Extended Review: Great Ezcape - Escapades EP (Great Ezape Sounds)[WEB ONLY]
Profisee and Vigilante offer up some of the tastiest, most intelligent hip-hop yet to be made North of the border.
| 14 Aug 2006
The Skinny first covered Great Ezcape when they were putting together the demos for the 'Escapades EP', predicting great things for this innovative, electronica-flavoured hip-hop duo. Producer Vigilante is a drum and bass don who studied his uncle's production techniques from a young age, before finally turning his bass-injected, tough beats to the task of backing former Scotland Yard MC and Edinburgh scene player Profisee's slick, conscious rhymes.
Of all the Yard MCs, Profisee is the most fascinating. His background takes in the dusty warehouses of illegal raves, where he has been both DJ and MC. He witnessed the explosion of UK garage/grime onto a tired and cliché-ridden UK hip-hop scene, and has guested with former bandmates Mister Jinx and Yush 2K, and also with Livesciences on their debut. With Great Ezcape, Profisee eclipses these brief cameos and indeed his history with the Yard, as he and Vigilante offer up some of the tastiest, most intelligent hip-hop yet to be made North of the border. It's On has a digital gangster feel, horn stabs riding a minimal old-school beat. Profisee's lyrics come to the fore on Work, which has echoes of Ty's conscious flow. D.I.Y. featuring MC Simba is an uptempo breakbeat monster, with Eastern vocal samples riding a monstrously heavy bassline as Profisee and Simba trade rhymes. The Way It Is is a departure from the band's demos, with a soulful female backing Profisee over a choppy, dubbed out rhythm. Closing track Blessed Thing contains every element that makes the Ezcape so Great – lyrics are reflective, but with a tough edge, the bass hums and drones like a drunken swarm of killer bees, and the clattering beat hits you in the chest.
The duo succeed by bringing the weight of drum and bass and grime to their hip-hop tracks without sacrificing the head-nodding qualities of their beats, or making the sound forced or cluttered. Vigilante strips back to the essentials - voice, beats and bass. With the official release of 'Escapades', Great Ezcape have neatly confirmed their position as the Scottish hip-hop group most likely to burst out of the local scene. Do yourself a favour and pick up this EP now, and catch them live for the full sub-bass rumbling experience. [Bram Gieben]
Of all the Yard MCs, Profisee is the most fascinating. His background takes in the dusty warehouses of illegal raves, where he has been both DJ and MC. He witnessed the explosion of UK garage/grime onto a tired and cliché-ridden UK hip-hop scene, and has guested with former bandmates Mister Jinx and Yush 2K, and also with Livesciences on their debut. With Great Ezcape, Profisee eclipses these brief cameos and indeed his history with the Yard, as he and Vigilante offer up some of the tastiest, most intelligent hip-hop yet to be made North of the border. It's On has a digital gangster feel, horn stabs riding a minimal old-school beat. Profisee's lyrics come to the fore on Work, which has echoes of Ty's conscious flow. D.I.Y. featuring MC Simba is an uptempo breakbeat monster, with Eastern vocal samples riding a monstrously heavy bassline as Profisee and Simba trade rhymes. The Way It Is is a departure from the band's demos, with a soulful female backing Profisee over a choppy, dubbed out rhythm. Closing track Blessed Thing contains every element that makes the Ezcape so Great – lyrics are reflective, but with a tough edge, the bass hums and drones like a drunken swarm of killer bees, and the clattering beat hits you in the chest.
The duo succeed by bringing the weight of drum and bass and grime to their hip-hop tracks without sacrificing the head-nodding qualities of their beats, or making the sound forced or cluttered. Vigilante strips back to the essentials - voice, beats and bass. With the official release of 'Escapades', Great Ezcape have neatly confirmed their position as the Scottish hip-hop group most likely to burst out of the local scene. Do yourself a favour and pick up this EP now, and catch them live for the full sub-bass rumbling experience. [Bram Gieben]
Out now àfor details see www.myspace.com/greatezcape
http://www.myspace.com/greatezcape
http://www.myspace.com/greatezcape