Nottingham’s C-Mone has definitely had a busy few years, working her way up through the ranks. Starting out as one quarter of Notts super crew Outdaville, touring the UK’s clubs & radio stations, it wasn’t long before C-Mone started mapping out her solo career, releasing EP’s on her own label Dark Whisper, as well as releasing records through Son. All this activity paid off big time, leading to C-Mone collaborating with Estelle on her debut, & with Mike Skinner on The Streets second album, & to top all that, she then won Best Female Emcee 2005 at the UK Hip Hop Awards. So into 2006 & C-Mone delivers her own debut album ‘The Butterfly Effect’, and yes, it does live up to expectations. Her style is cool with a sense of humour & a dark undercurrent, but it’s her lyrics that are gonna make her a star. Highlights include the dumb, drunk & very very sexy ‘Ride’, which is about trying to get a cab home after a night on the sauce. ‘Feel the chill in the air, there’s cars everywhere, Donner Kebabs on the stair ‘With a sense of despair’. Over a low slung groove with distant brass, that puts you right there on that wind swept city street. ‘Disfunktional’ shows C-Mone’s soulful side, with a tale about growing up on hard times. ‘When I was little & their weren’t no rice for the peas, or no bread for the cheese, we wouldn’t moan & scream, we took it in our stride yeah, & with any love we quickly learned how to dream, we soldiered on ‘We are family & I feel love coz we are one, wanna fuck around with one of us? Put it in your song’. Another outstanding cut is the bombastic ‘Black Widow’, with it’s rabble rousing Diana Ross ‘No Matter What Sign You Are’ chorus. C-Mone has excelled herself with ‘The Butterfly Effect’. Now who’d of thought that the challenger to Mike Skinner’s crown, would be a bird from Nottingham.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: DEAN THATCHER
