September 25, 2001
Roots Manuva : Dreamy Days
Roots Manuva, pitching up against the US hip-hop heavy weights...
On a scale of one to naff, how naff is it to compare rappers to boxers? Nine out of naff? Never mind. Roots Manuva is the first British rapper in aeons who can confidently pitch up against the US hip hop heavyweights. His baritone delivery is fearsome and his music rumbles with a dubby density informed uniquely by his Brixton locale. 'Dreamy Days' is his 'Hard Knock Life', his pop song with a catchphrase. That catchphrase is "we'll have fun and lots of laughter" and 'Dreamy Days'' lurching charm insists that for Manuva that catchphrase may well prove a prediction.
Ted Kessler
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