Big Dada’s first female signing is a 26 year-old South Londoner who comes with 13 years of rapping experience and an emotional range to match. Speech Debelle, along with beat-maker Wayne Lo Tek (Lo Tek HiFi) and support from Roots Manuva has created an extraordinarily magnetic piece of work for 2009.
In 2007, Debelle flew out to join Lo Tek and a group of live musicians in Australia, where she put down most of what would become Speech Therapy. Kicking off with the jazzy, acoustic ‘Searching’, the seemingly ‘laid-back’ Australian vibe appears to have had some effect on the Londoner, whose life experiences till then include managing to get kicked out of college as well as home.
Immediately apparent that this is no straight-up, run-of-the-mill hip-hop album, calling Debelle an MC would seem a disservice. Confessional throughout, the lyrical poetry and interplay between music and verse seems far grander than simply ‘spittin’. After all, when was the last time you heard an oboe hook on a hip-hop track? Well, I never have. Anyway, ‘The Key’ sports considerable use of the instrument, and it must surely be part of any soundtrack to the summer.
Speech Debelle – The Key
Shunning the more traditional tools of MPC programming and turntabalism in exchange for live instrumentation and melodic vocal hooks, Speech Therapy crosses over nicely into potential pop territory. That, of course, means coming up against the likes of twee popsters Lily Allen and Lady Sovereign. But there’s no competition or comparison to be made here. Debelle’s debut single ‘Go then, bye’ carries far more emotional weight than the entire recorded output of either artist.
‘Daddy’s Little Girl’ addresses the very real problem of absent fathers and Debelle throws in premonitions of her father as an old man with little family to support him. Supported by lilting Rhodes piano licks and off-beat hits, the message lingers long after the song ends.
‘Live and learn’ sounds like it could feature on an advert for something shiny and electronic, comprised as it is of quirky, hummed vocals; softly strummed nylon strings and wind instruments. “Life is learned lived. That’s all it is – I’m tellin’ ya”, says Debelle before moving to tackle the trials of the average ‘Working Weak’. “So I went to the train station, and guess what I saw? People doing kung-fu just to get through the doors!” Just one of the few comedic lines to pepper the song – apropos to anyone who has ever worked in this shimmering capital.
Climaxing with the sentimental and softly delivered title track ‘Speech Therapy’, this fragile gem of an album never stops to dwell on whimsy. Contrite and conversational throughout, this has to be the UK hip-hop debut of 2009. Though Debelle says “This is my speech therapy, this ‘aint rap”, she will tick the horrific ‘urban’ box and be filed accordingly. This is a great album that brims with talent, love and maturity. You absolutely owe it to yourself to listen in.