Big Narstie - BDL Bipolar
The Guardian 40
Dice Recording Music
Big Narstie first found fame as a grime MC in the mid-00s, but in recent years the south Londoner, born Tyrone Lindo, has garnered more attention for his comical online antics – presenting short films for Vice, a stint as permanently disgusted YouTube agony aunt Uncle Pain – than his music. Last Friday saw these high-jinx promoted to terrestrial TV in his own Channel 4 chat show, yet Narstie is clearly determined not to let his music career fall by the wayside. This week he is capitalising on the profile boost by releasing his debut album, a mere 12 years after signing his first record deal. In fact, BDL Bipolar (a reference to Narstie’s music collective Base Defence League) sounds as if it’s been more than a decade in the making. Grime has become smarter and more streamlined since its resurgence in 2014 – Narstie’s boisterous and busy version seems stuck in the past, frequently drawing on feverish drum’n’bass and dubstep, as well as dated reference points (there’s a track dedicated entirely to Charlie Sheen and his “winning” catchphrase).
It doesn’t help that, clocking in at a colossal 26 tracks, the record feels sluggishly long – despite the fact that a portion of the runtime is accounted for by a series of largely incoherent comedy skits from the likes of Keith Lemon and People Just Do Nothing’s Chabuddy G. Those tasked with providing musical back-up include Ed Sheeran, whose very long rap on Hello Hi 2 somehow manages not to be the most irritating thing about the song – that would be Narstie’s cartoonish bellowing – and a stream of interchangeable guests who provide generic soulful crooning (one notable exception being Izzie Gibbs, who gifts his hoarse and oddly beautiful vocal to Hell No). Lyrically, Narstie can pull it out of the bag when he needs to – on Grime Battle of Hastings’ extended metaphor, for example – but he often seems stretched thin, resorting to lazy punning. It all adds up to a baggy and frequently baffling record that’s unlikely to mark a historic moment in grime’s renaissance – and suggests its maker’s cultural clout lies squarely elsewhere.
The Guardian 0
Dice Recordings
Big Narstie’s major-label debut is just like him: generously supersized, bursting with wit. The south London MC-presenter has had two years of increasing mainstream exposure, now launching his own Channel 4 chatshow. Yet BDL Bipolar unleashes countless ideas, subjects and feelings, as though he fears this moment won’t come again.
Nothing’s off the table – struggles with mental health, the grime life, his daughter’s difficult birth – and there’s an authentic intensity to his bars, overcoming technical flaws. The album peaks early with the sparse, frazzled single 5am, a chilly moment of introspection amid tail-thumping bangers. It’s a draining listen, answering the call of Spotify’s bottom line. The 18 busy tracks hop genre, scrabbling to cover all commercial bases. When, an hour in, the ever-grating Keith Lemon lumbers in to kneecap the album’s momentum, there’s still a horrifying 25 minutes to go. Fortunately, there’s just enough stellifying brilliance on tracks such as Grime Battle of Hastings to compensate. BDL Bipolar may take the length and format of a mixtape, but has the hidden depths of a promising album.
Continue reading... Sun Jul 08 06:59:17 GMT 2018