Times Change
By
Danny Riggs X Pandamonium
Somewhere back in the mists of time, my good friend and DJ /
Producer / Emcee and all-round good egg Pandamonium put out an offer to fully
produce an album, EP or whatever for a proper bargain price, and one of the
projects that grew from that was a collaboration with upcoming rapper / Singer
/ Songwriter and drummer from Nottingham UK, Danny Riggs.
That collaboration is now available for everyone to check
out and is titled Times Change. Now, aside from being fully produced by
Pandamonium, it features some pretty heavy hitters as well including Louis
Cypher and Zar! Plus, there is a posse style cut that features a host of emcees
in the form of Louis Cypher, Aquatic Ape, C Hayez, Tippyvshummanity, Odox, Cali
Green and the legend that is Cappo. With a line-up like that, it is hard to
write anymore, so I’m just gonna get into it…
Times Change clocks in at a sneeze under forty minutes long
across ten tracks and kicks off with Intro_spective, which has
Pandamonium's trademark jazzy vibe but, with a more laid-back sound of horns, guitar,
and cymbals. The focus of this intro is an invitation for all of us to look
within to make the greatest changes. Keeping our focus on what is outside of us
and on what others are doing will never be transformative, only a quick fix…
With that thought firmly rooted into our awareness, the
album in earnest with Loading In, keeping it laid back here, there is
that nice little addition of that 80’s digital computer loading sound, the
drumbeat is proper Hip Hop here and backed by bass, kays and horns, which keeps
that jazz-hop vibe going. Here we find Danny bringing us the lowdown on who he
is and the things that inspire him to do what he does behind the Mic. It is
refreshing to get that insight because, with Danny being one of the younger generation
of rappers out there, it gives us this deep look at what drives him and that
there is this desire within him to see people inviting love into their lives to
bring more of it into the world. From that personal note, its time to get more
head nod with No Breaks. Pandamonium gives us a nice beat and handclaps
to get out heads moving and there are more samples thrown in with quick turns
of pace that keep us on our toes. Here we find Danny taking us through some of
those moments in life where we feel we just can’t catch a break. He delivers
this with some great comedic lines that will have you grinning for sure. You
can keep that grin on your face as Playing Games opens with that
Nintendo Wii electronic little tune, as a father and son get ready to play on
the console. Panda then spins that tune with a nice little head nod beat to
give Danny the perfect background to reminisce on his younger days, name
dropping a plethora of video games, TV shows and more from the 2000’s. I bet us
older heads will recognise most of these as we watched em with our kids too.
Real Business takes us back to that laid-back jazzy
vibe of piano and other keys over another nice drumbeat getting us almost
swaying back and forth. Danny, drawing on his personal experience, takes us on
a trip that is all about doing what you love and constantly aiming to reach
your goals. It’s a long journey where some will doubt you and criticize you
but, use that energy to fuel your passion for what you do and keep walking
forward no matter what. It’s now time for a brief Technical Interlude with
serves to introduce what’s about to happen in the second part of the album.
Very tongue-in-cheek this one and Panda’s beat has this very lift or elevator
music about it but, before you know it, we’re all good and its time to move on
to Haters which see’s Louis Cypher making his first appearance. This one
turns up the energy levels more than a few notches with a cracking sound that
mixes horns, keys and more with a nice infectious beat. This one has the air of
battle rap about it as Danny and Louis give us a solid display of wordplay,
spinning line after line that will make anyone think twice about stepping up on
them…
Almost Blind sees Zar! Step up alongside Danny, with
Panda providing a more chilled beat with this electronic sample that gives this
one a nerve tweaking edge but, not in bad way, as it just anchors your focus on
the words. As you listen to this one it really has a message that echoes the
introduction, where its all about having faith in yourself, never giving up,
and letting love guide you to a better place. With those sentiments still
ringing in your ears, the penultimate track here seems to show what is possible
if you don’t give up but, aim for your goals. Legacy is a track that
weighs in at nearly ten minutes in length and sees Danny joined by Louis
Cypher, Aquatic Ape, C Hayez, Tippyvshummanity, Odox, Cali Green and Cappo.
Panda drops a deep funky vibe on this one with deep beat, bass and this funked
out guitar that really gets you moving. Less of a hardcore posse cut that you
might expect, this one is more a collective of emcees speaking on just what it
means to them to leave a legacy behind them. The core thing here is not leaving
money or material things but, leaving a legacy of words that have true meaning;
creating something that will speak to people for years to come, and the length
seems to float by as you listen intently. This is a deep and thought-provoking
track that you can’t help but take something from. The album ends with The
Best Is Yet To Come Outro which sees Panda on form with a nice head nod
little track with bass, guitars and cuts, rounding off the album and suggesting
to all that this is just the beginning of the journey for Danny Riggs and the
best, well that’s to come and we’ll just have to wait and see what that brings…
Overall, what can I say about this one? Well, one thing I
can say is that it was a pleasure to wrote to, as the sound and lyrics just
made the listening and writing something that flowed with ease; and I love it
when that happens because it makes my job easier.
As this was my introduction to Danny Riggs, I was pleasantly
surprised to hear someone who has a passion and confidence in his craft. He has
some great wordplay and turns of flow while delivering everything with an air
that says he is more than able to make a name for himself on the UK scene, and
there is no reason to believe that he will not still be here doing his thing
for years to come. It will be interesting to watch how he progresses and
matures as his journey continues. He is definitely one to watch.
It was also interesting to see how the album had this
distinct feel of two halves, separated by this little comedic ditty. The first
half showed what Danny can do flying solo, while the second half gave him the
chance to drop verses alongside some big name features too. It really showed
that he has the capability to hold his own, regardless of if he does it solo or
alongside other artists.
He did a great job picking Pandamonium to work with on this
project as it does seem to show that he fits really well with Panda’s
production style. Each beat panda provided worked so well with the essence of
what Danny was going for. Mixing up the styles and the pace gave Danny some
good platforms to show how he too can mix things up. Now, I didn’t mention much
about the cuts in the write-up for each track, and Panda does not drop a lot of
them but, when he does, they are used in just the right places and form to
bring that full on Hip Hop vibe to proceedings.
The features artists on the second half of the album all fit
so well into the vibe of what Danny is giving us here. He gives us names that
we know very well, alongside some that we might not know so well but, it all
works perfectly and adds that icing to the cake.
All-in-All, Times Change is an impressive release by
one of the UK’s up and coming rap artists who delivers the kind of message that
says fairly and squarely, I’m here and I’m one to watch. Plus, as us old heads
know, times do change and here we have someone who looks to fit so well within
the UK Hip Hop scene, drawing on the essence of that real Hip Hop sound.
Times Change is out now,
So, go grab it and roll with it.
I’ll See ya next time.
Steve.
LINKS
Grab the EP on Band Camp Here:
https://dannyriggs.bandcamp.com/album/times-change
Danny Riggs Socials:
The one link for all things Danny Riggs:
https://linktr.ee/dannyriggsuk
Pandamonium Socials:
https://www.instagram.com/pandamoniumuk/
https://www.facebook.com/djpandamoniumbeats
https://www.youtube.com/@PandamoniumHHB
Full EP YouYube Playlist
https://youtu.be/f5433bpqM-8?si=VawQKBJbeZDEGWHl
