Late for the Execution by Nekwreka
A review and then some
If Planet of the Fakes (PotF) is your thing and you have
been feeling a bit lost, now they have hung their epitaph around the throat of
Hip Hop and withdrawn back in to the shadows, then take it from me, there is
light at the end of that deep dark and dingy tunnel.
Producer and emcee Inzaine is back, under the new and
improved Nekwreka name, with his first solo Album, Late for the Execution.
As a bit of a bonus, I have thrown some questions his way to
give a little insight into the man, his music and some other random shit.
For those of you who have followed PotF or even just dipped
your toes into the mind altering musical visions they have created over the
years, you will probably have some idea of what is in store for you. For those
of you may not be aware of the hardcore Hip Hop assault that the Fakes have
brought, then you are about to get a tour de force in the Hardcore UK Hip Hop
genre that some term Britcore.
So, sit back as I
take you on a journey through the album from start to finish, give you my
thoughts and whatever else comes to mind.
Before we kick off, Inzaine may be a big part of the PotF
legacy but, let’s get one thing straight. This is not PotF, This is Inzaine and
this is a different ride and that ride kicks off with the somewhat laid back, I Love the Silence. A nice little into
which originally served as the outro But, switched to the Intro it gives a
whole different vibe and transport you to a place where you are either sat in
silence awaiting your Execution or You have already been executed and
everything that follows is the afterlife and if this is to be your afterlife
then what does that say about how you lived..?
However you feel the first track, once the Drums kick in for
Redux the Warrior, the pace is kicked
up more than a few gears and you are ripped from your reality into Inzaine’s
high octane and Dark Hardcore reality with this first track which, at first,
made me think of graffiti warriors but, the more I listened to it, I got the
feel that this spoke more of a Verbal warrior, and that if your gonna bring
your game, it better be your A game if your gonna step up. From verbal warriors
to the Mike Vandall, Keeping up the
pace with a Banging beat and some freaky piano for good measure, this one is
all about Inzaine’s Mic prowess and that you can bring it but, at the end of
the day, you wack emcee’s are dead and gone.
A nice little guitar
intro eases you into Momentum, where
Inzaine is joined by Mr Morph. Don’t let that chilled out intro lull you into
some false sense of security. This track is as fast paced as the rest once the
beat hits. We are treated to Inzaine and Mr Morph bouncing of each other line
from line as they do exactly what it says on the tin, Keep up the Momentum.
The Samoan Ganxta
is a skit and a hilarious piece by Sinista from PotF, talking about the man
Inzaine. I’m not gonna say too much about this one, except, Just listen and
enjoy.
Back to the music with the slightly down beat but, heavy as
fuck Osmotic Etymology, two minute
of Inzaine on the Hip Hop tip just dropping a couple of dope verses, I mean
what more could you want, An extra verse or two? Yeah this one deserves it, a
proper piece of dopeness this one. If your gonna drop a couple of verses then
you could do just like that or just like this as the wicked Good, Bad and the
Ugly sample and heavy bass provide Inzaine with the perfect platform for some Verbal Gymnastics. Two tracks that
prove you just don’t need those guest vocals sometimes and can just throw down.
Up next, is a homage to the Dark Side of the force with Sith Lords, which features Manchester’s
Red Venom, Pride and Sinista. You can probably figure out what this one is all
about from the title. But, this track whips you along at 0.5 past light speed
on a heavy beat with three emcees rocking Mic-sabres with ultimate precision.
After this one you will definitely want to turn to the Dark Side. A small
child’s voice and a hectic guitar riff are the intro for Recycle your Idols. The beat soon kicks in and you are taken on a
ride by Inzaine and Mr Morph who invite you to take those wack tracks and fake
Idols and recycle that shit.
The man like Shan Dookna drops the intro for Another Dimension. Kicking the pace up
another notch or ten, Inzaine takes us exactly where the title suggests, with a
heavy hectic track all topped off with some equally high speed cuts from DJ
Cold Turkey. This track is also the second video from the Album.
Inzaine continues to pull the cloak of darkness over us as
an intro from the dark comic movie, Watchmen, drags you into The Evil that Men do. Yeah, this track
is all about the darkness that comes from some of humanities sickest and fucked
up characters who have done evil and done it well...
