Album Review: Skepta - Ignorance Is Bliss

Wagwan. Albums of the Week (featuring Dinosaur Pile-Up, Plague Vendor, and Fuming Mouth) is on its way next week, but I'm off to Download tomorrow and won't be able to upload it in that time. To tide you over, MOPE is putting out its first ever guest contribution! My dear friend Joao Ricardo has penned a bumper-size review of the new Skepta record below, and fans of hip-hop and grime would do well to check it out. Enjoy xx

Skepta - Ignorance Is Bliss

8/10

Best Tracks: Bullet From A Gun, Glow In The Dark, No Sleep

FFO: Stormzy, slowthai, JME

Ignorance Is Bliss is the 5th studio album from grime veteran Skepta. His last studio release, Konnichiwa, was met with praise from both fans and critics alike; key tracks like 'Shutdown' and 'That’s Not Me' performed well, and undoubtedly created a buzz for his next release, despite being released 1 and 2 year(s) prior to the album they would appear on. This will be last mention of other releases, however, as I want to review this album by itself. I'm not the most up-to-date person reviewing Skepta, and thus prefer to analyse his work as a standalone release.

The album starts off strong with the opening track, 'Bullet From A Gun', hitting off the release with a sharp and well-crafted single that sets up the rest of the album nicely. The standout elements here are the percussion and bass lines found in this track (and throughout the entire record). Thick, rich bass lines are delivered with a distorted edge that give the tracks a darker character and align the album with a traditional grime sound. Whilst the first song sets the pace and tone of the record, other tracks quickly pick up the load. 'Redrum', 'Pure Water', and 'Love Me Not' all employ the use of those dark, dirty bass elements and 808’s that we’ve come to love. These definitely drive a lot of the tracks in combination with the excellent drums and percussion providing motion that otherwise would not be there. The sound design as a whole on the album is tight, gripping and forceful. Hi-hats are razor sharp throughout, kicks bounce the listener from track to track relentlessly inciting a constant pace and seamless listening experience.

This alone, though, would not be enough to satisfy us as listeners. As such, the vocals on the record capitalise upon this and provide equally powerful moments, with the main star being, of course, Skepta himself. 'No Sleep' is a prime example here, as his diction and articulation mimics the harsh and brittle quality of the hi-hats, creating a brutally intense listen for the audience as they dodge and dive through Skepta’s bars, trying to avoid injury from the explosive delivery. That’s not to suggest that the grime artist forgets to add a message behind it all; Skepta comments on how “it’s so funny how quick they get rich, then go broke / But it’s not a laughing joke”, discussing the perils of fame and fortune. This thematic narrative of responsibility, family and dedication to one’s dreams is recurrent throughout Ignorance Is Bliss, grounding the album in a gritty, relatable reality that many of us (from all walks of life) can appreciate.

“Recently I’ve been learning a lot / All I know is there’s no better feeling than getting home and seeing my little girl in a cot” was one of the standout lines for me across the breadth of the album. The sensitivity and vulnerability of a father is shown here that contrasts against some of the other less tasteful lyrics spread throughout the LP. The main offender here would be the track 'Greaze Mode'. Although it's one of my favourite tracks, and a banger at that, I do find myself having to switch off in order to enjoy the song for what it is. “I just made your girl my girl, she’s on her knees / On her knees, she see the D…” in comparison to the other more introspective and insightful lyrics found in other tracks, I get the impression this song was manufactured to be a hit above anything else. Although the subject matter is similar on 'Love Me Not', the line "I've got this brand-new ting she’s mad in the 'ed, bad in the bed, I get to grab at her leg / She's a lady for real but a slag in the bed" was just comical and I won’t even pass comment. Never have I heard someone say 'slag in the bed' unironically.

This brings me onto the features, which were - for the most part - pretty poor. 'Greaze Mode', 'Love Me Not' and 'Glow In The Dark' are the exceptions here, as I feel that their features do at the very least add something to the tracks. I can’t say the same for the track 'What Do You Mean?'. When I listened to this track, I was surprised when it suddenly dawned on me that no, I was not, in fact, playing FIFA ’05 and in the character creator. There’s just something about the song that gives it a dated feel which I can’t quite pinpoint; the languid performance of J Hus, however, definitely doesn’t help this matter at all. Perhaps the worst feature on this record is performed by Key! on the track 'Redrum'. Skepta simply leaves this man in the dust and the production doesn’t even try to save Key!’s performance on it. Skepta’s lines are fierce and surgically delivered almost through grit teeth, the production and sound design is piercing; jabbing you in the best possible way and driving you forward in a state of excitement and pure hype. Key!, on the other hand, just doesn’t match up to it, and falls behind hard. His mumble-rap style just does not do anything for me, and I feel it weakens the track by quite a margin. Whilst he still remains on beat, you can hear that his delivery just isn’t as on point as Skepta, and occasionally it even seems like he’s stalling for time in a lost attempt to come up with the next bar.

There aren’t a lot of bad things on this record and I feel like Skepta has done a great job on quality control, providing a consistent and entertaining experience throughout. There are weaker tracks (notably 'Gangsta' and 'Animal Instinct'), but even their poorer performance doesn’t detract too harshly from the overall quality of the album. The biggest problem I have is with some of the features, which I felt brought down the quality of the tracks, or just didn’t do anything at all. I felt those spaces could have been better utilised by Skepta himself to add further insight to his day to day and thought processes. Other than that, this is a great album, and hopefully Skepta's future endeavours will be as of such high quality, if not better.

Words by Joao Ricardo