Skuff – “Fathom” review

Cambridge, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Skuff making his Melonskin Records debut with his 4th LP. Coming up as a member of the Delegates of Culture collective in addition to being 1/2 of Skuff & Inja, he would eventually introduce himself as a solo artist in 2005 with The End of the World News followed by the debut mixtape Smash Everything & the sophomore effort Destroy Everything in 2012 respectively. It’s been almost 8 years since Level & was highly intrigued after learning Melonskin’s co-founder Dirty Dike of Contact Play would fully produce Fathom.

The title track hops over a flute-tinged boom bap instrumental talking about having to step away from music for a bit because he was looking for a challenge whereas “Sly Flute” keeps the jazz rap vibes going speaking of his penmanship bordering between tenuous & genius. “Krimson” gives off some electronic undertones talking about trying to get the whole place jumping to his music leading into the soulful “Freedom” begs for the audience not to follow anyone’s lead.

“Mood Swing” hooks up a sample-driven boom bap beat suggesting for everybody to step their lives up & comparing life to an open wound that doesn’t heal just before “Doozie” rawly dedicates itself to all the goonies smoking doobies out in the streets during warm weather playing music. “Eddie” brings the horns back in the mix talking about life being a whole ride of its own while “Labrador” pushes the 2nd half forward reminding that shit’s deep out here now matter how strong our limited heartbeats are.

Nearing the end of Fathom, the song “Wizzkid” blends a guitar with some kicks & snares talking about the younger generation seeming so stranger to the older folks while “Trinkets” continues the sampling to observe everything becoming so basic in recent memory. “Waiting” welcomes us to his end of days over a boom bap instrumental with synthesizers & after “Cresh” soulfully talks about the excessive amount of fake news, “Endo” ends with a mostly drumless piano looking to make invincible marks in UK hip hop history.

Originally announced at the beginning of 2014, all 3 artists Melonskin Records have signed since forming the label has had their own different sound whether it be Sleazy F Baby’s most recent album Blaxploitation embracing a more trap-oriented direction than his 2016 debut or be Eva Lazarus’ sophomore effort Brandy Kisses fusing contemporary R&B & neo-soul. That said: Fathom represents a new era of Skuff’s career introspectively recapping the last 10 years of his life over boom bap production & bringing his long-standing affiliation with Dirty Dike since the latter’s solo debut Bogies & Alcohol full circle.

Score: 4/5

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Sleazy F Baby – “Blaxploitation” review

Sophomore effort from Manchester, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Sleazy F Baby. A member of the Cult of the Damned collective, he would sign to Blah Records in 2016 & make his full-length debut that year with All Blahk Tracksuit. He would also form the Super Sag Bros with Black Josh in the summer of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, enlisting Cambridge producer & Melonskin Records founder Dirty Dike from Contact Play to solely handle all the production for Sleazy’s equivalent to an audio Blaxploitation film.

“Lethal Weapon 5 (Swine)” aggressively begins with this secondary electronic influence to the beat talking about being mentally sick & not taking his meds whereas “S.W.M.D. (Sex, Weed, Money & Drugs)” dabbles with trap instrumentally breaking down those 4 subjects. “Sleaze” takes the boom bap route talking about part of his strength including him fucking up shit just before “Get Fucked Up” keeps it rugged sending a straightforward message to any lyrical opponent who dares to step against him.

As for “Pot to Piss”, we have Dirty Dike getting back in his trap bag behind the boards & Sleazy F talking about taking everything except counterfeits leading into “Pussy Whip” ends the 1st half portraying a more lustful side to the Cult’s sleaziest link. “Dip” kicks off Blaxploiation’s other act explore more themes of sexuality except there’s a more energetic approach to it than the previous track while “Bludclart” angrily talks about the gangsta lifestyle.

“Oscar” spends 86 seconds back in the basement hitting more uppercuts than Sugar Ray Leonard while “Big Pippen” references Scottie Pippen whilst putting himself inside the shoes of a pimp. After the “Jesus” interlude, “LA LA LA” takes a few minutes to tell us a “True Love Story” accompanied by a sully boom bap beat & “She Ain’t Yours” finishes Sleazy’s long-awaited 2nd album on a funkier note talking about people acting like they’re officially in relationships when that couldn’t be any more false.

Being a fan of Dirty Dike since his time with High Focus Records a decade earlier, hearing that he was fully producing Blaxploitation gave me the impression of it reaching the same bar Sleazy F Baby’s debut had set & I’d say that goal has been achieved. The production balances boom bap & trap for a great deal of the 38 minutes you get out of Sleazy’s return, handling the verses by solely himself rather than having some of his Cult brethren joining him with all respect to the Damned of course.

Score: 4/5

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Dirty Dike – “Mattress” review

Here we have the 6th studio LP from Cambridge, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Dirty Dike. A member of Contact Play, his solo debut Bogies & Alcohol as well as the sophomore effort Constant Dikestar under High Focus Records were both welcomed to warm reception although Return of the Twat was considered average by many in comparison. The Sloshpot EP & Sucking on Prawns in the Moonlight have since become his most celebrated work ever & Acrylic Snail was a great look at his transformation into his current self, leaving High Focus to start his own label Melonskin Records afterwards & is returning to the mic to drop Mattress independently.

“Pusspuss” produced by Melonskin co-founder Pete Cannon chops up a sinister piano sample for the 3rd & final single talking about putting pussies in their places whereas “My Way” dustily finds himself turning up on a weekday like it’s the weekend. After the “Samaritans” skit, “Bumpkin” has a more ghostly boom bap vibe instrumentally attacking those who aren’t fit to swim an inch of his one leading into “Broken Mattress” featuring Ronnie Bosh & Skuff finds the trio giving a fuck less about people bigging up their chest.

After the “Arr Kid” skit, “I’m a Peen” blends boom bap & jazz rap together for a self-aware depiction of how much of a dickhead the Dirty Dike can be just before “The Places We’ve Been In” featuring Jam Baxter takes a shot at the people who don’t know what it’s like setting foot in the locations they’ve visited. “Keith Meets Dike” featuring Kool Keith sees the 2 ruggedly talking about being completely insane in their own rights while the 2nd single “Just Dreamin’” spits a verse off-top over a soul sample.

“Cyclops” after the “Pouring a Rum” skit continues the nostalgic boom bap beats reminiscent of 90s east coast hip hop taking people to places they’ll feel uncomfortable in & after the “U About?” skit, the lead single “Bucket Kicker” would ultimately be saved for the last song reiterating his mission of speaking to those who push us to know what we’re supposed to be. We do get a proper “Goodbye” with the outro, although it’s the 5th & final skit throughout Mattress altogether.

Instead of producing his Melonskin Records debut by himself, Dirty Dike has his partner-in-crime Pete Cannon handle Mattress’ production duties & celebrates this new era of his career by doing his own thing after making some of High Focus Records’ most celebrated material the previous decade. The instrumentals created using a Commodore Amiga 1200 are more lenient towards the traditional boom bap sound rather than continuing Acrylic Snail’s varied explorations & the Contact Play extraordinaire retains his signature sense of humor.

Score: 4/5