Kano needs no introduction to those familiar with Grime — a popular music genre originating from the UK in early 2000s — which has now gained a wider listening audience outside the UK.However, a proper term for introducing him to listeners who just got in on the action is that he is a veteran, who along with other pioneers like Wiley, and Dizzee Rascal, moved Grime out from the corner spot where it began.
Three years after putting out a phenomenal project with his fifth album, “Made in the Manor” that won MOBO awards 2016 best album, he released his sixth studio album, “Hoodies All Summer”, in 2019; a mark of the great strides he has made since releasing his debutsingle, “Ps and Qs”, in 2004.
Skimming though the album to get a quick feel of it will leave you dazed after being shocked by the socio-politically charged atmosphere created by lyrics heavily laced with confrontational social commentary on the plight of the black community in the UK.
Kano comes off as the reserved type of creative who takes a backseat while others do their thing to catch the spotlight, only to then dig deep and bring out a piece of his world to share with his audience, just like he did on his previous album.
If some fans had looked forward to getting that Kano, or his style of earlier years, he showed that he can’t be boxed into any stereotype, and that he has the broad range to do as he pleases with Grime.
Listening to marinate the mind in this body of work, one is bound to be caught up in the reflective mood he opens with in “Free Years Later”, with its slow pace violin strings, and the somber tune playing while he reflects on a few things, most notably himself when he says: “success brings more stress, my vision’s clear”.
The progression to a more charged up mood in “Good Youtes Walk Amongst Evil” is a perfect set up for mirroring the importance of all he had to put across to his audience.
Although, Wiley is widely referred to as the Godfather of Grime, from the second track onwards, Kano steps into the role of the Godfather who comes out of the shadows to address the actions of some unruly Young Turks.
To step into this role in “Good Youtes Walk Amongst Evil”, Kano returned to the signature Grime electronic sounds/beats, and Eskibeats which is credited to Wiley.
The intro before his first verse is a voice that states one of the root causes of the problems he is out to address, saying:
“We’re doing this for money”
Without sugarcoating it, he delves right in to call out society for neglecting community, and the youths who have now lost their way to violence:
“Live and direct from the belly of the beast
Where we pour out Henny for the deceased
Numbers don’t lie, give a penny for the guy
But they won’t give a penny to the streets
Where privileged kids got a semi in their jeans
These kids got a semi in their jeans
Mad to believe this is what our streets have come to”
Taking on the role of a senior statesman who has been on the block for quite a while, Kano goes on to declare his disbelief in what his community has become, and then as one who has become wiser over the years, spells out what is relevant as regards the intro to the track:
“Life of a lyricist in the times that we’re living in
Gotta speak mind of the bigger things
Shine is irrelevant, the grind is imperative
Gotta put pride over millions
Stride what the vision is, never lie to the listeners”
He lets the young ones know that he could have gone down the path of feeding into mainstream trends by dropping club anthems for the money, but the times call for him to speak on more pressing issues.
To stimulate deep thought, he infuses philosophical lyrics in the chorus about the futility of the expected end of daily struggle for a living:
“We’re dying for a living (Everyday)
For clothes and the cars (Everyday)
Welcome to my city (Every weekend yeah)”
Showing the true mark of an elder who seeks to pass on wisdom, he doesn’t claim a moral high ground, rather he uses his experience to inspire others, “If it wasn’t for the mic and the Mikey’s, man would have really sold keys”, he then shows them a better way, “Soldiers that sleep with the pen, real spitters like us bleed through the ink”, and points an accusing finger at the government for enabling all of the calamity bedeviling his community, “The ends is wilin, the feds try silence”.
By now you would realize that you’ve discovered one of the pillars on which the project is built on, and the next listen, “Trouble”, reveals the second one.
It begins with a social commentary about the sad reality of youths, especially in the black community, and the dangerous lifestyle they resort to in order to survive which draws them into a brutal cycle of violence, death, and ultimately facing a harsh experience with the law. However, this is how the system is designed, which is why all must stand against such destructive lifestyle, and speak out against the system.
As a keyboard streams out a solemn tune accompanied by the sounds of a base guitar, the clap of a snare, and the jingle of a tambourine beneath it all, Kano sings a confrontational chorus:
“Politician hush don’t make a sound
Been oppressing us couple centuries now
And these gunshots never reach your town”
Using clear lyrics delivered at a steady pace that is easy to follow, he highlights the multiplier effects stemming from years of oppression under leadership that lacks inclusion for the black community, top of which is the high rate of gang violence, and knife attacks.
