MC Buzz B - Words Escape Me!

Polydor - LP

UK, 1991

Downtempo / Hip-House / Rap

MC Buzz B's Words Escape Me! is a perfect reminder of the crucial importance of a materialist approach in music writing, an approach that has been at the core of the whole Okonkole Y Trompa project, since its beginning, even though I couldn't tell why it seemed so important to me back then.

I'm unfortunately missing a big part of the historical background of MC Buzz B's album, but even I can start to guess the kind of synthesis the musician was operating in a city who's popular youth music culture was dominated by the crucial cultural hub that was white-owned business Hacienda / Factory Records, a place that was also intricately linked to Manchester's 1980's hip hop scene via A Guy Called Gerald or MC Tune, one of the most effervescent scenes for British hip hop and its 5 elements. Some of the songs are textbook material for Mancusian music historians, "The Last Tree" heavily recalling 808 State and "Jazz Track" reminding of A Certain Ratio's excellent 1989 Back To The Wall... A truly unique LP, with quite an amazing artwork.