Elliot Fresh & Legoman - Elliot Building with Lego

[Illgotit Records, 2011]

Elliot Fresh has always been a technically gifted MC with a good ear for an interesting beat (see his previous work with Jerome Alexander and Capskey) and in that sense towers above some of the stale new breed of Oxford MCs. Saying that, Elliot’s verbal dexterity can sometimes make his bars stumble out awkwardly. Thankfully on this release with Legoman both MCs are on point as they take on the Oxford scene, their own pasts and the bullshitters. When they drop the machismo act they become infinitely more endearing rappers, particularly on the soulful “Paula and Laura” in which both MCs recall unrequited schoolboy crushes. Summer tune “Poussins and Rum” contains the ingenious chorus: “Not even Flava Flav could tell us the time”. The DJ Premier-meets-Pete Rock production throughout is excellent and Elliot, Lego and guests rock the tracks with precision, humour and skill. Cop this album now all Oxford hip-hop heads.

[Originally published in Oxford Music Scene magazine, issue 16]

http://www.oxfordmusicscene.co.uk/images/oms_issue16.pdf