A Sensible Sonnet

It’s not often one voice changes your view;
Suddenly you get it, it’s your thing you never knew;
Not many have defining moments under lights, in that state,
but this change of view is from no political debate;
I thought an MC was a stage decorator, a sexist, repetitive drug administrator;
Then the night came when I heard something else,
over the beat of the drum and the revellers yells,
came a voice with effortless precision, a poets true vision; It makes ‘Sense’.

OK I’ll stop, rhyming really isn’t my forte, but my point is after listening to ‘Elephant in the room’ the new album from Sense MC you will find yourself inspired; you will realise the power of words like never before, and you will want to put pen to paper for more than just the morning Soduko; This album made me laugh and cry in equal measure, I really don’t know the last time an album made me feel like that, my love for music is completely centred around the emotions it makes me feel but this is different, no in fact it’s ‘Diffrent’.

Content over everything, that is his philosophy.

I heard this album was doing well in the Hip Hop charts, and I’m not surprised, I’ve been reminded of everything I love about the Hip Hop genre, at the same time as being comfortable with the Drum and Bass undertones. It was so important for this MC led album to focus on the vocal, with instrumental’s that don’t detract focus from the main event, and this has been achieved perfectly from all producers involved.

I could easily write about all 10 tracks on this album, it’s unusual I struggle to find the stand out tunes,  but there are two that got me emotionally for very different reasons; Let’s start with the collaboration with Zero T titled ‘Two planets’, stories of the moon and sun as fated lovers have made their way across story telling since the beginning of time, you may well have come across the quote:

“Tell me the story about how the Sun loved the Moon so much he died every night to let her breathe.”

Although one of my favourite lines, it seems almost impossible to find the source of it, and will remain a mystery; although the lyrics from Sense focus on two planets, I have the same Goosebumps as when I first heard that quote; who doesn’t like a good love story really? The delicate female vocal harmonises with the story and by the end you have such a sense of calm, seriously beautiful.

Right.. back to my attempt at poetry at the start, I was telling the story of the first time I heard sense live, I hadn’t heard true talent like that from an MC and all of a sudden I just got it; Now I can’t go talking about that night without mentioning Codebreaker, what a pairing, one I was absolutely delighted to see on the Album with the track ‘After Dark’ and even better that ‘Philth’ was also involved, this track gives you the darkness you crave and simply highlights the fact that a talented MC can take centre stage within any track, even an absolute dirter.

I’m so glad this album was released by Diffrent, I can’t imagine any other label doing Sense justice, the family vibe you get from any Diffrent event really is unlike anything else, in fact the recent In-reach night at the London Brewhouse was the first time I have ever felt that same vibe at London event, and you can’t really want much more than that! My point is the friendship between Chris Dexta and Sense can only have been positive in the creation of this masterpiece, from the selection of tracks and producers, to the artwork and marketing strategy, Sense has clearly had his voice heard throughout the creation and that has resulted in an accurate and undiluted representation of him as an artist; it may also suggest why the album took over 3 years to create, (there is a lot of carp to catch in that time.) Nevertheless well worth the wait.

This is my favourite release of the year so far for so many reasons; if MC’s aren’t your thing buy the album anyway! Best case scenario you change your mind entirely, realise there is a different breed of MC’s and spread the word of the Giraffe, worst case you get a piece of sick artwork from Fybe:one for your Fridge.

I will leave you with a quote from ‘Two planets’:

“Inevitably waiting for the death of a star.
Another Black Hole, we’re all scared of the dark.
Life’s all about perspective, wherever you are.
If you look to the night sky? At the right time?
They are together at last.”

Oh. Wow. BUY THE ALBUM.