Album of the Year 2016 #9: Babyfather - "BBF" Hosted By DJ Escrow - HipHop | HipHop Channel

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Album of the Year 2016 #9: Babyfather - "BBF" Hosted By DJ Escrow - HipHop

Album of the Year 2016 #9: Babyfather - "BBF" Hosted By DJ Escrow - HipHop

Album of the Year 2016 #9: Babyfather - "BBF" Hosted By DJ Escrow

Posted: 10 Jan 2017 11:34 AM PST

Hello and welcome to another day of Album of the Year 2016. Today on the series I'm going to be talking about Babyfather's criminally underrated debut, "BBF" Hosted by DJ Escrow.

Artist: Babyfather

Album: "BBF" Hosted by DJ Escrow

Listen:

Bandcamp

YouTube

Spotify

Background by /u/ReconEG

Babyfather is a UK rap group consisting of Dean Blunt, DJ Escrow, and Gassman D, with Blunt serving as the ringleader of the group. Before starting Babyfather, Blunt was a member of Hype Williams, an electronic music duo made up of him and Inga Copeland. The two parted ways sometime in 2013, each going onto their solo projects, with Blunt diving deeper into his after releasing a few solo records in 2012 and 2013, most notably The Narcissist II and The Redeemer (which I've talked about extensively on /r/indieheads and on the Indieheads Podcast) In 2014, Blunt's interest started to dip into black music and race in general. This interest led to Black Metal, for which he explained the concept of during an interview with Rinse FM:

Black Metal basically is like… imagine like an essay and the heading or the thesis or the title is Appropriate Yeezus: Appropriation, Re-appropriation and the Empowerment of the Post-Black Male. And it's the idea of how in America the black man uses existing white images and claims them as his as a form of empowerment… so black Cobain and black this and black that which is actually not really that progressive. So it's this American idea of racial progression [which] is completely backward because you're just appropriating something and kind of calling it your own [and] that's something that's already completely died.

I think anything like that… anyone like that… that whole movement and I think that whole idea of like this progressive and new black but really you are just taking something that's been discarded and claimed it back and saying this "I'm black Cobain yeah we reappropriating." You're actually just picking something old up, the real progression is something that is undefined and is new and that's what Black Metal is.

This would lead into his newest project, Babyfather, for which he released their debut self-titled tape in 2015 via Hyperdub. Later that year he self released a mix entitled UK2UK, then early on in 2016 released another mixtape under the Babyfather name, Platinum Tears. This all led into their debut record, "BBF" by DJ Escrow, a polarizing record that was hit with criticism by The Needle Drop and Pitchfork, but heaped with praise by publications like Tiny Mix Tapes and Resident Advisor, both of whom had Babyfather top their album of the year lists. They also dropped the 419 mixtape in November.

Review by /u/ReconEG

PREAMBLE

There is no one way you can approach "BBF" Hosted by DJ Escrow. It is a multi-purpose record that covers a lot of ground despite it's seemingly simplistic nature. It's a response to the rise in nationalism in the UK, specifically that of the right wing nature. It's a story about a DJ and his attempts to move his way up in the rap world. It's the tales of a badman who isn't quite who he says he is. It's a look at the recent re-popularization of grime. One thing is very clear: this is a very British record. This is known right off the bat with the album's intro, "Stealth Intro", which is, and I don't kid, five minutes of Craig David saying "this makes me proud to be British" on loop with lush guitar plucking until they're interrupted by sirens and DJ Escrow's pitched up voice as starts ranting about sirens before transitioning into "Greezebloc."

Before I continue, I'm going to be splitting this review up into a few parts because of the multitude of ways to approach this record. I think the most relevant way right now is the album's slightly satirical look at nationalism, as with the election of Donald Trump and the Brexit decision, it's interesting to look through Dean Blunt's perspective of his country, as he carries the dual identity of being a British man, and the son of Nigerian immigrants in a time where one of those identities is being attacked.

PART 1: "THIS MAKES ME PROUD TO BE BRITISH"

Across the world, right wing nationalist movements have been taking off. While some have been stumped like in Austria, it's taken over some of the biggest powers in the world like the United States and the United Kingdom. These movements taking off like they have should not be surprising. As an older generation begins to die off and a newer generation begins to fill in the gaps, the older generation isn't quite ready to relieve that power just yet. Just as we think serious progressive movements are beginning to take over, those on the opposite end of the spectrum play one last power move that could end the game altogether.

This is, as Thom Yorke of Radiohead says, "the last desperate fart of a dying corpse." While Yorke was describing Spotify, I think this quote could also accurately describe this recent right wing nationalist movement. But anyways, how does this relate to "BBF"? It doesn't. Not directly at least. There's no rants about Nigel Farage or the value of the Euro. The closest we get is DJ Escrow saying "Free all of my niggas locked down. Fuck Trident, yeah. Fuck MI5. Fuck MI6, yeah. Obviously you can't hear this but fuck you innit."