To take you mind off of all that evil, next up is the skit Who the Fuck is Dave? A wicked track
which is composed of sound bites sent to Inzaine by some of his friends and
fans. If you ever wondered what I sound like in real life, well, I have the
distinct honour of being the first up on this track with my son Rowan following
me with a phrase which now Legendary in our House ‘Planet of the Fakes you wack
ass fools’. So, enjoy and have a good old chuckle.
One thing PotF did in the past was to drop some awesome
‘Posse’ tracks, such as Fracture The Mainframe from Beneath the Planet of the
Fakes. Inzaine’s next track, Murderous,
a corker of a track that takes you from 0-60 in a couple of seconds and
features a who’s who of some of the UK’s top emcees, DJ Krash Slaughta, Mr
Morph, Sinista, DJ Tones, Iceski, Pride, Alikazam, T.S. One & Chrome
alongside Australia’s dope Blades Duo Kid Lyrical and Wizla. If your gonna do a
posse cut, this is how you do it...
The penultimate track, Keep
on Marching, features the always on point, Remark. A heavy banging track
which focuses on what is going on around us and fact that there are too many
sheeple out there marching to the beat of drum which keeps them from seeing the
true reality around them.
Rounding off the
album is the track, which originally kicked off the album, and is also the
first video from the album, Ataraxia.
A track which kicks off with an unsettling laughter before the beat drops along
with sample reminiscent of the Psycho knifings. With its heavy, dark horror
vibe, you can see how this track would change the whole vibe of the album had
it remained as the first track.
Fifteen tracks deep and featuring some of the UK’s top
emcees, as well as a few fans to boot, this album takes you on a proper
rollercoaster ride through some dark vibes and some not so dark. Every track is
crafted to help you get the maximum feeling and energy, and this album is not
short of energy on any level.
There are a lot of different vibes to be had from this album
and although there is a lot of darkness on here, there is also plenty of fun to
be had. The darkness is there because it is a reflection of the world and life
around us. Darkness and light brings balance and you can’t have one without the
other.
What is especially good about the album is it comes with a
collection of demos which really help you to see how the tracks have progressed
from their early stages into what they are now as the finished product. That is
something you don’t see very often from any artist but, is something that more
artists should do.
Overall there is nothing here not to like. Some may find
some of the themes to be a bit dark but, when you reflect the truth in the
world around us you will find darkness and I guess some will just find the
energy not to their liking but, while you are never gonna please everyone,
there is so much here to appeal to so many. This is definitely one for your
collection without a doubt.
All songs were written and produced by Nekwreka and mixed by
Rola. Except for the Demo versions, these were all mixed by Nekwreka.
The cover design is by Jonny ‘djangokil’ Lines with layout
by Nekwreka and features a wicked Zombie design But, if you want to see it,
you’re gonna have to buy the album.
So, before I sign of, let’s get to the Q+A with Nekwreka:
How did you decide on the album title..?
The title of the album comes from a lyric
used by a band called, Silver chair. From the album, Frog stomp. Loved the
saying when I heard it and thought, 'One day I'll call an album that.' now I
have. I picture so many different meanings to the phrase so I figured other
people would too.
With the Fakes now cemented into Hip Hop
history, what's it feel like heading off in a new direction?
To be honest, I don't think Planet of the Fakes
are cemented in hip hop history, not even UK hip hop history. We are, at best,
a side note scribbled on the page titled Britcore. However, we really like it
that you and hopefully one or two others might feel the same too. That being
said, it's great to be heading in a new direction for us. We've been together
as potf for 12 years and put out a tonne of music including demos that others
would never let go of in case their fan base thought they were slipping. We
never gave a fuck, but we can't keep grinding out the same music over and over,
that's boring. NekWreka is the answer for me. Combine what we like about our
style of hip hop and lyricism with the other styles of music we've enjoyed over
the years. It's given us a new lease of life without diluting the sound, in
fact, it's a lot heavier. It's going to be good.
How are you going to be moving forward with
the new Nekwreka monocle..?
The thing about potf is we only fit in with
a hand full of other acts and therefore gigs are few and far between but
NekWreka is a better Vibe for live shows, festivals, pubs, clubs etc. Plus we
intend (on the next release) to be playing 80-90% of the music ourselves, thus
cutting our massive use of samples in the arrangements. That, for me, is a massive
step forward.
How did the idea for Who the Fuck is Dave
develop?
