Konnichiwa by Skepta
Konnichiwa by Skepta
There'll never be a day when I don't make music / Cause silent? Nah that's not me
I had never heard of Skepta before. So, I started searching for some biographical information; something beyond a Wikipedia page. His X bio goes like this: “Artist/Movie Director/Producer/Designer/DJ.”1 Not too deep. So I looked further and found this:
Skepta is a British grime artist, rapper, record producer, and songwriter, famous for his raps that are full of self-aggrandizement and anti-establishment sloganeering. With four studio albums and five mixtapes, this Tottenham-born record producer and music video director has worked his way up the ladder in the music industry with great determination. His influence as a key grime artist on the British popular culture earned him a position on Debrett's 2017 list of the most influential people in the UK. He shot to fame in the grime scene after he won an MC battle where over 300 people contested. He became popular throughout Greater London with his hit single ‘Private Caller’. Today, he has effectively captured the attention of the next-gen population, and has achieved widespread recognition despite remaining an independent artist. He draws big crowds at festivals and events globally.2
Grime? That’s new to me. (I’m old….) Now I have to look up grime. According to Music Industry How To, Grime emerged in the UK around the turn of the century. Like any new genre, grime grew out of other styles, most notably UK Garage, and merged and hybridized them to create unique characteristics. Jamaican and Ghanian music are strong influences on grime. Most songs focus on life on the streets. Grime music focuses on beats and rap-style lyrics, though many artists sing on grime tracks. Beats tend to stay around 140 BPM, bringing rapid syncopated breakbeats to bear. Emceeing is a prominent part of grime culture, with many artists DJing, especially in the earlier years of the genre.3 For a deeper look at Grime, read the entire article: What Is Grime Music? With 7 Top Examples & History. I learned a lot today and that is a major pillar of this project, so today is a satisfying excursion.
This album suffers at times, in my eyes/ears, from what is too common in contemporary rap: too much cursing. I’m no prude. I curse. A lot. And I do not object to cursing in music. But when a song contains dozens of curse words (or any artistic endeavor for that matter), I wonder why the writer resorts to this crutch so often. Cursing is effective to emphasize certain emotions or ideas, but when it is overused, the effect is greatly diminished, and I start to lose interest. There are some notable exceptions like “Fuck You” by CeeLo Green and “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, two songs that use excessive cursing very effectively. But not every song is enhanced by this level of R-rated words and for the most part I find songs heavy with cursing and foul language lacking in artistic imagination.
Having said that, I do find Skepta’s flow very appealing. He sounds good. The beats are excellent. I like the ambition of the subject matter and respect what he’s trying to do with this record. Three songs deep into the album really caught my ear: “Man”, “Shutdown”, and “That’s Not Me”. Really strong songs expressing a very firm and distinguishable look at how Skepta thinks. I can easily see why Konnichiwa accumulated so many accolades including landing at 4th on NME’s best albums of 20164 and the Mercury Prize5. My Rating:
Enjoy and listen without prejudice. Cheers!
Prime Playlist: 172. Konnichiwa by Skepta
“Skepta’s fourth album was a landmark release in the story of grime…In 2016 grime was at its most powerful and potent, and Skepta was at the head of it all.”6
“Out of Skepta's first few proper albums, Konnichiwa was easily the most successful. It reached number two in the grime MC's native U.K.”7
“With Konnichiwa, Skepta hoists grime to another level. It’s not just a case of his lyrical prowess, which goes some way deeper than most of his peers; it’s the way that he has fiercely retained control over his own destiny, overseeing everything from mastering to merchandise through the Boy Better Know collective.”8
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For details about this project, read this: Project 1001 Albums
Charts
• Peak on Billboard 200 album chart: #1609
• Singles on Billboard Hot 100 chart: n/a
• RIAA certification:
Released on September 23, 1991. Here’s what else was happening:
Pop Culture
• Number one song: “Work” by Rihanna featuring Drake10
• Number one album: Cleopatra by The Lumineers11
• Number one movie: Captain America: Civil War by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo12
• Most watched TV programs: The Big Bang Theory, The Odd Couple, Mom, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, The Blacklist, Keeping Up with the Kardashians13
• NYT bestseller, fiction:
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction:
Some other albums released around the same time
• The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever by BTS
• Detour by Cyndi Lauper
• Ripcord by Keith Urban
• Thank You by Meghan Trainor
• A Moon Shaped Pool by Radiohead
• Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper
• The Heart Speaks in Whispers by Corinne Bailey Rae
• The Concrete Confessional by Hatebreed14
Sport
• May 2 Leicester City win the English Premier League title after starting the season at 5,000-1 odds.
• May 7 142nd Kentucky Derby: 3-1 chance Nyquist ridden by Mario Gutierrez wins in front of second largest attendance of 167,227.
• May 14 Gabriel Medina becomes the first surfer ever to land the move "Backflip" in competition.15
Notable Births
TBD
Historical Events
• May 8 Sadiq Khan (L) is elected Mayor of London, becomes the 1st Muslim mayor of a major Western city.
• May 9 Rodrigo Duterte wins Philippine presidential election, promising war on drug trade and killing of criminals.
• May 10 Indian fertility clinic announces that a 70-year-old woman has successfully gave birth to a baby boy.16
Notable Deaths
• May 2 Afeni Shakur, mother of Tupac Shakur, Black Panther Party member, dies at 69.
• May 7 Harold Kroto, English chemist, (Nobel Prize laureate 1996), dies at 76
• May 8 William Schallert, American character actor (Patty Duke Show - "Martin"; Get Smart - "The Admiral"), dies at 93.17