UNDERRATED & UNDER THE RADAR: INSOMNIA BY SKEPTA, CHIP & YOUNG ADZ
Grime veterans Skepta and Chip teamed up with trap rapper Young Adz on Insomnia (2020). Although the album received much praise, it should have gained more recognition, especially in the list of collaborative albums. Usually, collaboration albums are between two artists, yet this surprise trio and surprise album broke that tradition and rightfully deserve a spot on this list of great joint projects. Besides the production and chemistry, the album’s biggest strength is the fact that no artist is outshining another. It’s authentic in its sound, and it’s evident that the trio made the studio time and had a hands-on approach in every aspect of the album’s development. This is an example of the older generation embracing the younger rapper and executing it perfectly.
Insomnia has a predominant trap pace and is heavily influenced by Adz, who’s been a trap sensation in the UK with his chart successes and club bangers. There’s a nice contrast between Adz’s heavily autotuned voice and Skepta and Chips’ sharp cadence. All three rappers take influence from each other’s sounds and writing styles. The juxtaposition between styles and abilities is refreshing and modern. Chip with his infinite bars, Skepta with his confidence and Adz with his melodic hooks. As the title suggests, the album covers paranoia and hustling while also flexing their success and wealth. While the subjects don’t offer much engagement, the sonic production and delivery are the album’s standout features.
On ‘Waze’ Chip raps, if three man link up and try to do an album, it’s not gonna sound like this… step in the ring and get shown the ropes.’ It’s proud, unapologetic, and takes on a braggadocious lyrical style that celebrates their successes. Sonically, this album takes the win. Da Beatfreakz is the architect behind ‘Stars in the Hood,’ a standout track in terms of its production. All three rap flawlessly over the hard baseline. There’s a summery, melodic turn on ‘Golden Brown’ which samples MIA’s ‘Paper Planes,’ and continues into ‘St Tropez.’ These feel-good tracks, featuring a rhythmic baseline, break up the heavy trap run on the album. However, there was a missed opportunity to experiment with a couple of garage and grime tracks. This would have pushed the album’s creative direction and challenged all three rappers. This is a superb gym album and reiterates each rapper as an undisputed force in the rap scene.
Fave Tracks: ‘Stars in the Hood,’ ‘Intro,’ ‘Deamons’
