K.O. And OD Hunte – Back To The Hip Hop EP [Southern Cuba]

‘Back To The Hip Hop’ is a 4 track EP by K.O. and OD Hunte. Of the 4 tracks only one is bad; unfortunately, it’s the lead track and mission statement ‘Blow Up’ which is supposed to be a ‘commercial pop hip hop collaborative effort’. It is just that, with ‘effort’ being the operative word – when something tries to be heavy-hitting and fails it ends up even worse than a track made without that aim.

Thankfully things improve with ‘The Art’ – probably the best track on here. It’s a frenzied mish-mash of old school hip hop sounds topped off with some nice throwback style lyrics from K.O. ‘Be Like This’ is in a similar vein but is led by a nice brass riff that breaks down into thumping percussive beat. These are the two stand out tracks here where they do bring it ‘Back to the Hip Hop’.

‘I Gotta Go’ is built on a persistent, almost ethnic sounding, electronic bass line and riff with mounting organ chords and an auto-tuned chorus. It’s actually pretty catchy and original sounding although the lyrics are a little tiresome.

This is a nice little showcase of OD’s talent and the fact that not all the tracks appealed to me is probably in his favour – someone who likes other stuff will like them. K.O. has a little more to learn writing-wise but his delivery, flow and style is very on point. A good release.

By: Certified Banger | http://certifiedbanger.blogspot.com

• http://www.myspace.com/koandod