hipology200

Visioneers – Hipology (Bbe)

Album of the Week..

hipology200In a sense the work of Marc Mac’s Visioneers project could be described as ‘thinking person’s hip hop’, because of its immaculate orchestration and attention to detail, coupled with thoughtful lyrical insights. Yet that description overlooks the considerable amount of funk there is here, for Mac makes each song come alive with fresh instrumentation and well chosen lyrical guests such as Baron & TRAC and Notes To Self. ‘Ice Cream On My Kicks’ adds a bit of rich synth with its cool catchiness, while the lightly brassy ‘Shaft In Africa’ comes alive with a brilliant arrangement of the original theme. The rhythms – hip hop but with bossa and samba often added – work a treat, updating the material from Marc’s own scrapbook – which is where the Visioneers name comes from – to full bodied tracks that are extremely versatile. A really excellent piece of work, put together with clear affection for a genre that just continues to expand.

 

 

5 out of 5

(Ben Hogwood)