Tuesday 19 August 2008

'Champagne Lifestyle' - Blak Twang (single review)

‘Champagne Lifestyle’ would probably not be my choice of single if ‘Speaking From Xperience’ was my forthcoming album. But I’m not Blak Twang and Twangalanga is a business man who has been in this UK Rap thing for bare time. Since his last album, ‘The Rotton Club’, Tony has obviously been keeping his ear to the ground.

‘Champagne Lifestyle’ is what the Channel U generation need; as well as being a sonically mature version of the trash on said TV channel it also preaches a new message to its viewers. This track sees the rotton one (sic) take on the persona of someone who finds himself needing to impress a lady by buying expensive bubbly that he can’t afford. The track rallies against all those guys who front with the image of a wealthy man when really they can’t afford it. Twang continues to use his position as an elder statesman as someone in his position should; he teaches the youth and for this he should be applauded.

‘The B-side is ‘For the Summa’, a track that is unsurprisingly, summery. It’s laid back and is the usual fare of short skirt, drop top, picnic type rhymes – it’s nothing new but it’s done well. It still makes me wish it actually was sunny this summer!

Despite not being my choice of single from the 24 tracks on his album (I’ll be reviewing that very soon) it’s still well produced and very catchy – I sing along to the chorus – and Blak Twang’s lyrics are skilfully woven. The result? A great single that should appeal to Hip Hop heads, grime fans and radio listeners alike.

‘Champagne Lifestyle’ is out on Monday (Aug 25th) and is available already for download on itunes.


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