Granite Emcees - Forever and a Day EP
Aberdeen hip-hop duo Ekizel and Chino of Granite Emcees can be proud of what they have acheived up north. Their new EP 'Forever and a Day' is as good a record as I have heard from a Scottish act in a while.
Obviously influenced by Wu-Tang with a pinch of Blade, this seven track (really eight as their is a hidden track) EP sounds as if it came straight from Shaolin than Aberdeen. The beats are fantastically produced and their rhymes strong.
The EP kicks off with a Wu like Skit and then straight into the excellent 'Extortion' which is one of the strongest tracks on the EP for me. The fact I could not stop bobbing my head and kept hitting the skip back button was a good sign.
The second track 'Hieroglyphics' , while being a good track, is for me one of the weekest on the EP. This just shows how much love they have put into making this short player and how well it is put together.
Another great track is 'Raining in My Heart' featuring VerseOne. This soulful track has the sort of beat behind it that you could imagine Ghostface Killah spitting his lyrics over.
The EP continues it's great production values with tracks 'Forever and a Day', and 'Bittersweet' featuring Eastborn. The last track(s) are remixes of Extortion and Hieroglyphics.
My only grips with this EP is that they could do without the Wu type skits and that fact it is only an EP. I can not wait until they release a long player.
2006 is the year for Scottish Hip-Hop. Represent.
Review by Chris Torres
You can purchase the album from our store.
