Friday 10 September 2010

Sex Drugs & On The Dole - Ratson

Sex Drugs & On The Dole is the latest mixtape by Edinburgh-based MC Ruairidh Watson, a.k.a Ratson.  Watson also performs under the same name with other musicians as a guitar-fuelled, Stanley Odd-style hip hop group, but Sex Drugs feels like a far more personal work, with Watson's rhymes taking centre stage against some straightforward backing tracks and cheeky sampling.  Opener History Class serves as a neat little introduction to the artist himself- a drummer digging metal as much as Cypress Hill who decided only last year to bring his sharp rhyming into the spotlight.  It's a refreshingly modest intro without being dull, with a distinct lack of shite-talking, which is never a bad thing.  Mediocre King, the final track of the record, runs with the same idea- the everyman, blue-collar modesty that's prevalent throughout the record.  So Talented tells the story of Watson becoming a drummer after hearing We Will Rock You.  It's pretty detailed story telling, going from Metallica drum tabs to Hardcore to...Duelling Banjos (seriously).  
Why So Serious stops the record from becoming too introverted.  It's got a catchy upbeat chorus and tells us to be uh...less serious.  But there's more to it than you'd think: it isn't patronizing and doesn't exhaust its message.  It stays down to earth and aims for other young musicians on Watson's level- and it works.  
The honesty and personality of Watson's lyrics are what makes Sex Drugs & On The Dole great to listen to.  The individual tracks on this mixtape are well-formed bits of work in their own right, but together you're hearing a portrait of an artist with masses of individuality, awesomely humble, but never afraid to do his own thing and make something special in spite of, or perhaps because of, his limitations.  No self-conscious fake shit here, just a solid collection of true Scottish rap.  It's good shit.


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