CD Review
September Reign Volume 1
By Ernest Bazanye
September Reign is being called a Mixtape, though the difference
between this and a real album is moot. 16 tracks long, it begins with
a light homage to the MC’s heroes, Jay-Z and Biggie. (“I like this guy
because when he came out, he came out with the phrase, ‘I’m so UG.”)
An intro which establishes that you are about to listen to a fine
lyricist at the top of his game.
As the CD progresses you will find plenty of reason agree that that
sentiment was justified. Not only are his cunning punchlines plentiful
and on point, but he has increasingly become more daring when he
experiments with new rhyme schemes and new tools of wordplay,
incorporating sharp alliterations, canny allusions to hip hop classics
and sudden but vivid imagery of the Kampalan lifestyle. The writing is
incredibly proficient, and this, I found myself thinking, as I reached
the halfway point of September Reign, may be both its strongest point,
and its greatest weakness.
Because that last paragraph read like a school essay from Lit class.
Technically The Mith is soaring, but while that may excite hardcore
hip hop fans, will it appeal to the general crossover audience? The
club? Those who just want to dance, who want to hear their music from
speakers, not headphones?
As the second part of the CD opens up, Mith seems to answer that
question. An R&B love song with Benon, a joint with GNL (Where he does
spit a Luganda verse) and the anthemic Watugamba by UNIQue should
satisfy the club while not alienating the hardcore fans.
Klear Kut joints have come and gone, but it’s only now that we are
hearing the Mith of old. Brash and cocky and comedic, but also,
beneath the jokes, aggressively determined to show you that he really
is as good as he says he is. In hip hop parlance, we would say here,
in September Reign, Vol. 1, we finally get to see the Mith really Go
hard.
