June 23, 2009

Album Review: Bashy - 'Catch Me If You Can'

Another grime hero bites the dust

4 / 10 As one of the few grime artists not called Dizzee who still nurtures mainstream hopes, Bashy has rejected the genre’s toothy rhythms, implementing gloopy female vocals and, er, N-Dubz. ‘Living My Dream’ is the worst offender – a wholesale castration of grime’s vitality influenced by the smooth undulations of R&B. The more up-tempo tracks fare better: ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ is a sun-baked cocktail of baile funk horns and glutinous sub-bass, ‘She’s A Gangsta’ an arc of rave burbles. But while it’s refreshing to hear positive views on women and knife crime, this is the aural equivalent of one of those Channel 4 ‘yoot’ dramas you wouldn’t be seen dead watching.

Louise Brailey