Search - Roots Manuva :: Brand New Second Hand

Runnin' tings proper.

brothernumber1 | Auckland, New Zealand. | 09/05/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"At first, you may be put off buying this album, especially if you are no great hiphop fan. I had heard one track before "clockwork", and was hoping for some intelligent rap. I was skeptical, because everyone knows British hiphop sucks, don't they?This album busts down that stereotype, and should be seen as a warning to the USA, that others are producing brilliant hiphop too. Roots Manuva has a distinctive style that takes some getting used to, and at first I only liked a few tracks. However the album has definately grown on me, as I kept going back again and again, discovering fresh tracks.The lyrics are intelligent, and refreshingly free of the gangsta stereoypes of some US hiphop. The beats are hard and funky, but if you're looking for more "Dusted" (the track he did with leftfield), you may be disappointed, the feel here is much more hiphop.Tracks such as "Baptism" "Soul Decay" and "Fever" all carry different feelings, and meanings. My favourite has to be "motion 5000" with its brilliant string arrangement perfectly complementing the rhymes..All up, a mind blowing album that will renew your faith in hiphop.Oh yeah, if you have the album and are looking for other tracks from Roots, I can recommend "jusjus" with Mr. Scruff, and "Starlight" with The Herbaliser."

Roots Manuva's Debut is a stunning UK based Hip-Hop Entry...

fetish_2000 | U.K. | 06/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Roots Manuva - "Brand New Second Hand": Roots Manuva (aka "Rodney smith"), has managed to crave out something of a niche following for himself in the UK, since this his 1999 Debut "Brand New Second Hand", a supremely talent Rapper/Producer, who's intriguing take on UK life, through a distinctly Jamaican ideals and mentality, have garnered him various awards in the UK press (and narrowly missing a 'Mercury Music' award) . Unfortunately for him, the UK hip-hop market, just isn't anywhere near as big as it's US equivalent, and so, his albums (all critically appladed), just haven't managed to translate into significant sales. But please don't let that stop you from picking up this album for one of the UK's most incisive and distinctive voices.



One of the main appeals of Roots Manuva's work, isn't just the swaggering beats or the distinctly original approach to production, which is a mixture of swaggering rhythms, hard-edged beats, syncopated percussion, a strong tendency toward dubwise beats, bottomless bass and reverberating vibes, or oddball squelches and aggressive sounds and energetic thumps. It's that it owes as much to: Ragga, Dancehall, Electronica, & Dub, as it does U.K. Hip-Hop, and although there's a strong element of bass heavy sounds, it's the diversity and ingenuity of production throughout the album that immediately impresses.



but as hugely impressive as the production sides of things are, it also equally as much to do with the fact that he is a distinctly impressive lyricist/Vocalist. One that sees things from a decidedly UK urban standpoint, throwing his thoughts, views, ideas over a great many social concerns / injustices / inequality, and yet is able to command a presence and strength in his persona, that transcends his contemporaries, and pushes him into a field of of his own. He is intelligent, humble but most of all conscious, pouring scour on: weak-minded individuals led into temptation ("Movements"), trying to make sense of life in general ("Juggle Tings"), The problem of the mind playing trick on you ("Strange Behaviour"), which are all delivered with a gritty and slightly gruff vocal delivery that cement the seriousness of his subject matter. His themes although resolutely embedded in a strong urban take on things, belie the fact that he is arguably one of the finest talents in the UK rap scene, and few (if any), come close to matching his production skills, style, voice and rhymes, as they are all so uniquely him, that nobody else seems to mimic quite the direction he seems intent on taking his music.



Roots Manuva may always seem to condemned to a cult audience, not because of a lack of quality control on his albums, but purely because it's far harder for UK acts to make waves internationally, and coupled with the fact that Roots Manuva's label (Big Dada) has seemingly lacked the marketing muscle to truly push him into the general public consciousness. Instead having the rely on Critical acclaim (of which he has had a great deal), and word of mouth, to draw people into his curious mixture of Dancehall inflected Hip-Hop. All Roots Manuva's albums demand investigation. yet each release, sees him finding his feet & confidence with each successive album, and for those that are yet to actually buy an album of his, and are undecided, I'll suggest that this album is the perfect primer, if you've heard some of his work, and are curious for more. And this will (hopefully) lead you onto his subsequent albums, which grow broader in sound and lyrical complexity, culminating in 2005's exceptional career best."

Best Acquisition of the Year

A. Bennett | Washington, DC United States | 02/02/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The one note of warning: skip that second track. Boy is it bad. Otherwise, this album is one of the great moments in music in which an artist with a unique sound, unique perspective and unique purpose come together to form a power which can't be ignored. Roots Manuva expresses an intelligent, politically charged message without resorting to the almost whining self-consciousness of the anti-gansta movement. This album is dark, smooth and lyrically unique in ways which make most American acts look like first-graders writing their first rhymes. Yet another example that the Real Thing is happening not just outside New York City but outside the United States altogether."