As I said in the preamble, "BBF" serves as Dean Blunt's perspective of the UK right now and its rap scene. But much like his previous solo albums, it's also about Dean Blunt himself. His blunt (no pun intended) and simple rap style goes to show how powerful of a writer he is. Blunt makes the most of the least and is able to perfectly capture a mood in a few words and the music that surrounds it. The mood here is very foggy, with Blunt giving us occasional breaks through the smoke, realizing where he is and who he is, realizing he can't keep up his badman persona forever.

Anyways, nationalism is a terrible and ignorant movement and this album takes a couple of digs at it, mostly through the recurring vocal sample of Craig David saying "this makes me proud to be British." Also, while Dean Blunt was the draw for most people coming into this album, the real star of the show isn't him, it's DJ Escrow.

PART 2: "LET ME JUST PLAY THAT FUCKING TUNE"

"You hear the sirens, yeah? The sirens is a real ting. Man hear the sirens every fucking night. Man's tryna do my ting, and I hear the fucking sirens."

These are the first words we hear of DJ Escrow on this album. Throughout the album, we learn of his character more and more and realize he's a somewhat of a sad figure. While Blunt has his whole badman persona mostly figured out, DJ Escrow is still trying to figure out his way from being real to being real. We hear his fast-talking diatribes throughout the entire album, relaying troubles with his baby mama, paranoia about the police, fear of falling into the corporate world, and his dreams of becoming a rapper.

Despite Dean Blunt being the draw of the album, DJ Escrow is really our main character, as he ends up taking up a majority of the runtime on the album. On my repeated listens of the album for this review, I didn't quite realize how important he is to the whole experience. He is the observer to the world Dean Blunt creates on this album, and much like Escrow, you want to model yourself based on the badman persona Blunt cultivates.

And you see his struggles to try to get there. Two tracks that highlight some of these multiple struggles he has are "Platinum Cookies" and "The Realness." On "Platinum Cookies," Escrow tries to wow us with a set of bars: "Who's back, who's back? / See a little cat / Run around the flat like 'What?' / Man don't wanna get jacked like 'Naw' / Naw, [?] that, that / Show up from the back / Swing it in your hat 'til you're bleeding that, that" He ends of this set with "Yeah man's got bars as well, you know" before getting into another set, telling us he's aware they're basic, but "I'm a DJ first, innit?" He then compares himself to Wiley, saying that Wiley used to be a "shit MC" then saying he's gonna be sick like him one day. It's kind of a sad and desperate song, but one that's wholly endearing because of Escrow's character.

Then onto "The Realness", where Escrow tries to reach out, telling listeners that they don't have to get into crime to make it, trying to explain there's other ways before realizing his words go into one ear, but out the other. "I'm chatting too much here / Let me just play that fucking tune." He then goes into a speech about his trust issues, sounding more like Mark Kozelek than a radio DJ for a mixtape. His speech is then slowly interrupted by harsh noise leading into the track "Flames." Where on "PROLIFIC DEAMONS" Escrow was able to be one with the noise, this time it consumes him. It represents his come to terms with reality and the brutality of it all.

We hear Escrow one more time on "Message", bringing up an extremely poignant point about division and how if we all worked together, we could do a "big ting." Even in politics and economics, we could use "rhythms" to make good things for both, for everyone. It's hard not to relate to Escrow on this album. We see these big figures we look up to and want to emulate, but at the same time want to stay true to ourselves. On this album, DJ Escrow is our Nick Carraway and Dean Blunt? Our Jay Gatsby.

PART 3: "I'M TRYING TO FIND MINE"

This review is essentially part 3 of my Dean Blunt album review trilogy. In my last review on 2014's Black Metal, I made point about the last track on that album, "GRADE." Essentially, the song is a fight between the badman persona he was building up towards the end of the album and his normal anti-social self seen on the first half. This fight seemingly continues on "BBF".

For the most part, Blunt is able to keep his badman persona intact but there's little cracks on the surface when you dig deeper. The deep emotional trauma on albums like The Narcissist II and The Redeemer is still here, it just takes a bit more digging to find it. "Meditation", the album's lead single, touches on Blunt's paranoia: "I don't know what they asking of us / Everyone got a question for us / Can they give a nigga privacy? / What is that? Where is he? Who is she?" However, he's still able to make that neurosis cool and keep the persona up, but the cracks do show.

These cracks really begin to open up on the double dose of "Shook" and "Motivation", the first of which starts off as a fairly chill gangsta rap song, but begins to uncover the unglamorous world of this badman. Yet, despite the increasing tension of the song's lyrics, Blunt's tone remains dormant, telling whoever he's talking to in the song "don't panic." But at the same time, could he be talking himself down too? After Escrow's rant mentioned in Part 1 of the review, the song transitions into "Motivation," a trap banger that wouldn't sound out of place at all on a Future album, which opens up with the same refrain as "Shook": "Shorty fell in love with a hustler / Shorty fell in love with a G". Towards the end of the track, Blunt raps "Everybody's here when I get it / But ain't nobody here when I hit it / Forget it", before coming back in 20 seconds later to say "You're never gonna get it, boy." Is he talking about money? Is he talking about his depression? Is he talking about a girl? It's hard to tell but there's some there lurking in Dean that he doesn't want us to know.

