MUSIC

Harking back to the dark, industrial, instrumental hiphop of the 90’s, conjuring up nostalgic thoughts of listening to Tricky and feeling the pre-millennium tension, Scalper has delivered a vast, rich, mood-inducing debut album of outstanding quality. But the real treat is that he is now living in New Zealand…

This debut full-length album from British born producer and vocalist Scalper, aka Nadeem Shafi, brings a totally fresh approach to a the NZ hiphop scene, which often gets caught oscillating between commercial gangster MC’s, party DJ’s and reggae crossovers.

Its dark, orchestral, full and far-reaching sound drifts between slightly abstract and eerie echoing effects to the tuneful melodies of middle-eastern music that are elegantly scattered throughout the album, without distorting it into some kind of world-hiphop confusion.

These gritty instrumentals are the setting for Scalper’s dark themes and clever word play, held together by a constant metronome of downbeat drum patterns.

With each track delivered with precision, produced with professionalism and presented with confidence and pride, this debut album is a truly satisfying listen. This obviously talented musician will surely dominate his own sector of the NZ hiphop scene and could just be the new blood that we need to get things moving forward again.

Alexandra Dunn