Messiah J & The Expert are an MC/Producer duo from Ireland. They met at a
Scratch Perverts in-store in late 1999 and started to hang out. Influenced
by the early nineties golden era of Hip Hop, they saw in each other a
similar understanding and ethic and went about writing songs. In the three
years since their Irish debut album, ‘What’s Confusing You?, MJEX have won
Best Dance Act in the Hot Press Readers Poll, twice, and have been nominated
for both the Meteor and Choice Music Awards. During that time, they’ve
refined and re-invented their sound, fusing old, jazzy sounding samples
with warm, welcoming guitars, buckets of squelchy synths and sharp, witty
lyrics. Influenced by everything from Basement Jaxx to The Smiths to DJ
Shadow with a bit of Motown thrown into the mix, the MJEX brand of Hip Hop
is refreshingly ‘bull’ free: no irritating skits; no boring braggadocio; no
tinny 808 beats. Instead, there are choirs, accordions, songs about – old
age and teenage discos. Almost uniquely for a ‘Hip Hop’ act, Messiah J & The
Expert treat their audiences as intelligent beings who want more than
clichés and stereotypes. MJEX provide sharp lyrics and clever beats – music
for the head and the hips. Two twenty-something men finding their way in the
world and questioning what they see and hear. But with lots of thumping
drums.
5 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Martin Madigan
