Pictured Rodney Smith aka Roots Manuva
Rodney Smith is my all time UK hip hop hero. His astute yet seemingly deranged lyrical flow and skunked-out beats cut through the gangster posturing of the scene and have kept him head and messy afro above the competition ever since the south London rapper first made waves with his debut album, Brand New Second Hand, in 1999.
Over the years I’ve seen him perform in London and Helsinki and at Glastonbury and Big Chill festivals. I’ve interviewed him over a few glasses of medicinal red wine, in a photographic studio and over margheritas at a Pizza Express. I’ve also bumped into him in more than one dingy club but the less said about that the better. So when he rolled into Camden’s Roundhouse last Saturday for the final date of his current tour I was there, as ever, with bells on.
He rambled onto the stage wearing a bowler hat, long cloak, dickie-bow tie and sunglasses – his attire and stoop giving him the air of a disheveled Sherlock Holmes – and launched into his current single, Here We Go Again. Ably supported by his live band (among them a white dread on guitar who rocked out like he was in Rage Against The Machine) and right-hand mic man Ricky Rankin, he continued to warm up the audience, who had braved snow and ice to make it to the gig, with songs from his new album, 4Everevolution (Big Dada), with an easy and confident air.
And then the hits came out to play – the anthemic Witness (1 Hope), the brooding Too Cold and the deceptively hopeful Dreamy Days. With over a decade of Roots Manuva material to choose from, the breadth of the Banana Klan frontman’s musical tentacles roamed free, ranging from his more recent house and electro tendencies to the dub, dancehall and reggae of his Jamaican family upbringing. But he chose Watch Me Dance, his super suave collaboration with cheeky Sheffield DJ/producer Toddla T (who was also his support act) to end the gig on, leaving his fans futilely stomping their feet for more. See you next time Smith.
www.rootsmanuva.co.uk
Helen Jennings | ARISE Magazine, editor