When Roots Manuva drops an album, it is always a bit of a 'marmite moment' to me. The likes of "Brand New Second Hand" and "Run Come Save Me" instantly became favourites of mine whereas to certain extents "Slime & Reason" and more recently his Wrong Tom collaboration "Duppy Writer", never really grew on me. Apprehensions aside, coupled with a host of positive reviews from the musical fraternity, I decided that it was an investment that needed to happen. From the opening track "First Growth" (the first video below), it quickly became clear that "4everevolution" would quickly inhabit the 'love it' category. It carries the Rodney Smith trademarks; eccentric lyricism and dub-laced instrumentation but seems to have an extra edge over his previous releases. Several reviews have commented on the potential commercial viability that this album and I genuinely tend to agree with this. Tracks like the Toddla T produced "Watch Me Dance" and "Beyond This World" could easily be on the radio playlists and if anyone deserves mainstream appreciation, it's this stalwart of the UK music scene.
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