Lewis Parker and Yungun The Big Idea 12"
I always say it about Canteen Records releases, but that’s not going to stop me saying it again! The attention they pay to the sleeve designs really adds to the overall record buying and listening experience. This time they've taken the sleeve from Kurtis Blow's "Kingdom Blow" 12 and London-ised it, with Yungun and Lewis Parker rocking the jewellery and Kangol hats like the dons they are!
So, the visual side keeps up the quality, and rest assured that once it's on the turntable it doesn't disappoint either...
"The Big Idea", the opening track, starts with a short vocal sample before breaking into a slick headnodder with Lewis Parker's crisp beats, rolling bass and delicately-placed layered vocal and synth samples. Before hearing this EP I hadn't heard much of Yungun, but from the opening line of his rap I'd decided I had to pick up some more of his stuff. He's got a confident flow, effortlessly slipping into the sung chorus which he carries off really well too. Lewis Parker does the final verse on the track, and his evolution has carried him forwards to a style and flow that his earlier work didn't hint at, but which suits him and his beats well. Throughout the EP, Yungun's deep-voiced London twang contrasts pleasingly with Lewis Parker's faster and very different flow.
The second track, "Games We Play", features Yungun alone, and he carries it off nicely. Lewis Parker supplies the excellent beats, as he does for all the tracks, and laces Yungun with synth effects, a little scratching and a funky walking bass line. YG's flow drives forward, the first verse especially demonstrating his rhythmic rhyming, slipping into another chorus, not sung this time but again nicely fitted-in to the flow of the verses.
YG's willingness to sing is again demonstrated on the EP's third and final track “Timeless”, over more slick beats that wouldn't be out of place as backing to an 80s soul track, but that at the same time sound contemporary and not out-of-place in the context of a UK rap track. Its smooth summer styles with waves of synths sum up the back-to-basics, straight-up head-nodding good-time listen-toable over-and-over-again quality of this EP.
Yungun says “I’m only young man so I don’t know shit but I know this: I hold each moment with a close grip”. I say buy this EP, stick it on the turntable, and make like Yungun...
It's out on Canteen Records on the 19th of April
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