Bass. Tone.
Back in March, JON. appeared on our monthly 'Ones To Watch' feature following the release of his two song project Is It Too Early. One month later and the unbelievable output of this Bristol rapper was once again confirmed with the release of a brand new 3 song EP, featuring our very favourite track of April 2020.
'Soul II Soul' is better than anything JON. has released to this point. Collaborating with the incredibly talented Musaormuse, this newest EP is a wonderful continuation of the smooth, laid-back lyrical approach that sister project Is It Too Early wove together, but 'Soul II Soul' is a level above the two songs either side of it on this newest release. Despite an initial sample sounding tightly connected to the Ghetto Sage styled sounds of earlier music, this newest track disguises its deceptively uptempo beat, before a quick and erratic percussion line whirls the tune into a well constructed build of intensity.
Then the single drops into its groove, and dear lord. This is the best bass tone I have heard all year. It absolutely punches through the track with the most unbelievably satisfying bounciness. Dropping in and out of the track, every individual time this bass line blasts its way back into my speakers I have to stand up and make distressed faces. It is genius.
Both JON. and Musaormuse offer high-paced, deep breath rap intensity that injects the track with a compelling pace through their infectious cadences. Lyrically the two aren't necessarily crafting DOOM-level layered rhyme schemes or vivid imagery, but they both drop ferociously energetic additions to the stellar instrumental, and truthfully that's all the track needed. It perhaps lacks the standout bars from tracks of JON.'s past (like the exceptional 'Satin Flows' with the great Reppatwa) but 'Soul II Soul' is still absolutely unmissable straight from the U.K. underground.
- great -
Ben Wheadon is editor and founder of Slow Motion Panic Masters. He is a Welsh musician and English Literature student at King's College, London and he should be writing a dissertation instead of creating a blog.
Thanks for reading! Slow Motion Panic Masters is a music, arts and culture blog created and edited by Ben Wheadon, a literature student and musician based in South Wales.
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