Mr. Mowgli The Terror EP
Oh ish-balls I been kinda slipping lately, my review tardiness is on par with a teenage truant but I’m back like a chiropractor with “The Terror” EP from Mr. Mowgli.
I’ll be honest, I hadn’t heard of this guy until I was handed this CD by that 2hip geezer who was on his way back from another date. He was styling and profiling rockin’ some Oh No! and offered the Yellow-one a lift to work… As I was saying, not too familiar with Mr. Mowgli’s work but a quick check on his myspace page and a rotation of this EP schooled me; impressed is not a worthy word to use when mentioning this EP!!
The disc starts with a regular type intro nothing minor nor major but when the second track “The Breeding Ground” kicks in, it’s plain to see that Mr. Mowgli has got that Pifffffff when it comes to them beats. Packed with a collective of Leeds emcee’s who shout out the famous Chapeltown which was once home to prominent MC’s like Skinnyman and Humurak D Gritty. The spitting is quality but a few of the emcees lack the charisma that others on the track have but in all Mr. Mowgli directs traffic well with a great soundscape that allows the MC’s to express themselves. I’m feeling the Leeds accent too, very gritty!!
The next track features Boomstick, who I read about in HHC magazine a few months ago. He wasn’t the prettiest looking of guys but the reviewer said he was the truth and he didn’t lie. Got some ill styles and did the epic sounding beat great justice. The beat is very in your face yet has an eerie element that would be at home either in a horror flick or on Arnie’s Last Action Hero! Damn Boomstick killed this track big ups for that my man!
The “Welcome to Britain” skit was very height-of-the-second-world war and was probably sampled from an old advert. This stamps the release with a genuine British feel and you know what, it’s refreshing because a lot of UK producers are really chasing that 1990’s New York sound but Mr. Mowgli seems to have found his own identity.
The next track is called “Up North” and features Spida Lee who is a very potent emcee but not really a standout artist; he could have tucked into “The Breeding Ground” track quite easily and gone unnoticed. The beat though is the real star, it’s really strange when the instrumental sounds more important than the emcee but this is only a testament to the slickness Mr. Mowgli possesses!
Track 6 is called “Armshouse” and from first impressions I wasn’t too bothered or excited at the prospect of sitting through it. As it kicked in the MC was on some ragga style which I wasn’t feeling and the lyrics weren’t really ground breaking so I thought the track was weak, it’s a remix though so maybe the original was phat.
In all this release is a strong one, maybe Mr. Mowgli should branch out and try to work with some more established UK MC’s because his beats really are fire and I really hope to hear more from him. I was a bit disappointed that there was no MC Devvo and Shady Piez collabo tucked in there but that would have been for the point of sheer comedy. Crystal Meffin…I’m only messin’ haha.
impressed is not a worthy word to use when mentioning this EP!!
- Louis BosToNNe
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