Slowthai - Nothing Great About Britain (2019)

Edging just past it’s first anniversary release  date, Slowthai’s first full studio album is a political driven piece, filled with devils advocate, opinion and no filter at all. With the release of this album supposedly to fall around the same time as Brexit’s leaving date, failure of negotiation left Brexit and slowthai’s album release to be put on hold, which just made already anticipating fans build more buzz around it and luckily for Slowthai at least, it payed off. With the album connecting to not just the native country, but making significant progress in the US also which has propelled him to proceed with an international tour. 

This album is catapulted into controversy in as little as the first song, with multiple comparatives of culture, with the opening lines being “bottle of Bucky, in Buckingham Palace”. “Bucky”(buckfast) is an alcoholic drink which comes with a stigma of being a quick and easy way of getting drunk, which would obviously be extremely against the social constructs of Buckingham Palace. He also ends the song by addressing the Queen as a “cunt”. 

The rest of this album is a perfect example of segregation of the social classes of the Uk, with the gap between lower and upper class widening again, with highlighted political issues, policing issues and monetary problems that a lot of people, including Slowthai have faced with no help from the governing bodies. It can be seen as a spit in the face to every conservative for what they stand for, that a poor minority who’s grown up in Northampton has been making waves. 

Also having multiple drug, violence and sex references, Slowthai can be viewed as a modern day rebellious rockstar, take “doorman” (with Mura Masa) for example, which takes a lot of inspiration from rock and punk music of past generations, which will ultimately inspire more generations to come to have the same views. Another raw example is the song “crack”, the blunt track speaks for itself, an on-the-nose love song, comparing two lovers to a drug addict struggling with their addiction, this song takes an intricate tour through the mind of a minority and how there is a mentality that “by any means necessary “ and always assuming the worst of anything. 

The production on the album is one of a peculiar and niche culture, with beats that don’t follow any certain pattern, however Slowthai still manages to keep encaptivating and powerful flow on all. Which may be considered as a subtle compliment to his character, where his situations have never been truly positive, but he’s made a name and audience for himself. 

This is truly a strong opening album, with nothing but potential for the future, whether or not it’s in political rap, drill or anything in between. Slowthai will be a name for years to come. I give this album an 8/10.