Messiah J and the Expert have raised the bar for Irish hip hop with the release of their new album Now This I Have to Hear. Displaying a great range of instrumentation with a live band feel, the album is full of acoustic guitars, perky samples and synths, accordions and a choir not to mention special guests C Rayz Walz (Def Jux), Leda Egri and underappreciated Dublin musician/singer Nina Hynes.
I always find that many hip hop artists far removed from the streets of Brooklyn or LA cite old skool hip hop as their major influence and shun the majority of modern hip hop. Fine as long as you are using the that period of hip hop as inspiration for something new and not copying those styles verbatim. MJEX are doing things the right way around and are creating hip hop informed by other genres making the music much more appealing and modern.
One of the major draws of the album is the refreshing, reflective nature of the lyrics free of clichés and touching on love, loss, regret and bad support acts. One of the most refreshing albums to come out of Ireland in a while.
MP3s
Messiah J and the Expert – Something Outta Nothing (with Ledi Egri)
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Messiah J and the Expert – No Bagsies No Keepsies (with Nina Hynes)
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[ Official Site | Myspace ]
[ Buy - iTunes | Road Records ]
Tagged under: Hip Hop, Irish, Music
they’re one of our better acts, very underrated
saw them supporting Public Enemy, unfortunately only watched by a small crowd, still gave a really good performance though
Really like these new songs, like you said they’re pushing their sound out there and taking in elements of other genres along the way, its good to see and makes a change from the bling bling bullshit that passes for most of commerical hip hop
Savage live act; savage second album! Their style has changed a little since their first but I love it!
Great album. I’ve heard Messiah J say that its much better than their last album but I think that underestimates it – its certainly different but I wouldn’t agree with his own assessent. Their live performances are what set them apart from most other acts – so even if you’re not sure about them, check them out live – you will not be disappointed….