Rating:
Genre:
Rap
Release Date: 10/04/2005
The
Lotek Hi-Fi producer
Wayne Bennett has one of the most distinctive styles in
hip-hop -- a bleak, punchy
ragga digitalia of the same type that informed
Detroit techno and
jungle in the past. It's not
ragga/
dancehall and it's not British grime, but it's influenced by the former and has influenced the latter. The second
Lotek Hi-Fi album finds the vocalist crew trimmed to a duo of
Aurelius and
Wayne Paul -- although former member
Earl J. features on the opener -- and the sound equals what made the first record special. Equal, that is, but never greater than.
Bennett's productions are technically adept and always innovative, but rarely have a hook anywhere to recommend them, while the threesome doesn't have the vocal personality and power to compete with most rappers.
Mixed Blessings is a solid record, but it shows
Lotek planing out rather than rising, and has to be counted a disappointment considering the high standard of quality that usually appears on
Big Dada releases.
~John Bush, All Music Guide
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