Low-Life | UK Hip Hop Story | Dead Residents - Pigeon Street / Tell Em 12" [Sin Nombre]

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Dead Residents - Pigeon Street / Tell Em 12" [Sin Nombre]

Tracklist:
A1. Pigeon Street
B1. Tell Em

Dead Residents are Junior Disprol and Chud Jackson and all told they have been doing their thing since the late eighties when in a previous incarnation they were dubbed C75 (Circus 75). As with all people starting out in this era they meddled with pause tapes utilising a disco mic one of those old Amstrad towers that were supposedly 4 tracks.

Junior Disprol gets his dues from the UK underground because of his determination in dropping releases with some bigger UK artists including Taskforce and Roots Manuva and his freestyles at live shows. After last year's Poltergeist Frequency EP he is back with lesser known Chud Jackson and other close associates Sir Doofus and Optimas Prime behind the boards.

So this is a simple two track release with Pigeon Street on the A Side and Tell Em on the flip. Pigeon Street is perhaps a side step away from what we would be expecting from this group in that it is a touch more intellectual in its outlook, rather than the zany gory stuff we have heard previously. Junior Drizzle drops in a more considered manner and is for once quite understandable with his conversational manner giving himself room to form his words. Particularly observational he expounds upon everyday situations of people struggling with their everyday ordeals whether it be drug misuse or the need to carry a blade on road due to fear. The production features a set of beautiful strings and a powerful electric guitar which is a great backing for the vocals and especially stands out as being quality during the instrumental middle eight. Towards the end of the last verse JD increases the speed and intensity of his lyrics, you can sense the feeling of the emotions inside him as he spits, but he manages to keep it on a level and doesn't spoil the vibe by going over the top. This is one of those deep tales which Hip Hop is renowned for and needs an ear lending to it.

Tell Em on the other hand is altogether more raucous and enlists the help of DJ trio Monkey, Stagga and Optimas Prime to give the DJ portions of the track more prominence. This track harks back to the early days of Britcore and has many of the same qualities, a big break beat and a whole series of overlaid high samples. Junior Disprol is much more as you would expect spitting venomous rhymes interspersed with plenty of expletives.

All told this two track package is a great deal more acceptable than I had anticipated. Junior Disprol has never lived up to his hype for me, but on this piece I think he has gone some way to rise up in my estimations. Big up Sin Nombre for another quality release. Make sure you peep it.

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