring this relatively neglected sound to the ears of people who wouldn't otherwise engage with it.
