Bang On! - [sic]…

Artist: Bang On!

Album: [sic]

Label: Big Dada Recordings

Release Date: May 14^th

Allow me to introduce you to [sic] – the debut album, and insight into the mind of Elliot Eggerton, aka Bang On!; one of the most exciting talents to come out of Merseyside in recent memory.

Now, I’ll admit, I haven’t been too familiar with a lot of Liverpudlian MCs prior to Bang On!’s debut album arriving on our doorstep. Nevertheless, I’d heard his name crop up on Charlie Sloth’s Grime Up North documentary (see here) earlier this year — along with lots of other promising talent from the north — and subsequently checked out a short documentary Channel 4 had done with him. This being the case, when I received the album, along with its interesting cover art, I couldn’t help but check it out.

One quick glance at the tracklist and you may find yourself writing off the album as your stereotypical hip hop project looking to be controversial — and with track titles such as; Your Gay and F**k Everybody, you may just be forgiven for thinking that. However, after hitting play and taking a deeper listen to the project, that assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. Bang On! provides a cleverly witty and satirical approach to everything that many would naively expect from a white MC hailing from Liverpool. In the same way Jay-Z famously incorporated the word “bitch” in to his 2004 hit, 99 Problems, in an attempt to fool some of his most unwitting critics in to believing the lyrics were a misogynistic slur (which wasn’t the case); Bang On! plays with the stereotypes associated with his own image and cleverly wins the listener over with a mixture of humour and astute wordplay.

By all means, [sic] is far from a sonically crisp piece of work, but for that matter, neither were the debuts from Dizzee Rascal, Mike Skinner or any other subversive artist with something to say. And who wants polished sounds in hip hop anyway, eh? Not me. The album oozes distinct, gritty sounds, and hilarious colloquial terms are scattered throughout. Some may argue that the accent barrier could hinder the understanding and interpretation of the album; however, the slang words and phrases merely add to its appeal. After all, it wasn’t all that long ago that we were forced to decipher the hordes of American rap we were exposed to – and we soon managed to figure that out, right? So an artist from a few miles up the M1 shouldn’t be a problem, surely.

The album embeds a vivid image of Liverpool in the listener’s mind, with Bang On!’s candid and self-aware lyricism offering a refreshingly honest portrayal of his surroundings; something very few emcees can execute correctly, especially when highlighting much of the mundane episodes of everyday life. He raps on, The Winge, “I’m stoned at breakfast, get this, tell me what’s a lad to do/ content with sh*t ‘telly and a stagnant brew/ broke as Britain, physically snapped in two/ sleepin’ in ‘til 3 in the afternoon.” He goes on to inject some humour with, “See I know nobody likes workin’/ but most bosses seem quite certain/ I’m not the right person/ for the post which I applied, in turn implying that I’m worse than/ the bird serving me a cheeseburger that couldn’t seem to prepare mine without gherkins.”

Although much of his mic skills are clearly hip hop-influenced, it would be very difficult to attach a specific label to Bang On!‘s sound as the tracks throughout the album vary considerably. However, he has been known to describe his sound as “punk-donk-dub-hip-hop,” which, if anything, pretty much sums up the chaos that can be found in the majority of the album. One thing’s for sure though, you can expect bass — that’s the most prominent theme throughout. Highlight tracks include the infectious, Got It; laid-back, The Winge and the boisterous, Hands High, to name a few.

All in all, [sic] serves as a promising introduction to an artist whose distinct creative ability provides assurance that great things are to come. The album encompasses all the elements of a well-rounded hip hop album; content, flows, originality and most importantly, honesty. Whilst serving as an example that, with a small investment from a label who welcome creativity (shouts out to Big Dada), and an artist willing to put the work in; the most obscure talent can be offered a platform to stand up against the best in their field, and still flourish.

You can pre-order [sic] from iTunes now.

Alternatively, grab your copy when it’s released May 14th.