Ageing B-Boys Unite!: Whirlwind D

Friday, 12 July 2019

Whirlwind D - Doin It Review

Here's the latest single from Whirlwind D, the stalwart and perhaps, flagship act of the south coast's leading rap label, B-Line Recordings.

Side A's DOIN' IT is the lead track which gets the video treatment and is an uptempo stormer. D does as the title suggests and conveys his feelings of still being involved in the scene even now as an elder statesman ("I might be old but it doesn't really matter, the beat gets fatter, my knees are being battered.."). I like that he doesn't shy away from the truth of the ageing process and is quite brutally honest ("..hairs out my nose and my hearing's all shattered, six-pack's gone, complexion's all tattered.."). If it wasn't for the dopeness of the beat then I might just sit here wailing in concurrence about the demise of my life.
But back to that dope beat. DJAR ONE is on production duties here and has provided a funky blank canvas for D's lines to be clearly heard without overloading it.
If this song was a cake then Djar One would obviously be Paul Hollywood with SPECIFIK undoubtedly channeling Mary Berry, adding the icing and cherry on top of the final mix with his super-sharp chorus cuts - The Great British Break Off, if you like.

The flipside is a real change around both sonically as well as literally. Djar & Specifik swap production duties this time.
Beginning with a snippet of a very slinky jazz number before heading into a boom-bappy, funk groove courtesy of Specifik, 'SOMETIMES' proceeds to kick off about those who continually seem to have had the jam taken out of their daily doughnut.
Social media - amongst other factors - comes under scrutiny here with D looking at the various ingredients which can make up our stress in modern times.
Djar One cuts up the chorus in fine style using a plethora of classic rap tunes all featuring this b-side's song title. Lovely stuff.

As always, with B-Line product, you know that the product is geared mainly towards the collector so you can expect high quality all the way from the photography to the packaging.

If this has whetted your appetite then rush over to the B-Line shop and purchase a copy before they disappear.

Well. There's nothing more to add except than, he's done it again!
Hip-hop is still alive and well, you've just got to seek it out.