This further develops on "Esco Freestyle", as Blunt raps about buying/using cocaine, but later regretting it: "I never should've did it / Never should've did it", then trying to justify his actions with "Every nigga want a good time / I'm trying to find mine." From his previous work, you know Blunt has been through some serious pain and is now willing to do anything to suppress it. Is Blunt really the badman other rap stars from the UK hype themselves up to be? Speaking of...

PART 4: "IT'S LIKE THERAPY, INIT? IT'S SOOTHING"

On September 15th this year, Skepta won the Mercury Prize for his album Konnichiwa, beating out the likes of David Bowie, The 1975, Radiohead, ANHONI, and more. The win was the ultimate culmination in the recent mainstream resurgence of grime, a genre known for it's pulsating electronic beats, fast-paced flows, and tough bars. On "BBF", Blunt pulls a heavy detour from this style with a snail-paced flow, basic lyrics and lowkey production, with a couple of exceptions. However, he still keeps up the gangster image seen among grime artists, but somehow comes off as a more intimidating figure.

As I've said before, Blunt is supremely good at doing the most of the least and this album shows it well. From a lyrical, technical, and production standpoint, this is one of Blunt's most minimal works yet and nearly no element is wasted. The album was all produced by Blunt himself, with Arca showing up on a few tracks to lend some production work, giving the album some of it's best sounding beats.

Inbetween the lowkey but pulsating Arca beats and chilled out west coast inspired vibes, the album throws the occasional curveball at you. Specifically on the track "PROLIFIC DEAMONS", which is, and again I don't kid, DJ Escrow going hypeman mode over harsh noise. It is completely jarring on first listen but absolutely hilarious on your fourth or fifth listen when the album's themes begin coming together. While Blunt has repeatedly stated that Babyfather isn't a joke project or a satirical one, you can't help but find some satirical bend in tracks like these.

Then you have the less ear-shattering curveballs like "God Hour" featuring English artist/composer Micachu, who gives a nice break between the Escrow tirades, Blunt's laid-back raps, and harsh noise for a string heavy indie pop track that calls back to Blunt's solo work without sounding out of place on this record.

EPILOGUE

Dean Blunt recently announced that he'd no longer play shows in the UK. After releasing this album, it makes sense. With the Brexit decision and the rise in hate crimes since the decision, Blunt's testimonial of being a black man in Britain, son of immigrants, was one that wasn't listened to. He talked about this in a recent conversation with fellow British artist GAIKA, both of them discussing feeling out of place in their own country.

On "Stealth Outro", Craig David once again is repeatedly saying "This makes me proud to be British." Expecting this repetition to loop again for the track's 3:26 runtime, the phrase instead fades out less than a minute into the song and the guitar plucking and light strings fully take up the mix. Seemingly, Blunt no longer needs to keep up this facade. He has realized he isn't accepted where he's from, and he's fine with that.

"BBF" Hosted by DJ Escrow is a Dean Blunt looking into his culture. It's a culture that's far from perfect and Blunt knows that. It's in these imperfections that Blunt is able to derive some great and powerful music from it. It's very much like an iceberg, where on the surface there doesn't seem to be much. For a long time I only looked at this album on that surface level but after diving deep and really studying parts of the record, there is so much to gather from it, it's quite insane. So if you've read through this whole thing, please listen to this album as it's possibly the most important and relevant rap album of 2016, and most definitely the most important album to come out of the UK in years.

Favorite Lyrics:

Fuck, it's a wrap

Cause I guess a nigga back

Pull that, and the niggas leave

Oh shit, there's that nigga Dean

  • "Greezebloc"

Everybody's here when I get it

But ain't nobody here when I hit it

Forget it

You're never gonna get it, boy

  • "Motivation"

I feel it in my chest now:

All the pain

Can't get the vest out

It's been too long, G

  • "Deep" ft. Arca

When it came down to it

I realized that the only person I could depend on one hundred percent and be was me

Trust is a luxury I can't afford

Betrayal is something I can't ignore

  • "The Realness"

Talking Points

  • How would you compare this album to Dean Blunt's previous work, solo and with Hype Williams?

  • Do you find this album to be wholly satirical?

  • What do you think is the future of the Babyfather (and Blunt in general) after this project?

  • And finally, is this album really worth digging into or is there not much there?

Hope you guys enjoyed my write-up! Come back tomorrow as /u/fozzik talks Danny Brown's Atrocity Exhibition.

submitted by /u/ReconEG
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