Dad Bod
By
Southside Willy
I do love getting to review independent artists who come
from areas I know well, especially those I grew up in or are on the Southcoast
of the UK, and Southside Willy is one of those. The thirty-eight-year-old
father of two makes his home in Ferndown Dorset.
He began his music making journey during his university days
but, the band reformed following lockdown. Around this time he began to
experiment with making his own Hip Hop music and created a parody rap persona
called Phat Dave. The resulting track called Doncha Know was not good, in fact
it was intentionally so as this was how he saw the character. However, before
this could develop, he was hit with burnout and dropped out of his band and
found the character of Phat Dave to be too exhausting to take any further plus,
he had his first baby on the way.
He knew he wanted to make music as himself but, with
self-imposed restrictions based around what his character would say. So,
Southside Willy was born, and his first single was titled “Fuck You, Tara”
which was a striped back diss track that was aimed at his next-door neighbour.
Following a few more singles and then with another baby on the way, he became
impatient with how long it took to get his music out. He was, after all,
writing, producing, recording and making videos for every single and recording
at home was a rare thing.
With his backlog of material Witten and not much of an
audience to speak of, he decided the best to get it out was to put out a full
length album, and being more of a hobbyist and less of a career rapper, he has
less pressure to get everything out.
This is how Southside Willy views the album Dad Bod “I’ve
released a full-length album of wholesome UK Hip-Hop. Down to earth with
relatable themes, delivered with heavy sarcasm and self-deprecating humour.
Rock and pop influences blending with hip-hop beats. Touching on family,
approaching 40, feeling out place in the UK Hip-Hop scene, social anxiety and
more. This is also the first time I’ve ventured into more emotional subjects”.
Now you have had an introduction to Southside Willy, the
only thing left to do is for you to join me as I take you through Dad Bod…
Dad Bod is a twelve-track album that kicks off with Wifey,
Hand Claps, piano and horns, all merge with the sparse drum beat to create this
light-hearted upbeat sound, that is a little infectious as it gets you moving. As
you can guess from the title of the track, this one is a fun filled dedication
to that special woman in his life. Written from his point of view, it really
looks at how he feels about how she came into his life, and he continues to
feel about her on a daily basis. There is nothing better than love to help you
create just right feel in a track and this one nails it in a warm and energetic
fashion. Next up we have Kids, the tambourine, chilled beat and ukulele
vibes, give this one a nice east going vibe. Once more Southside Willy
perfectly puts into words the thoughts of all of us dads out there that have
wrestled with life and how the arrival of our children turns it all upside down
in both good and, at times, not so good ways. However, regardless of what we
experience as fathers and parents, we love out kids unconditionally and would
never change them in any way; just as we would never change the experiences, we
have had with them. With the thoughts of our kids still floating in our heads,
the vibe switches up and the drumbeat is far more apparent here as keys and
electronic vibes all mesh together on Tongue Tied. Here we find
Southside Willy giving us his bio and thoughts on where he is at right now, all
in one track. Its all about where he’s from and where he’s at, and you realise
that the lack of streams, and just a few video clicks, don’t have the impact on
him that it might have for most, because you realise, he is doing this just for
the love of what he does, honing his craft and enjoying every minute of it.
The Morning After brings us this chilled beat with
this mind twisting sound that almost feels like a musical expression of a lack
of proper sleep. As you listen to this one, you kind of feel at odds over what
its all about; are you listening to Willy describe some weird dreams or perhaps
all he is doing is going over the fact that he stayed up way too late, gaming
all night, and after little sleep, those images from hours of intense digital
action are still whirling inside his foggy mind. Time to pick things up a bit
as a drum machine type vibe and piano, has you nodding you head along, in an
almost unconscious manner as we get caught up in being Overworked, Underpaid.
This one is something most of us will be able to associate with, getting up
every day, in that repetitive manner, working till all your energy is gone,
only to receive little or no recognition and going to sleep with the
realisation that tomorrow you will do it all again. It’s a cycle and a catch
twenty-two situation, because you can’t afford to leave the job but, you don’t
really want to stay either, so you carry on until life becomes little more that
a reflex action, something you’re conditioned to do, simply to survive. As the
struggles of the work life balance fill out mind, Introverted brings a
more spaced-out sound that mixes sparce drums with some keys that have an
almost lo-fi feel. This one touches on a place where many of us have found
ourselves at times, becoming introverted and wanting to hide away from the
outside world, keeping others at arm’s length. Reality often impacts us in so
many ways that it can get too much to handle, and it is so much easier to shut
the doors and close out the world around us because that way, if we can’t see
it then, it can’t see us and has no effect on us, and we can look to reset
ourselves once more.
