Wednesday 15 April 2009

Jendor - Grandmaster Review

I'm a massive Jendor fan, but I didn't know what to expect with this CD. I was pleasantly surprised.



The strong start partly provides the answer. Crayzee Banditt produces the majority of the opening songs and his almost epic, wide and expansive sound allows more than enough room for Jen to shine. Pose On Da Phone proves the point and, with strong follow-ups Architect and Get That Dough, the momentum is imposed from the start.

The Rude Kid-produced Sunshine marks a change. The content is street, but the almost uplifting beat conjures a mood that reaches its apex in the corny but infectious You're A Star. Diamonds is the now near-obligatory electro effort and, even without the amusing opening ('call her, call her... oi, man's tryna talk to you, come 'ere man'), Banditt's beat is full and rich. Such beats offset both of Insomniax's dull and forgettable productions on Desert Storm and None Of Their Guys and, with the latter being a freestyle comprising all of Jendor's biggest bars that's crying out for a hype grime or dubstep beat.

Along with Pose On Da Phone, Damn and Scarface are highlights along with Cricket Bat. Despite being well-played on radio over a year ago, it's been slept-on with time and, here, Skepta's beat is refreshing in relation to some of the more hip-hop influenced beats.

Jendor simply shines on the mic throughout and, even though more out-and-out grime beats would have been nice, he has the temperament to lace hip hop well. For a South London MC, perhaps it would be naive not to expect it. Nevertheless, this is a fair effort. In grime terms, if Jen isn't a grandmaster then he can't be far off.

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