Cappo & Styly Cee - The Fallout (review)

"Hip-Hop is over here, catch a glimpse"

After waiting years for a follow up to Spaz The World, Cappo has waited only a year after the release of Genghis to drop The Fallout, this time bringing Styly Cee along for the ride. If you have heard either Genghis, or this pair's H-Bomb EP, you will know what to expect here. No guests, and absolutely no compromise. Cappo assaulting the boom-bap with rapid-fire, almost stream of consciousness lyricism, in that unmistakable Nottingham accent. It's also worth noting that this is the 50th release for veteran label, Son Records. In the UK scene, this is significant longevity.

Possessing so strong a formula proves to be both a gift and curse on The Fallout. When everything gells together though, the results can't be argued with. This is definitively the case on opening track Throwdown, where Styly's hectic drum patterns provide the perfect backdrop for Cappo to lay down what the press release describes as "weapons grade" lyricism. In fact, the drums are something of a feature of this LP, with both Styly and his father popping up to provide live drums on a couple of the tracks, keeping the energy levels high in the process.

It is therefore very noticeable when the standard of production dips, as it does on 'Yo Ass', where the very sparse drums seem to attempt to recapture a mid-80s sound. This track isn't helped by a rather irritating scratched chorus either. When this is immediately followed by another disappointing effort in 'Regenerate', which features a beat already heard on Genghis, the drawback of Capps and Styly's formula becomes apparent. When not firing on all cylinders, the combination of minimalist beats and the lack of variety in Capp's delivery and cadence can come up with tracks that are somewhat bland musically. Especially when you take into consideration the fact that the subject matter rarely deviates from coming up with (admittedly usually fairly creative) ways of describing how far ahead of the comp you are.

It doesn't take the LP much time to get back on track though. The previously mentioned live drums raise the temperature on 'Music Makers Revenge' and 'Market Square' (titled in homage to the centrepoint of Nottingham's city centre), and Styly successfully brings a more electronic sound than might have been expected from him on 'Crunch Time' and 'Thought Apache'. I would also recommend that you search the bandcamp page for the free 4 Minute Warning EP, that dropped as a warm up for this LP. The 2 tracks featured would have been very welcome inclusions here, particularly the soulful vocal sample of The Drifter, which would have provided a welcome change of pace somewhere in the middle of this album, and it's a shame that it didn't make the cut.

Overall, The Fallout delivers what is expected of it. Some gimmick-free music to snap your neck to, from a veteran 1 MC/1 producer team. I would only temper that by saying that Genghis covered very similar ground, and in my opinion is the stronger album of the two.

7.5/10