Kano comes off as an individual who is observant, and introspective, as he doesn’t only lay the blame at the feet of the government but points out how the youths are also responsible for these violent conducts that had taken hold of their communities.
As the title of the track implies, Kano inserts a scene of trouble breaking out when this violence spills on to the streets, and affects innocent bystanders who may either be caught in the crossfire or witness such traumatizing knife attacks.
In a manner similar to having a Sit-down between families to iron out issues, Kano sets a serious mood to address this important societal issue, and admonishes the youth to stop, “Life’s just too short for the bullshit man…but the beef please drop it coz it don’t make money”. To further drive home the message, a video was released for this track that depicts the loss felt by mothers, family, and the community at large.
“Pan-Fried”featuring Kojo Funds, and “Can’t Hold We Down”featuring Popcaan provided an opportunity to show his range on other sounds.
On “Pan-Fried” there is an ease from the tense atmosphere of the previous tracks, and he lets the audience know from the intro: “Said I just changed the frequency”, and it really did switch up to a really chilled tune which gradually progressed to what you can call a good bop. He reps his hood, and gives a glimpse into part of his life, as a groovy beat that has a bit of Afrobeats plays on, spiced up by Kojo Fund’s melodic vocals laced with patois.
Similarly, “Can’t Hold We Down”, takes a lane off the central theme right from the intro:
“Everybody-ody-ody-ody, needs somebody-ody-ody-ody
Everybody-ody-ody-ody needs somebody, somebody to love”
It puts the spotlight on the need for communal love, and how it is the best way to live together. In relation to spreading love within community, Kano uses a simple but effective line to pass the message of valuing black women like one would an exotic possession: “all black range rover, all black women”.
The main message of love among real ones and family that serves as a support system, gives the listener a breather, coupled with the tracks different vibe infused with patois vocals from Popcaan, while Kano delivers his lines smoothly over an upbeat kick drum and snare beat.
“Teardrops” gives off a more personal feel of one whose heart reaches out to touch others so as to foster healing. Heavy with lyrics that have deep emotions layered on the surface, Kano returns to the main theme of this project, which is to make a case for the plight of the black community, but does it with a different tempo.
Throughout his delivery, a backup of “but who cares” sums up the message on this track, that no one cares enough to do anything. It is even expressed better in the interlude:
“We’ve complained to the police about the police, and nothing’s been done
We’ve complained to judges about judges and nothing’s been done
Now it’s time to do something ourselves”.
The flow of the tracks from here onwards takes the listener on a downer from the emotionally charged dialogue Kano has held so far, but nothing prepares you for what he reserved for the end.
In a move to show the new generation that he can still get in on a piece of the action, Kano teams up with some of his other veteran hit men of Grime, D Double E and Ghetts, to pull the trigger on “Class of Deja”.
They all go hard on an equally hard Grime tune that is guaranteed to make you get jiggy. They transition among each other smoothly, dropping fire lyrics reminiscing of their glory, all of which is perfectly represented in the chorus by D Double E:
“Man can’t try to school me on this
Man can’t try to school me on that
Been there, did this and I done
Man been there, did this and I done that”.
The conclusion to this conscious project is one you won’t also expect. Kano uses a choir tune representative of the church, which can be interpreted to be many things, one of which could be the moralist stand taken by sections of society which are indeed not in any position to do so, and then throws a middle finger on it as a gesture of rebellion by using the title “SYM”, an acronym for suck your mum.
It begins with a church organ playing, and then a melodious rendering of “suck your, suck your, suck your mum…yeah I said it, suck your mum” joins in. Kano proceeds on a rant, slamming the British for their racism towards blacks when they throw banana peels or make monkey noises, and also touches on their racist stance towards immigration:
“They tell us to go fuckin back to our country
But they won’t even give us back our own countries…
Let’s talk about the day the wind was rushed up on the shore
They promised us so much and left us to be poor”
Although, he had highlighted socio-political issues earlier in the project, the Windrush reference on this track reveals Kano is no novice on matters concerning politics and history.
An icon effortlessly doing his thing is all that can be said of Kano’s performance that features impeccable lyricism and imagery all through. His creativity rises above the fold, and he puts it on display with the use of different commentaries that gives a feel of watching an enlightening documentary.
If Kano set out to prove a point on the broad range he has, thereby showcasing that Grime can be more than whatever it is stereotyped to be, then he did more than prove a point. The features of his most successful album, and this project which came after it, are very distinct, and it shows that he is not afraid to push himself out of his comfort zone.
Listen to “Hoodies All Summer” here:
