Karizma remembers the days when DJs had to be versatile and play a range of styles from soul and hip hop to funk and reggae and despite his early house obsession and rising popularity in the still green world of UK funky this album is a reflection of a beat loving eclectic soul.
Just to remind you of his versatility Karizma kicks off with a fresh nu-soul groove graced with the sweet vocals of Monique Bingham before you are swiftly reminded of his recent UK funky credentials with the sorrowful strings, incessant hand claps and sampled trumpet of ‘Beat Dis’, a Peckham party rocker for sure.
The tempo drops but that broken, shuffling house sound remains with the altogether more uplifting ‘Kaytrolude’ as jazzy synths and an optimistic bass line tell a sunnier dancefloor tale. Those classic synth sounds then reappear again as the tempo drops further with the bass heavy hip hop instrumental, ‘If You Don’t Know’
Afro horns and a motherland vibe offer a glimpse of what Fela could sound like in the new millennium if he were still alive and living in Baltimore, on the 10 minute broken house epic ‘The Ganni’ before Karizma slaps you round the chops with the percussive, hypnotic electro monster ‘Necessary Madness’, another house not house winner.
Dijini Brown lays down the lyrics on the post Dilla beats of ‘Stone Microphone’ , a little taster for the promised hip hop album due later in the year. This is one artist who isn’t short on ideas and versatility.
You should be getting the idea by now. Karizma is an eclectic beat obsessive with his roots firmly in the Afro American music scene of the 20th century but with his own peculiar vision on where those influences should be as we roll into the twenty first century. Pleasingly with his house tempo tunes he’s also got his own unique signature sound designed for maximum dancefloor devastation.
Karizma Myspace
R2 Records
