Roll Deep - Street Anthems Review

Ahhh. Here we are. If you are unsure as to just who Roll Deep are, then you've been living somewhere on a boat, surely just off the coast of Fiji. They started Grime. Yup. Wiley, Flow Dan and Breeze broke away from Pay As You Go, quickly followed by Target and Riko, Scratchy and Trim joint shortly after, and the ball got rolling. But ANYWAYS this ain't a history lesson. This is now, the present. However, what we have on the following CD is a mixture of times. The CD celebrates the majority of Roll Deep members, be they past or present, and spans across 3 studio albums, unreleased material and genuine classics. Proceedings are opened by 'Eskimo Vocal Mix', with Flow Dan and Wiley doing what they do best, and Dizzee Rascal taking mathematics to a deeper level. It's worth buying the CD just for that song to be honest. 'When I'm 'Ere', 'Roll Deep Regular' and 'Do This Ting' are all some my favourite Roll Deep tracks, the 4 songs we've had so far show why it's easier for the non grime-caring folk to listen to their music as opposed to, lets say, something from Roadside Gee's. 'Babylon Burner' and 'Heat Up' are great inclusions, but I'm not sure 'Badman', 'Shake A Leg' and 'Avenue' are welcome on this CD.

I don't remember them being anthems, on any given street, at any given time so the showcasing of such music is a little contradicting. 'Remember The Days' is a good inclusion, I'd admittedly semi-forgotten about Alex Mills' excellent voice, but one thing not forgotten here was the tune, nay ANTHEM 'They Should Know'. Wiley, Flow Dan and Breeze, for me capture what Roll Deep are all about here.

Ahh time to hit that repeat button I think.WHEELUP.

What Roll Deep have tried to do here, with the time span-thingy, is cover all 3 of their albums, so that would include last years "Return Of The Big Money Sound". From there they've thrown in 'Do Me Wrong' and 'Trouble', not the right choices for me. I would've preferred to hear 'Dargz Dem' or 'Night Life', maybe even 'Thunder and Lightnin'. Nods should have gone to other songs such as the groups Creeper freestyle, or even some of the members solo efforts on Target's 'Scorpion' or Danny Weed's 'Activity'.

Overall, it is a good CD. I may have the majority of tracks already, but I suppose the aim here was to create a sort of Greatest Hits affair. Well unfortunately the selection isn't their Greatest hits, but some of their best for sure !

Grab your copy from

UK Record Shop
Play.com
Boomkat
HMV
Avalanche Music Hut

Or digitally from
Digital-Tunes
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