First Rate:
Walky Talkyz

Release Date: 27 June 2004

Reviewed By: Oli Marlow

1. Intro Feat. Mc. Wrec

2. Bar Fight Feat. Skinny Man

3. Bang On Feat. Red Eye

4. One Day Feat. John Mcculan

5. Freedom Feat. The Procussions

6. The Practice Feat. The Sponge Crew

7. Skit 1: Gideon Style

8. The Cutz

9. Hamburger Feat. Blade

10. Istanbul

11. Loop De Loop

12. New Rulez Feat. Phi Life Cypher

13. Skit 2: Thingz First

14. Something In The Way You Male Me Feel

15. Walk The Walk Feat. The Numbskullz

16. I wonder Feat. Project Redemption

Nas - Street's Disciple
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As a member of the Scratch Perverts, First Rate conquered the world in 1999, winning the DMC World Team Championship. As a turntablist, First Rate has been honing his craft since the early eighties. He’s provided scratches and cuts for numerous artists including jazzier outfits like US3 and Morcheeba all the way to straight up Hip Hop acts like Blade and DJ Vadim.  

The music on ‘Walky Talkyz’ is aimed at a mainstream audience, with the bouncy beats and pristine cuts and scratches taking pride of place at the forefront of the mix, although there are tracks that showcase genuine ingenuity and a flair for forward thinking Hip Hop. If the focus of the music was solely on the turntable skills of First Rate, the end product might be a little more palatable, so the inclusion of numerous guest emcees proves to be an attempt to pad out the material to attract public attention. 

Opening in an onslaught of slow beats, trumpet lines, guitar slashes and campfire vocals, the introduction then drops into a drum and bass style bass line, with MC Wrec hyping up a live crowd. The second track ‘Barfight’ featuring Skinnyman utilises an old western style piano loop that bubbles gently underneath Skinnyman’s vocals. The track is an example of the album’s appeal: it’s good but you know the beat could be cranked up a notch and the half-sung chorus annoys ears way more than it pleases them. 

Yet straight after ‘Barfight’ comes ‘Bang On’, a example of the range of styles and projects First Rate has been involved with. The track features an 11-piece reggae band called Redeye who manage to inject strains of funk reminiscent of both The Quantic Soul Orchestra and The Herbaliser, creating a bop-along track that benefits greatly from First Rate’s intelligent scratching.  

‘One Day’ serves as another example of First Rate’s varied direction with its transient bass line, subtle beat and the vocal melodies provided by John McLuan. Rather than simply making beats and using the strength of the guest vocalists to sell the record, it’s obvious First Rate has poured hours of thought and attention into the songs, and it shows from very early on that his talents lie in the studio as well as behind the decks; although he’s very insistent on showing you just how impressive his scratches can be.  

Zebra Traffic’s Phi-Life Cypher once again demonstrate their astounding word placement on the track ‘New Rulesz’, regular co-conspirator Blade slaps the obesity epidemic in the face with the ode to fast food, ‘Hamburger’, and Killa Kella merges beats with restrained lyrics all at once through the miracle of his vocal chords on ‘Something In the Way You Make Me Feel’. 

Other notable highlights on the album include ‘Freedom’ featuring the vocal stylings of Californian outfit The Procussions, First Rate’s mesmerising scratching on ‘The Cutz’ and the Cuban temperament of the instrumental track, ‘Istanbul’. 

‘Walky Talkyz’ is a good first move for First Rate; the album is full of solid tracks that will get a little better each time you listen to them. However, all too often the songs fail to really make impact and a lot of the tracks fall at the first hurdle. 

Rating: 3 out of 5 

1) New Rulez feat. Phi-Life Cypher

2) Freedom feat. The Procussions

3) Hamburger feat. Blade

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