Halfway through the album and Southside Willy has already
covered a lot of ground and you feel an eagerness to see what’s coming next. Good
Girl has this jazzy vibe of horns and bass alongside a chilled drumbeat.
This light-hearted track is a heartwarming ode to man’s beast friend. Anyone
who has ever had a dog as a part of their family will easily feel this one
bringing a smile to their face and some beautiful memories to boot. Speaking of
memories, 2007 (Take Me Back) hits with a big sound of live drums and
guitars that brings a sound that puts you straight into those small intimate
venues where the live sounds fill your ears. Southside Willy reminisces on the
memories of his band and songs they wrote and the mini tour they embarked on.
This is brief glimpse into an inspirational moment in time, one that helped
shaped who he has become and still plays an important role in his life. The
sound of guitars and drums fill our ears once more as Vintage Bitch
drops. This one has Southside Willy bringing life to his memories of growing up
and the things that were fun to remember about those times. As I hear mention
of games consoles, White Lightning and rotten dot com, it makes me wonder, if
Willy considers himself vintage, then I must be beyond Jurassic…
We explode into the final quarter of the album with Embarrassment,
a pulse pounding sound that ignites the adrenaline and gets you bouncing
around. This one mix’s elements of Willys background with some great
tongue-in-cheek moments that will have you grinning from ear to ear. There are
plenty of fun one-liners here that make you realise that you have more in
common with him than you might want to admit. The penultimate track is This
Family, mixing organ notes and guitars with a more chilled beat to create a
more emotive vibe. Family is a huge part of all out lives and here we find
Southside Willy opening up about what his family means to him. There is not a
lot that I need to say on this one because this is one of those personal tracks
that speaks for itself. With that emotive vibe running through us already, the
final track of the album, Tadpole, brings a deeply personal and
emotional air. The guitar takes forefront as the drums are stripped back to
bring more focus to the words. This one finds Southside Willy speaking on
experiencing a miscarriage with his wife. As someone who knows the pain of this
experience, this one touched me deeply and really does not need many words,
because this is an experience that only those who have been through it know and
Southside Willy gives a beautiful ode to life that was so special, it did not
need to enter this world.
After ending the album in such an emotional way, it is hard
to begin to sum up this album. I have to be honest here and say that there were
some moments that really touched me. As a Dad I have experienced the loss of
two children, one who was stillborn and one to suicide, so when I here emotive
tracks speaking on family, children and loss of
child, it always touches deeply and This album did that on a few
occasions and so a salute Southside Willy here for doing that in a way that
myself, and any other father or mother can truly understand. Alongside that
there are some great fun moments and also those that bring a big grin to your
face too.
Now, if you take my word and give this a listen, I’m sure
there are many out there who will recognise that there is a rawness at time
here and a little roughness but, that really takes nothing away from the album.
It shows that this is someone who is coming up, honing their craft and showing
that not only do they have some talent here but, the future is a very bring
place too. It is not every upcoming artist that writes and produces their debut
album and Southside Willy demonstrates that he has a lot to give. His
production is solid, and his lyrical flows and wordplay show a wealth of
knowledge and a desire to be himself and to be just that.
I also, felt that, as I said earlier, that this is someone
who makes music for the love of it and not necessarily for pounds or streams.
It was nice to be able to understand every word he said and to really feel the
energy in those words. There is also so much here that is relatable to for so
many of us, it really hits the mark in that sense too, and as a dad with his
own dad bod, being able to associate so closely with this is made the album all
the more enjoyable, and the way he sensitively takes certain subjects is a huge
credit to him.
Yes, Southside Willy might still be at the beginning of his
Hip Hop journey but, I’m suitably impressed by this debut album, and it shows
he has a lot of promise and talent as producer/rapper, especially with the
emotive content. It proves that the south coast of the UK is rich in quality
Hip Hop.
I really recommend you check out Dad Bod and
Southside Willy, which is out now…
I’ll see ya next time,
Steve.
LINKS
Check this one link for the Album and much more:
VIDEOS
Embarrassment Official Video
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