Benga - Diaries of an Afro Warrior

ufo over easy · Post by **ufo over easy** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:26 am

loose synths wins

skrewface · Post by **skrewface** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 10:36 pm

"Benga, Diary of an Afro Warrior

He has been the toast of dubstep insiders for eight years. Soon, says Emma Warren, everyone will know his name

Sunday February 17, 2008
The Observer

When Beni 'Benga' Adejumo was 12, he started hanging out at Croydon's Big Apple record shop and making beats with the Music 2000 software on his PlayStation. At 13, his console-created tunes - raw, stripped-down versions of the dark UK garage made by producers such as Benny Ill and El-B - were being picked up by Hatcha, a DJ and producer who worked at Big Apple. By 15, the south Londoner was writing tunes for his debut album, Newstep, and appearing on a Radio 1 documentary about the nascent dubstep scene.

Now 21, Adejumo, who also records as Magnetic Man with Skream and Arthur 'Artwork' Smith, is hot property. The super-hooky beep anthem and album track 'Night', which he created with fellow producer Coki, has been Radio 1 playlisted (a rare feat for an instrumental dance track), and he's just returned from DJ tours of America, Japan and Australia. In a satisfyingly circular twist, PlayStation has expressed interest in licensing 'Night' for one of its games.
As well as being further indication of the talent contained within dubstep, Diary of an Afro Warrior suggests that Britain's dark (though no longer smoky) nightclubs are on the verge of another renaissance. Jazzy opener 'Zero M2' references Roni Size's drum'n'bass classic 'Brown Paper Bag' - until a warped, evil-mouthed bassline rears up like some swampy sub-hertz monster. In fact, most of Diary... is both musical and mental, fusing accessible hooks with mad electrification.

Around half of the album - the hyper-noise of '26 Basslines' or the re-fixed house of 'Emotions' - will be familiar to fans of Adejumo's DJ sets, where his already battered bag of 10-inch dubplates get a further battering, frequently being rewound by fellow DJs or even liberty-taking members of the crowd. 'B4 the Dual' sounds chilly and difficult to play at home - a rare 'skip that' moment on a record that sounds like Shut Up and Dance sparring with Carl Craig and Underground Resistance, and is smart, sharp and supernaturally switched on.

Download: 'Zero M2'; '26 Basslines'"

Source: http://music.guardian.co.uk/urban/revie ... 08,00.html

skrewface · Post by **skrewface** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 10:38 pm

As for the references to Roni Size's Brown Paper Bag and one of his albums "Diary Of A Digital Soundboy".

I know it had some references, very clever.
Large up Benga

harkaransg · Post by **harkaransg** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 12:02 pm

Albums out, what do you lot think of the new tracks?

8bitboi · Post by **8bitboi** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 10:58 pm

TRU_G wrote:E-Trips is sick!

Is the Insomnia remix too much to hope for??

bang bang you kno!!!,

Link up soon tru-g!!!

dj vk - snakebite ent. · Post by **dj vk - snakebite ent.** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 1:00 am

I need the 'Insomnia' remix it's absolutely DUTTY mate!

foodstampz · Post by **foodstampz** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 7:01 pm

e trips is dope,.

T_macabre · Post by **T_macabre** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:29 am

good review, whys wrong with B4 the dual, my fav album track
pure head bob ankle skankle jazz hands business

concept_ · Post by **concept_** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:52 am

yes B4 the Dual is an absolute banger. WHY was this not on the Vinyl promos- hope this sees wax.

Got my CD copy on Friday- very nice look. all the best to Benga, his talent deserves all the praise it gets; some of the most innovative dubstep out there (maybe im just partial cos of the techo tip)

vonboyage · Post by **vonboyage** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:15 am

TNT wrote:good review, whys wrong with B4 the dual, my fav album track
pure head bob ankle skankle jazz hands business

Lol b4 the dual is sickness in health, rudeboy.

Dont let no on else tell u otherwise.

mr_vega · Post by **mr_vega** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:11 pm

big upsss! gotta get my hands on this

dubloke · Post by **dubloke** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:14 pm

TNT wrote:good review, whys wrong with B4 the dual, my fav album track
pure head bob ankle skankle jazz hands business

proper good tune

Pistonsbeneath · Post by **Pistonsbeneath** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:15 pm

in stock at zavvi croydon

lets get this to chart better than night did

or maybe it charting is a bad thing

dubloke · Post by **dubloke** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 6:44 pm

I might buy the CD as well, just for the extra tunes, pleasures as well

deamonds · Post by **deamonds** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:22 pm

waiting for my copy man....

and my t++ remix...

elgato · Post by **elgato** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:05 pm

UFO over easy wrote:loose synths wins

WHAT A TUNE

so long that they made Z vinyl only, and all my other favourites cd only :/

Loose Synths, 3 Minutes, B4 The Duel are all amazing. and Pleasure of course

whats the crack with B4 the duel though? its like a mashup of a dubplate and Duel right?

so it seems it is the cd release only for me - a sad day

djanalog · Post by **djanalog** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:08 pm

this album is ferkin awesome, havent stopped rinsing it since a bagged it on promo. dunno the names but A3, B3 and C1 are big!

dushume · Post by **dushume** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:47 am

Bought the CD Album Earlier and its pretty good as far as cd releases go.

Fave track so far: 26 Basslines and Go Tell Them

same'0 · Post by **same'0** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 1:44 am

a single of pleasure will have to come out..

surely..

very tempted to by the cd aswell

ytee · Post by **ytee** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 2:07 am

So many good tunes on this....26 basslines!

Benga - Diaries of an Afro Warrior

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