Fully Backed.

The first time I ever met ROB PICTON aka JOE BLOW we were both about 14 and he had just lost his front tooth in a fight. I also remember him being the only kid around the way to own more hip hop than the standard issue RUN DMC and NWA albums. That was over 15 years ago. After numerous appearances in recent years on other 12″s, mixtapes, and last autumns stunning METABEATS album, JOE BLOW finally steps into the spotlight with his own 12″ in the shape of the ‘SMOKING SKILLS’ six track EP. He sent fullybacked.com one, so here is what I have to say about it….

The EP kicks off with the immediately infectious METABEATS produced ‘Say Yeah’. It’s chilled but on point, JOE BLOW getting straight down to business commenting on the shitty bling & gun talk state of hip hop. The lyrics are brilliant and the flow is flawless – “Forget the Gat you shoot with, you lost me on the first bar, these actors that polluted rap, I’ll cripple ‘em like nerve gas”. Track two is another METABEATS concocted jam, but dirtier and more menacing than the first – and peppered with samples. JUNIOR DISPROL from DEAD RESIDENTS drops some brilliant and unhinged shit that sounds really fucking demented against the murky beat. Just when you think the track is gonna fade out it comes back round again for C MIMUS to close the deal with his recognisable dark alley delivery. ‘STREET PEEPS’ is another paranoid, plodding track, this time with QRED on production. To borrow a GLOCK N’ STEAL quote – “”The beat sounds like a quiet walk in the park meets serious female sexual assault”. ‘IT TAKES CONCENTRATION’ has been on Myspace for a while so you might already be familiar with its crisp HEKLA KOSH production, while JOE BLOW talks of FRED WEST and where his middle finger has been. FAKE PURSES is an ACKO beat, mid tempo and confident – and first verse goes to 4DEE who immediately sets it off with his effortlessly stunning rapidfire delivery. Something about this guys flow just makes me want to shadowbox around my flat like I’m watching a Tyson fight on a 50″ plasma. When JOE BLOW comes in for the second verse it hits home just how much we NEED an UNDECORATED VETERANZ album and we need it this year (right guys?). So if you see either of these guys, bust their balls about it. And just when it seems that they both have the track nailed, SKAMMA drops an equally venomous last verse. The EP closes with OPTIMAS PRIME produced ‘BLUNTS…’, a mellower track than the rest of the EP, but the perfect outro. JOE BLOW is in his element, a solid chorus hook and an uninterrupted flow which talks of the perpetual tug of war – loving music while society expects you to ‘grow up’ and become like every other sucker. As the track fades out you are filled with the feeling that this EP – like the METABEATS album – is merely a warning shot of great things to come out of Barry town.

Link: Joe Blow on Myspace
Link: Squid Ninjaz on Myspace
Link: Buy the Smoking Skills EP online at Suspect Packages
Photo: Fullybacked.com