Initially due for release at the end of August, stock restrictions and various other limitations meant that we had to wait a few extra days to hear Crazy Titch’s new material. Crazy Times Vol. 2 — recorded in prison — is a 23 track mixtape which is now available to buy from all good retailers (well…UK Record Shop). In it Titch retreads the ever more obscure path of grime and also strays into hip-hop territory, spitting venom and heartfelt emotion almost in equal part.
Admittedly I’ve not had a chance to really get to know it yet, but judging by a couple of hours listening today, it [almost] lives up to the hype. As lyrically powerful as he ever was, perhaps even more so now that his claims are backed by reality, Titch has undoubtedly assembled some weighty tracks brimming with genius one-liners… I suppose it all begs the question as to how good the release would have been were he a free man…I guess we’ll never know. Crazy, eh?
I’ll post again once I’ve had time to thoroughly listen to it, but for now, here’s a tune to warm you up.
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SBTV never fails to bring the goods and yesterday they characteristically delivered, uploading a video of Crazy Titch discussing the forthcoming Crazy Times Vol. 2 mixtape and the current grime scene in general. It’s a phone interview — because, you know, he’s in prison — so the quality isn’t exactly amazing, but if you hold your earlobes like an incompetent talent show contestant, most of it’s audible. It runs just over 20 minutes and is definitely worth getting your ears around, especially for the nuggets of respect afforded to Dizzee ya get me? I’m hyped for this mixtape…
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Wherever your political affiliations may lie, The Guardian and The Observer are the only mainstream newspapers that actually cover music properly. The Observer Music Monthly placed The Streets’ Original Pirate Material at the top of their ‘Albums of the Decade’ list and for that, I would not hesitate to follow them into the depths of Mordor and back.
So, what’s the point of this typically nonsensical preamble? I want you to read Dan Hancox’s article ’2009: The Year Grime Began to Pay’, that’s the point. It’s basically an exploration of how and why grime — or whatever it became depending on how you look at it — was so successful in 2009. There’s even a guide included at the end which selects and explains a few of grime’s defining moments. It’s all very interesting.
I’ve added a Crazy Titch video after the jump. He was a good rapper, even if he couldn’t distinguish between right and wrong.
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