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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