Werd – Untitled Scot

Werd is a member of the Sons of Scotland hip-hop crew, who trade in the kind of gritty, urban, street-noir hip-hop that thrives on the gig circuit and in the battle scene. Werd's lyrics are confrontational and upfront, but with a vein of social consciousness running through them in the form of righteous anger alongside the macho braggadocio. Guest spots from other Edinburgh rap dons like Wardie Burns, Madhat McGore and Jordan Butler leaven the mixture, each with their own distinctive brand of lyrical beat-down.

Skilled wordsmiths and seasoned battlers like Werd are sometimes let down by sub-par production, leading to half-baked tracks – Untitled Scot avoids this trap neatly, with beats firmly anchored in boom-bap, but with innovative cuts and scratches and an urgent tempo on cuts like Is It Hip-Hop. Overall, this is a confident, assured collection from Werd, if a little over-long at 18 tracks, and is the best thing to come out of the S.O.S. camp so far, promising great things for the future.