DJ Format - Music For The Mature B-Boy

[On The Edge of Insanity]

DJ Format - Music For The Mature B-Boy
Pias Records 2003

After making his worldwide debut on Return of the DJ Vol 2 with the track English Lesson, in 2003 DJ Format decided it was time to record an album to show his production/DJ talents on a more consistent level. Having rocked many a party across the UK, and released many mixtapes, people wanted to see what direction he would take for his debut LP, and I think it would be fair to say that not many were disappointed when the album finally dropped.

Intro - just your standard intro, with some dope vocal samples and the like.

Ill Culinary Behaviour (feat Abdominal) - the first real track on the album, and it's certainly dope. The whole concept to the track is basically using a dinner party type setting and then substituting the food for beats and rhymes, which rapper Abdominal carries out with a lot of style. The beat is pretty nice, and overall this is a good way to get the album started. 4/5

We Know Something You Don't Know (feat Chali 2na, Akil) - this is probably the most well known of the singles that were released from this album, and many people will have seen the video with Chali 2na and Akil dressed up as animals. This is sort of beat that Jurassic 5 normally rock, and it loops along at a nice pace, allowing the two emcees to spit in their normal vein. Overall a pretty dope track. 4/5

Last Bongo In Brighton Remix - the first DJ track on the album with no emcees, and it's certainly one to get those b boys and b girls rocking to the rhythm. The two breaks used throughout the track are both real dope, and mix into each other really well. The vocal samples interlaced within the beat are also very well chosen, and overall it is a very polished b boy track. 4/5

The Hit Song (feat Abdominal) - Abdominal makes his second appearance on the album, and once again comes with the dopeness. As the title perhaps gives away, the concept of the song is based on using the word hit throughout the track, and every possible connotation of the word. Abdominals wit comes through on this track with lines such as "more hits than Germans surfing fetish websites", and many more. The beat is once again real dope, which is becoming almost not worth saying on this album as every track basically has a dope beat. 4/5

Here Comes The Fuzz - the second DJ track on the album, and it's probably the first track on the album that I'm not really feeling. It just doesn't inspire like Last Bongo In Brighton, and almost seems a little too slow paced to really work. Its not that it's terrible, it just doesn't jump out at you, and is plain average really. 3/5

B Boy Code Part 2 (feat Fatski) - this track starts off like a straight old school track, with a sparse beat, and handclaps coming in and out, with Fatski spitting some dope rhymes over the top. After like 8 bars it breaks into a different, more up pace beat, and the track starts for real. Fatski then drops a verse and chorus which are both pretty good, before a DJ Format scratching session which is plain dope. Fatski then returns to drop his best verse of the track, to finish off the track. 3.5/5

Vicious Battle Raps (feat Abdominal) - this track is probably my favourite track on the whole album. The beat is amazing, and Abdominal just straight spits fire for like 3 minutes. By this point I had come to expect nothing less from Abdominal and he really doesn't disappoint. 5/5

Charity Shop Soundclash (feat Aspects) - UK group the Aspects hook up with Format for this track. By the title I'm guessing that the samples used on the track were found in charity shops, but if they were then I think every budding producer/DJ needs to get down to their local charity shops and start digging. The beat is a basic drum loop, mixed with a subtle piano riff, and a rumbling bassline. The Aspects are pretty good rappers, but the one who spits the second verse ruins some of the track's appeal, because it's a very average verse at best. Overall though it can't ruin the track, which is still real dope. 4/5

A Little Bit Of Soul - the first of two DJ tracks back to back to close out the album and it's a good one. Not that fast paced, but the strings at the start combined with the bass really get you hypnotised into the rhythm of the track. When the soul samples start coming into the mix, the track starts to get onto near classic level, and some you the quality of DJ Format's work. 4.5/5

English Lesson Remix - a remix of his first commercially available track, and this one is once again a soundclash of epic proportions. Starting off with an amazing flute sample, and then breaking into an array of bass and mass percussion, and then almost anything else Format could find to throw into the mix, including what sounds like a Michael Caine vocal sample, some excerpts from a school lesson, and even Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer coming by for a few seconds each. If the last DJ track was good because of its simple hypnotic value, this track is the exact opposite, with changes happening so frequently, you really don't know what to expect next. A pure classic in my eyes. 5/5

When I picked up this album I really didn't know what to expect at all, but I certainly wasn't disappointed once I had heard what it had to offer. The main thing that drew me to the album was a pace of the whole thing, almost every track flows along perfectly, and you offer find yourself getting completely lost in the rhythm. Out of the emcees on the album Abdominal really impressed me. I had never heard of this cat before, but after his performances on this album I will definitely be checking him again in the future. Overall, I can wholeheartedly recommend this album to anyone who likes slightly underground sounding hiphop with a sense of humour to it, and there isn't a truly wack track on the whole album. And how many albums can you say that about these days?

Overall: 8.5/10
 

[Bramsterdam (see ya)]

good review man