The Ruthless Rap Assassins
'The Drone Sessions EP'
(Murdertone)
Recorded at the drone studios (hence the unusual name), this record is a true four-track 12-inch which bursts with anarchic creative energy, unrestricted and unstoppable. 'Jealous MC' takes the piss something wicked out of macho bragging rappers, in a typically British ironic way that's beyond most Americans.

In 'Crew From The North' the rappers trade lyrics fast and furious in rap and fast-chat styles - it's enough to make your head spin. 'Law Of The Jungle' finds the Assassins bugging out, with all sorts of sampling weirdness going on, and again a subtle but irresistible humour. But it's in 'Justice (Just Us)' that the Assassins show their serious side, speaking over a sombre, churning backing track about the realities of life in black Britain: 'You love me and you hate me for the size of my lust/you tell me that I'm violent if I kick up a fuss/They lock me in asylums at the slightest excuse/my name is well connected with narcotics abuse'. It's an established fact that the percentage of the British black population committed to mental asylums is way above the percentage for whites, and that the profession which makes the judgements that put the people there is predominantly middle-class white male. Just like the British establishment, really.

Like the group's previous 12-inch, 'We Don't Care/Kiss AMC', the 'Drone Sessions' EP threatens to become a rarity fast, as only 1000 copies have been pressed up. Make sure you get yours.

Simon Trask