Est’elle, Jeff 3, Karl Hinds, Rodney P, Roots Manuva and Skeme play the remaining “magnificent six”. Of course, Mr. Manuva would be a Steve McQueen equivalent as all his contributions here are pure ‘roots’ but cheeky, with a comical glint in his lyrical eye so to speak, particularly on ‘Outlaws Day Off’. This track is a good an example of the project’s UK mix-up of hip hop, R&B, reggae, dancehall and funk.

The cinema comparison continues with ‘adverts’ that are mainly provided by ‘Ard Bastard. He takes the persona of an Eastenders hard man to the extent that ‘Ard Bastard Talks Skit’ might be a typo. Having said that, he says it like it is on the interlude on ‘Joni Rewind FM’, which made me laugh the first time round. Bo! Biggy Pauls.

The ‘Seven’ feature on five tracks of which current favourite is ‘Ohh Ohh!’ where Est’elle gets featured more than most. Also, on the openers ‘U Wot’ (which I was a fan of when it came out as a single earlier this year) and another pervious 12”, ‘Ere Comes Da Black’. There is one Blacknificent ‘Four’ which utilizes the theme music of the film in the beats and it’s a good one that will be forever cool for that reason alone, even if the rap is a worn out music industry slag-off.

The ‘reggae’ section is covered by ‘Survival’ and ‘Wheel & Turn’. The latter also finds Roots on top form and a bit leftfield, which makes it another Hectic top track. There’s lots of swearing on the album and the subject matter of ‘Mrs Onda’Syde’ speaks for itself. And then there’s ‘Stay Black’/’Black Out Vibez’ all about the power of ‘blacknificence’ on the downtempo beat.

Admittedly, a super group of emcees doesn’t inspire much confidence but I reckon Seanie T pulls it off with some style and variety. That variety might mean less than positive reviews in the hip hop only press and whilst we try and stay ahead of the printed media at Fly, that organ of hip hop RWD gave this album a 3/5 rating. Even though they pointed out Est’elle, Manuva and Rodney P have their moments, that is mean to my ears. Even if it’s not the best album this year, it’s much better than average.

Hectic Mix nomination: ‘Stay Black’, ‘Wheel & Turn’ (at least).

Reviewed: The Blacknificent Seven - Ridin’ Thru Da Underground (Dark Horizon Rekords) Cat. No#:Tracklisting:
1. U Wot (5:24)
2. Ere Comes Da Black (3:55)
3. Outlaws Day Off (4:39)
4. Ard Bastard Talks - skit (0:24)
5. Ohh Ohh! (6:03)
6. Had E-Nuff (3:47)
7. Joni Rewind FM - skit (1:55)
8. Survival (6:03)
9. Wheel 7 Turn (3:21)
10. Mrs. Onda’syde (3:18)
11. The Exit (4:12)
12. Ard Bastard - skit (0:13)
12. Stay Black (4:07)
13. Black Out Vibez (3:24)

Links:
RWD August 2006 www.rwdmag.com
The Magnificent Seven (1960) - “Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai (1954) is westernized as The Magnificent Seven”. www.imdb.com