Scribe - Rhymebook

It seems to me to be a little late to write about this album, however a copy of it has made its way into my possession and I feel compelled to write my thoughts.

Being a staunch headbanger from way back, the prospect of listening to hip-hop seems a little less enjoyable than fronting up for an enema, yet I am still willing to give most reccomended albums a go. I'm willing to do this for a number of reasons. Mostly because I am always looking to increase my musical horizons beyond that which I already love, and also because my friends have such diverse tastes in music, I want to be able to contribute to any conversation intelligently.

With that I mind, I sat down armed with a bottle of "V" energy drink and started Rhymebook spinning in my cd player. I will admit that I was very hesitant about this album, based almost entirely upon the MC's breakout single "Not Many", which was typical of most of the hip-hop that was being released at the time - that is self-posturing, self-important rhymes spat over the top of a beat that irritated my ears. After hearing the first song off Rhymebook I thought I would be in for more of the same. However, as soon as the second single "Don't Look Back" hit my ears, I knew I was in for something special. I may not know a whole lot about hip-hop, but I do know that my favourite kind of songs are introspective, and about things that have affected the artist personally, not their ego's. The rest of the album follows in much the same suit, with introspective lyrics, set on top of the kind of beats that you could ride away to a better, calmer place upon.

With that I am hooked. I have since gotten a hold of Scribe's previous release - "The Crusader",, and discovered that it too is quite a good album, not up to scratch compared to "Rhymebook" but quite an enjoyable release nonetheless.