Akala - Comedy Tragedy History

There's more than a whiff of the deadpan and Shakespearean about this. The bass rumbles into view as if it was Falstaff and there's something of Shylock in the vocal delivery. It's also very electronic, in ways which both counterbalance and complement the bass's pomposity. This isn't a pastoral, background soundtrack. The genesis of the track lies in a challenge thrown down to Akala during 1Xtra's Twin B show last year. Producer Rae challenged him, during a freestyle jam, to expand his chosen theme of Shakespeare and out came this. Like all the best Shakespeare productions, this is a very bold and brassy outing. [Jonathan Robert Muirhead]