Greatest Hits - Skepta

...after.

8. Greatest Hits

**One Star**

You would expect this to be an exciting track since it's name is used for the title of LP, but it isn't it's very plain and predictable, nothing happens in it at all, we are forced to listen to a strange bouncing noise with som plain East London raps on top of it.

Again, he talks about his "Boy Better Know" tees, displaying clearly the lack ...
...things he has gone over in the album before. This isn't a good sign on your debut album, he should be showing off how good he is at this stage of his career, especially if he wishes to advance it.

9. In a Corner

**Four Stars**

I must have heard this track before this, because it seems familiar to me. I feel this is part of the reason that it sticks out to me on the album, even from the first few seconds. ... more

This is the debut album from Roll Deep member Skepta on the Boy Better Know record company, owned by himslef and Grime MC, JME. It is the first to be released by the company nationally, a break-through for this small London-based company.

The artwork for the cover features a vinyl on a orange background, giving it an old-fashioned feel, despite the fact that his style of Grime is very modern and still in its developmental stages. The aged feel continues beyond the cover and expands to the back where the letering expands this feeling, even the name-plate on the front gives this feel.

Personally, Grime isn't my thing, I tend to prefer rap and Hip Hop from the United States, but I decided to give Skepta a go, because I liked JME's single "Serious", and he is a co-founder of Boy Better Know, so there';s a chance that I may enjoy him too. The only urban sound I liked from the UK was Garage from 1998-2001, this phased-out and it has advanged too much for my liking.

1. The Journey

**Three Stars**

This is a intro to the album, it allows to understand where Skepta came from, and it doesn't start from his times as a chid, it's earlier, "When I say I came out of my dad's hole", if you still don't understand he says that "Now I'm in a race with all these tadpoles" you will probably understand that he's starting from as early as possible, he goes into various detail which don't need to be explained from here. He talks about his days "...In a bag of water" and then talks about his first day where he already knew he was a celebrity.

"The Journey" is a completely and fully-detailed account of all the major events leading up to becoming a Grime artist. As after his first day where everyone talks to him "...like he's on the Planet of the Apes" we go to nursery, primary and secondary school, where he claims to be a "Bad boy at Engish...then all of a sudden some new music was born...". We are left at this few a few seconds, it makes you think that straight after finishing school, he came across some new genre of music wich changed his lfie, so the arrative commentary ends.

2. I'm There

**Two Stars**

This one has a football chant beat in the backround with the chant of "Skep-ta" being said by himself. he sounds very arrogant this earl on in the album as I must has heard his name twenty times already and we are only in the beginning of the second track. This track expands te idea of him being very famous by saying "I'm here, I'm there, no matter how far you go "I'm there" he's saying that he's already a big-time famous face without even releasing a album yet. I can't say that I even know what he looks like, so he can't be that successful yet (he doesn't even have a Wikipedia page).

The only thing I like about this track is that the beat is sick, it's a heavy one with a big bassline to it, exapnding throughout the tune. all of the comparison he makes just makes him sound childis, saying that Prada has nothing in his "Boy Better Know" tees, which come in two colour varieties, black-on-white, or white-on-black (of course this is something stupid to claim). He continues to say how Dizzee and Wiley woun't be able to compete once he has got started, but he's obviously not got a chance of getting to this level.

3. Doin' It Again

**Four Stars**

I had heard this long before the release of this album and I liked it then, and nothings really changed. I feel that after what was a bad start, it was important to gt people like me back into the music by coming out wityh a track we would have heard of before, so that we become more confident in his abilities.

This track has a grimey bass that I just can't over, it is th foundation of the track. Although it is very repetitve and souns quite strange, it really works in with Skepta. Other Grime artists back him up, most notably JME and Jammer, providing a verse each, along with others over this big tune

4. Listen Up

**Two Stars**

This one was a beat to it that I can only descibe as chavvy, it sounds like something you would hear when you walk past chavs, all with their phones out, it just doesn't have any destinctive sounds, the beat sounds muffled.

You hear his arrogance come out when he says that he called his album "Greatest Hits, cuz all of [his] old music is better than your latest s***", he doesn't direct this to anyone in particular, just so that he can say that he challenged a vast amount of people, the line is so plain and it seems as though he hasn't got the lyrical talent as other Grime MCs do. I find this to be ironic as he later compares himself to "Dip Set, D-Block and G-Unit", he is nowhere near their level, not that I rate any of those camps either.

5. I Spy

**Two Stars**

This track features The Murkle Man, Jammer, an East London Grime MC. He is another artist whose music genre isn't something I would immediately go for, but I don't mind listening to his music. I feel that his input improves the album as Skepta has really annoyed me up ot this point.

