London, England, United Kingdom emcee Ronnie Bosh ready to embark on a new chapter of his career with a solo debut. An original member of the quintet Contact Play, he would go on to make multiple guest appearances for a multitude of projects over the course of the 2010s from Rag’n’Bone Man’s 3rd EP Put That Soul on Me to Dirty Dike’s 5th album Acrylic Snail as a more recent example. The latter of whom was announced to be fully producing All People Expect, which is welcoming considering the history they’ve had with one another for a decade.
“100%” opens up shop with this boom bap intro talking about him having no reasons to pretend when he’s got his swagger fully loaded whereas “Nothing” ruggedly speaks of dunces bluffing like it ain’t shit & the pigs using high breams to see more clearly. “Explain” featuring Jam Baxter takes a more soulful approach to the beat talking about monstrous flesh covered in rat’s skin just before the title track thematically shifts towards some conscious subject matter.
The 2nd & final single “You Know” goes for an old school vibe instrumentally talking about doing this shit so he can make jaws click instead of seeking praise from others while “Funghi” featuring Jam Baxter & Lee Scott sees the trio finding humor in the future, hence why they’ve been on this wave of spending a bunch of cash. “Get Out” combines elements of jazz rap & boom bap sending a message to the people who ain’t fucking with him prior to “1” showing a soulfully sensual side of himself.
“Do You Ever Think?” begins the album’s final act hooking up an organ flip asking this person with a shitty attitude if they’ve ever thought of the way they conduct themselves being the very reason Ronnie’s respect for them has slowly begun to deteriorate while the bluesy “Honorable Death” vividly tells the story of a man getting shot 21 times succumbing to his injuries. Contact Play reforms during the outro “Pulp”, hopefully planting the seeds for a reunion under High Focus Records when the time’s right.
Becoming a permanent behind the scenes fixture of the UK hip hop movement, fans have waited a long time for Ronnie Bosh to begin carving his own individual path artistically & High Focus ends that wait by letting his larger than life personality shine brighter than it has in the past. Dirty Dike offers amongst the greatest boom bap/jazz rap production he’s ever cooked up & one can certainly respect Ronnie’s attempts at testing out new things like singing or switching up his flows for 47 minutes instead of sticking to his bread & butter.
Score: 4/5
Legends Will Never Die 