Album Review by Mark Bayross
Volume number four of the BADMEANINGOOD series, and it’s the turn of the London-based trio Tony Vegas, Plus One and Prime Cuts – collectively known as Scratch Perverts – to compile for us their influences, and underline what for them defines hip hop.
Across the album’s 20 tracks, the Scratch Perverts (can I call them the Perverts?) have thrown together what is probably the most entertaining selection of the series, with the early triumvirate of The Specials’ GHOST TOWN, 24 Carat Black’s GHETTO: MISFORTUNE’S WEALTH and Kool G Rap’s STREETS OF NEW YORK sharing a common theme despite their difference in era and setting, neatly underlining the relevance of hip-hop across the globe in the last few decades.
The Scratch Perverts have stated that one objective of this compilation was to demonstrate the variety that hip hop represents, as Prime Cuts says, “hip hop is a celebration of all kinds of music just by its very nature”. So, alongside the likes of Doctor Octagon, Schooly D, Blackalicious and Gang Starr, you’ll find Minnie Ripperton, DJ Shadow and even some off-kilter dub from Squarepusher.
The collection ends in style with an exclusive new track from the Perverts themselves, the frantic BEAT DOWN, which should provide fans with a hint as to what to expect next from the trio. It’s a great way to end what is a striking collection, its diverse influences fused together with the coherence you would expect from mixers of this calibre.
The best of the bunch so far.
