January 18, 2013
Roots Manuva - 'Banana Skank EP'
This EP isn’t going to bag Roots Manuva a retirement fund
7 / 10
These are fine times indeed for British hip-hop, with mainstream artists and underground acts both thriving, a burgeoning battle scene picking up millions of views on YouTube and the likes of Rodney Smith aka Roots Manuva fashioning an actual paying career out of rap. The four tracks on this EP aren’t going to bag him a retirement fund, being as they are odd meldings of dubby electronica and ragga-tinged spitting, but Manuva’s cute hooks and swagger belie his 40 years, and the woozy, pared-down ‘Natural’ is something else entirely. Unsurprisingly ace.
Pete Cashmore
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