Big Brovaz - Nu Flow
Big Brovaz - Nu Flow
Roll up! Roll up! It's a circus! It's a West End show!
What it isn’t is particularly credible. When So Solid Crew broke through, there was a buzz. There was excitement in the urban music scene that some great underground acts were going to get the recognition they deserved. Instead, what happened was the hand-wringing music execs rushed to sign anyone who had strength in numbers and looked ‘urban’ enough.
This has resulted in panto bands like Big Brovaz.
This album opens with the rap equivalent of "Teddy Bears' Picnic". "Nu Flow" sold shitloads, and as only kids buy singles these days, I've got my money on them being the culprits. It's a step on from storyteller tapes, but with less edge. The line ‘You need to listen up and feel this shit’ doesn't sit well in the song, which has such a nursery rhyme feel. It's like that song about the dog called Bingo having the word 'fuck' slipped in. And the chorus reminds me of being a kid and going to see Starlight Express.
If I lived the life these people are trying to represent in songs such as "Find a Life" and “Little Mama”, then I'd be seriously fucked off that a song about being really up against it has such a suburban, middle class feel. It's so overdone it makes me want to find this band and all of their fans, strap them to chairs and force-feed them Juice and HiFi Killers until they learn that IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!
For such a bunch of no-hopers, they certainly like to brag a lot about how fantastic they are. “Taking It Global” follows the same formula as the other songs. It sounds like they’ve nicked a Suede intro though, and there are ridiculous guitar samples throughout. At least I think they’re meant to be guitars. Once again it’s appallingly overproduced. Oh, they do that themselves too? Surprise surprise.
“Summertime” – annoying girl vocals. Wondered where that irritating git Enya had got to. Latin horn samples and rhythms ensure they aren’t just damaging the genre they have chosen to annihilate with their dross. “Gotta Get” wins the Song of the Album for having the words ‘vegetable’ and ‘sexual’ in the same sentence. Those random word generators sure can backfire, can’t they?
If this album consisted of songs more similar to “O.K.” then, fittingly, it’d be at least mediocre. And if they lost the birds that insist on adding their wibbly voices to everything. It’s like Alvin and The Chipmunks on helium. They manage to massacre “Baby Boy” as well. A fine example of where the chat up line, ‘I wanna put you on record, baby!’ has splendidly led these boys into water above their heads.
As it is, it’s a festival of banality. I’d rather stick pins in my eyes and shoot nails through my ears than be put through this again.
Luci Jameson
Roll up! Roll up! It's a circus! It's a West End show!
What it isn’t is particularly credible. When So Solid Crew broke through, there was a buzz. There was excitement in the urban music scene that some great underground acts were going to get the recognition they deserved. Instead, what happened was the hand-wringing music execs rushed to sign anyone who had strength in numbers and looked ‘urban’ enough.
This has resulted in panto bands like Big Brovaz.
This album opens with the rap equivalent of "Teddy Bears' Picnic". "Nu Flow" sold shitloads, and as only kids buy singles these days, I've got my money on them being the culprits. It's a step on from storyteller tapes, but with less edge. The line ‘You need to listen up and feel this shit’ doesn't sit well in the song, which has such a nursery rhyme feel. It's like that song about the dog called Bingo having the word 'fuck' slipped in. And the chorus reminds me of being a kid and going to see Starlight Express.
If I lived the life these people are trying to represent in songs such as "Find a Life" and “Little Mama”, then I'd be seriously fucked off that a song about being really up against it has such a suburban, middle class feel. It's so overdone it makes me want to find this band and all of their fans, strap them to chairs and force-feed them Juice and HiFi Killers until they learn that IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THIS WAY!
For such a bunch of no-hopers, they certainly like to brag a lot about how fantastic they are. “Taking It Global” follows the same formula as the other songs. It sounds like they’ve nicked a Suede intro though, and there are ridiculous guitar samples throughout. At least I think they’re meant to be guitars. Once again it’s appallingly overproduced. Oh, they do that themselves too? Surprise surprise.
“Summertime” – annoying girl vocals. Wondered where that irritating git Enya had got to. Latin horn samples and rhythms ensure they aren’t just damaging the genre they have chosen to annihilate with their dross. “Gotta Get” wins the Song of the Album for having the words ‘vegetable’ and ‘sexual’ in the same sentence. Those random word generators sure can backfire, can’t they?
If this album consisted of songs more similar to “O.K.” then, fittingly, it’d be at least mediocre. And if they lost the birds that insist on adding their wibbly voices to everything. It’s like Alvin and The Chipmunks on helium. They manage to massacre “Baby Boy” as well. A fine example of where the chat up line, ‘I wanna put you on record, baby!’ has splendidly led these boys into water above their heads.
As it is, it’s a festival of banality. I’d rather stick pins in my eyes and shoot nails through my ears than be put through this again.
Luci Jameson
posted by Luci @ 6:17 AM
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