Speech Debelle | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Layering laid-back poetry and stirring confessionals over wandering jazz and soul beats from another era, Brit MC Speech Debelle quickly earned a following for her honest hip-hop concoctions in the late 2000s. Her dreamy style a translucent mask for a hard-edged early life of struggle and sorrow, a sense of life truly lived pervades her music, from her fully formed backing band, the Therapists, to her broken cadences and heart-on-sleeve lyrics. British-born Jamaican Debelle (real name: Corynne Elliot) grew up in South London, taking up rap in her early teens, but falling in love with all sorts of music. An absentee father, spells of homelessness, and other hardships poured into the music on her 2009 debut, Speech Therapy. The record earned stellar reviews, but she truly burst into international prominence when the record won the 2009 Mercury Prize. However, all the praise did not translate to sales, and the MC made it known that she was frustrated with her label. Despite the friction, she remained with Big Dada and released her second album, Freedom of Speech, in February 2012. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 3 Title: Speech Therapy Released: 2009-06-01 Tracks: 13 Duration: 51:15 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Searching (03:33) 2 The Key (02:59) 3 Better Days (04:00) 4 Spinnin’ (03:36) 5 Go Then, Bye (04:29) 6 Daddy’s Little Girl (03:52) 7 Bad Boy (04:19) 8 Wheels in Motion (03:27) 9 Live & Learn (03:29) 10 Working Weak (03:20) 11 Buddy Love (04:11) 12 Finish This Album (05:11) 13 Speech Therapy (04:45) |
| Speech Therapy : Allmusic album Review : This album was about five years in the making -- thats how much time elapsed between the young Speech Debelles first visit to Londons Big Dada label and studio (home of underground hip-hop legend Roots Manuva) , where she quickly recorded the outline of "Searching," and the eventual release of Speech Therapy, which was largely recorded in Australia at the temporary studio of producer Wayne Lotek. Its interesting to consider how different the album would sound if it had been recorded in London rather than Melbourne; as it is, Speech Therapy is one of the most unique hip-hop albums youre likely to hear. There dont seem to be any samples or turntablism. Instead, the grooves are supplied mostly by acoustic instruments, and many of them are lightly, skitteringly jazzy -- notice in particular the soft, jazz-inflected accompaniment that adds an entirely new dimension to Debelles nervous and unsettled rapping on "Searching" and "Better Days," and notice also the subtle but elegantly complex rhythmic displacements in the lyric to "The Key." On "Bad Boy," sweet strings and jungly drums push nicely against each other, and on the kiss-off rap "Go Then, Bye" a lushly beautiful acoustic guitar and small string ensemble accompany a startlingly angry and unsettled rap. There are, inevitably, a couple of clunkers: Debelles flow is awkward on "Working Weak," and "Finish This Album" is a bit too literally self-referential. But those are minor missteps compared to the great strengths of this very fine debut. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 3 Title: Freedom of Speech Released: 2012-02-13 Tracks: 12 Duration: 53:10 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Studio Backpack Rap (04:01) 2 Live for the Message (03:51) 3 Blaze Up a Fire (04:19) 4 Elephant in the Living Room (04:02) 5 X Marks the Spot (03:49) 6 Angel Wings (03:29) 7 Shawshank Redemption (04:23) 8 Im with It (03:43) 9 The Problem (04:17) 10 Collapse (05:04) 11 Eagle Eye (04:53) 12 Sun Dog (07:13) |
| Freedom of Speech : Allmusic album Review : This is where she starts showing off. Two years after her startlingly original and borderline-brilliant debut album, Speech Debelle is now the most interesting and possibly the most exciting British MC on the scene. This is partly due to the fierce intelligence of her rhymes, and partly to the newly dark and insistent power of her beats, crafted in collaboration with Kwes. But its mostly down to the jaw-dropping grace and nimbleness of her flow, which is pretty much peerless. Hip-hop that talks about hip-hop is usually tiresome, but on "Studio Backpack Rap" she plays with the beats so expertly and rhymes so slyly (matching "lesbian" with "thespian," for example) that you find yourself hanging on her every syllable. When she teams up with Roots Manuva and Realism on the rabble-rousing "Blaze Up a Fire," she eases up and cools out, offering a nice contrast to her guests more nervous and rapid-fire delivery. But she really shines on "X Marks the Spot," a complex relationship song that perfectly showcases her greatest strengths: her flow is rock-solid but nimble and complex and apparently effortless despite the weird and shifting beats -- her performance evokes the mental image of someone hopping gracefully across a treacherous river on very small stones, never losing her footing. The album-closing "Sun Dog" finds her returning to the sound of her debut, delivering a hushed and hurried stream of words over languid strings and a minimal beat. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 3 Title: Tantil Before I Breathe Released: 2017-03-17 Tracks: 10 Duration: 41:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Ode II September (02:58) 2 Running (04:45) 3 Strange Ways (03:03) 4 Level (03:24) 5 Fish Tea (04:04) 6 Term and Conditions (04:49) 7 The Knowing (03:23) 8 I Heard Pac (05:31) 9 The Work (04:09) 10 No War No Peace (04:59) |