In the worlds of indie and rock, you see the same artists on the same front pages week after week and month after month – the same few headliners at the same festivals. In UK hip-hop, however, it is a different story. A dynamic and fluid scene with a seemingly unending procession of fresh and exciting talent emerging constantly from all over the country. Brighton can boast one of the brightest new rappers in Ocean Wisdom, and 2016’s Chaos 93’ announced him as a major player. When it was discovered that his rapping in his breakout track ‘Walkin’ was even faster than the mighty Eminem (4.45 words per second if you want to try and count), he was thrust into the global limelight as, “The fastest rapper in the world”. Wizville establishes him as not just the quickest, but potentially one of the best.

Opening with the banging one-two of ‘Eye Contact’ and ‘Don’, it doesn’t take long for Ocean to lay down a marker to anyone doubting whether he could live up to all the hype. In the former, he raps that he is: “A master of my craft, not a jack of every trade…I ain’t trying to copy, I’m just out here doing me”. That is something that he unequivocally proves throughout Wizville. The Afrobeat-inspired ‘Don’ is a statement that should shut down any temptation to solely refer to him as a rising star rather than a rapper at the very top of his game. The sheer speed of his flow makes it hard to pick out all of the lyrical gems hidden away in his rhymes, but on each listen it becomes more apparent just how clever these tracks are – full of quintessentially British cultural references, as well as universal (‘Don’ alone has nods to Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay and Obi-Wan Kenobi).

Although it is the speed that brought him to a worldwide audience, it isn’t over-used here, though, when it is employed it is devastating. The adversarial ‘Brick or Bat’ is a stunning example, Ocean starting at a standard pace before casually spitting: “So far in this tune I’ve been rhyming like you, but wait” and then unleashing the full force of his peerless flow. Not afraid to use some of the exposure that Chaos 93’ gained him to leverage an amazing level of guest spots, it is also testament to the elevated level that his peers perceive him to be at. Method Man is obviously the big news here, but there are also spots from the likes of Rodney P, Roots Manuva and Dizzee Rascal (who called him, “One of the best rappers this country has birthed”). It’s equally impressive just how these appearances are handled. ‘Ting Dun’ has a suitably Wu-Tang Clan vibe to it, with a subtle appearance from Method Man – but at all points and on all tracks, Ocean Wisdom remains the star.

Far more than just a skilled lyricist, the beats and Wisdom’s genre-straddling production are on point too. It’s clear that he is a man who honours hip-hop’s past, but also that he is looking forwards just as much. ‘Righteous’ and ‘Tom & Jerry’ employ a classic sound, whereas the likes of ‘I Ain’t Eaten’ is nothing but the sound of the future. Thematically, there are familiar stories to be told – but his talent is in making them sound fresh. Much of Wizville speaks of his rise to the top, and his stories are delivered with supreme confidence – he is confrontational but not unnecessarily aggressive. It is also an album that has its Brighton roots worn proudly as a badge of honour. Wisdom described Wizville to GRM Daily as, “The embodiment of Brighton – the dodgy parts and the richer parts”, and that is apparent to local ears with references peppered throughout. However, much of it portrays a Brighton that many simply don’t see – whether through circumstance or through choice.

In ‘Menacing’, he puts it simply. “One of the greatest, Ali, one of the greatest, I’ll be”. On the evidence of Wizville, that is a certainty. If the only slight caution that a reviewer can make is that it is probably a couple of tracks overlong, then that says it all (and of course, its hardly an uncommon issue with hip-hop albums). Wizville is daring, thrilling, fresh, and the sound of someone settling themselves in at the very top of his genre. Brighton may just have a global superstar in its midst. Time to get up to speed.

Jamie MacMillan

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