My opinion on Skepta hasn't been altered after hearing the chorus: "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with a capital 'P'". He just manipulates things that you would usually enjoy to a point where you hate it. Just in case you wanted to know what he could see, it's "Paper" (money), because he says he's earing loads and is able to see it everywhere, he gets dollars, euros and even yen (why would anyone won't to hear his raps in Japan).

6. Single

**One Star**

This track is for the girls, so you would usually expect that it is slower and has more subtle sounds to it. This isn't the case as ther are many weird electronic noises throughout, making up the beat. I just don't understand him at all.

This track shows how shallow Skepta is, he says he will take any girl as long as she is single. I can't beleive his style, it's not even as if someone would find this humorous, so why does he have to say it. By this time, not even half-way through the album , I am reall wondering why I decided to buy this album, I don't even know someone who would like to listen to this.

7. Ayia Napa 2006 Skit (Skit)

Something that I admire Skepta for is using only one skit. Some use many to make the most of their gimmick on a debut album, but he chose to only put one on here. This is a reasonably long skit as it goes into a song after.

8. Greatest Hits

**One Star**

You would expect this to be an exciting track since it's name is used for the title of LP, but it isn't it's very plain and predictable, nothing happens in it at all, we are forced to listen to a strange bouncing noise with som plain East London raps on top of it.

Again, he talks about his "Boy Better Know" tees, displaying clearly the lack of lyrical talent of this aritst, he is already repeating things he has gone over in the album before. This isn't a good sign on your debut album, he should be showing off how good he is at this stage of his career, especially if he wishes to advance it.

9. In a Corner

**Four Stars**

I must have heard this track before this, because it seems familiar to me. I feel this is part of the reason that it sticks out to me on the album, even from the first few seconds. I must say that I enjoyed listening to this more all the others, apart from "Doin' It Again".

We are greeted with something we hadn't heard up to this point in the album, fast rapping, this really compliments the high tempo of the backing beat. I think that the only reason why I enjoyed listening to this tune in particular is that it's a collaboration, so it will be more of the other artists wo made this such a good track to listen to.

10. Not Your Average Joe

**Two Stars**

This is a slow track, but it isn't quite smooth because it has an very distinctive high-hat beat to it. It's very boring and the beat doesn't change at all during the whole three and a half minutes it spans for. Yet again he brings up his record label, and the t-shirt with it branded across the front. I'm sure that I don't have to explain by now what this means, because it's obvious what this means about the quality of his raps.

Just to get on the side of his fans, he talks about the criminal activty he has partcicpated in in the past, he says that he went through a red light when he saw the police watching him (bad man), he really needs to grow up if he wishes to get the right audience behind him, but who you listen to this.

11. Sweet Mother

**Two Stars**

This one is quite simple, the tempo is pretty regular: not too fast or slow, and Skepta bring some of his waste rhymes about nothing in particular. There is something different about this song though, because it as a continental feel once it gets into the chorus when there is some singing, but it doesn't really do anything for the tune.

Generally, there isn't anything to say about this track. It's a typical B-side, nothing specail to it, not one that people are likely to enjoy or make you want to get the album for. This eems to be the overall trend for the entire album.

12. Shape Shifting

**Three Stars**

This one takes a while to begin, but when it does, he introduces himself and where he has come from. This is a strange track, he starts as himself, then shape shifts into Tim Westwood for some reason, thn raps as him. he then turns into other various personalties which you may recognise.

I liked listening to this just for the fact that he does something origianal. Nothing else about it really sticks uot. I bet that this track would work well as a video, it may already be one for all I know, but the music itself isn't that good.

13. Blood, Sweat and Tears

**Two Stars**

This is one to get all his fans to think that he cares about the histry of black people, so he drops some names like Matrin Luther King and Bob Marley and talks about their struggles for acceptance. I just don't trust that he actually cares, he's just doing it so that the listeners see a different side to him and they think that they are intelligent for knowing some history, he doesn't tell us anything new.

You may think that I'm being harsh for saying all of this, but it's the truth, just put on a sombre sounding beat and rap as if you are in an emotional mood and this is all he needs to makes the track work, but I just don't trust him.

14. Cold Turkey

**Three Stars**

I quite like the beat for this track, it doesn't sound as British as all the other ones from before, it could have been from an American producer, but it doesn't repay all the damage from before in th album.

Skepta seems to be in a pleasant mood bby this time in the album, it's too late in my opinion, he has been arrogant and annoying throughout and at the end he just decies to tone down his attitude to tell his family that he loves them and he is completely satsfied with all his success up to this point.

At last Skepta's album is done, I never have to listen to this again and needless to say, I won't be buying another album from him. I really didn't like this but others who listen to grime more frequently may appreciate Skepta's music more than me. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, unless I was sure that they would like to listen to this type of music, and specifically Skepta's 

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