This kinda thing isn't new. A few acts have
done it in the 90s - 00's so I guess I stole it from them. But I wanted to give
'The Resistance' the chance to get their voices onto one of our releases.
However, a lot of messages just couldn't be cleaned for use and some couldn't
be converted so to those, I apologize and will definitely do something else on
the next release to make it up to them.
Your lyrics are always high octane. Does
this make writing more hectic?
Definitely, Writing lyrics is not easy for
me and I'm not a good story teller like the hip hop greats. So I just got used
to writing in a way that people would like how I sound and not necessarily what
I'm saying. So when I write, I work the shapes and sounds on the page until
they work on the record this can be laborious but I think I'm getting the hang
of it now.
What is next on your list? Will you be
looking at another album; an EP or taking a break?
Well, I'm already 75% done with writing the
music for the next NekWreka album. I'm still working the bass lines and
keyboards, then Danny comes in to play the guitar parts, then Turkey comes to
do the background cuts. Then comes the hard part of the process, deciding on a
concept and writing about it, ideas and choruses etc., and then the lyrics. It
takes time but I think we get there quicker nowadays then we ever have in the
past. Maybe a year, then 6 months for mixing, mastering and packaging, this is
usually the time I start preparing the next release, I've never been to
Brooklyn so I have never slept.
Living or dead, who would you most like to
colab with?
Easiest question ever, Dead = Frank Zappa.
Alive = Mike Patton.
What other music do you most enjoy away
from Hip Hop?
Nu metal, metal, power groove, grunge,
jazz, funk, as long as it makes you want to wreck your neck.
Also, away from Hip Hop... What else do you
like to do?
I only do 3 things... I worship my son, I
make music no one wants to hear and I work to be able to pay for those two
privileges. That's my life, and I love it.
What's your fav Tipple?
Decent red wine. I'm not rich so I'm only
talking £7 - £ 10 a bottle but yeah, I'm on that shit like a groupie on dick.
I like all kinds of Outta the box stuff. What’s
your take on Ghosts, UFOs and Bigfoot etc..? I have also looked at a lot of stuff to
with the Universe, God and other Spiritual stuff. What is your take of this
kinda thing?
I'm not really an open minded person, and I
have some strange personal beliefs but my opinion is, 'You live, you suffer,
you die'. There has been nothing else since humans created the concept of
ownership whether that's land, property, Gods, people, borders whatever, and
the myriad of ways they go about trying to prove that, usually through violence
and fear. It's all a crock of shit, you are not special, nobody is. This goes
for everything except UFO stuff. I can't say yes or no here because it's a Fuckin
big universe and to think we're alone is some dumb ass religious flat earth
mumble rap, but I've never been probed so I don't have proof.
If you could do a Gig with anyone who would
be on the line up?
I've already performed with a lot of my
peers from UK hip hop so I'm not going to count them in this, except maybe
Suspekt, I'll play live anytime with that demented duo. Of course a lot of acts
I like are not together anymore or dropped off on the style I liked them for,
but as this is a wish list, I'm going to count them. Frank Zappa, Mike Patton
(any band but would love it to be MrBungle, Pantera, Twiztid, Korn, Gunshot,
Blade, Blades, Slipknot (1999-2002), Primus, Rage against the machine, Beastie
boys, Manson (1995 - 2000) Nirvana, Senser, Infections grooves, Sepultura...
You get the idea.
What do you love or hate about Interviews?
I've always hated them. I say enough stupid
shit in my lyrics without having to reiterate them in public too. But you can't
just write music anymore, you've got to promote yourself, and do videos and
post pictures of bitches with their tits hanging out with all your music and
merch platforms on them, in 20 different social media sites. This just isn't
me, I'm a song writer not a business man, so I do an interview here and there
with decent articulate individuals so I don't have to join Spotify and post tit
pics every hour on the hour. Fuck your play list bitch boy, buy my Fuckin CD
instead.
One more thing... What would you say to all
those who have and still do support you...
Ah yes, 'The Resistance' they’re the only
real reason we're here. The only reason we have vinyl and CDs and download
options available. The only reason there are faces at our shows. They gave us
the opportunity to do this for the last ten years and we love them for that.
They know we will never turn our backs, or dilute, they know what we do is for them
and I wouldn't swap one single member of that resistance for 10,000 fake fans,
and they know that. It's a two way thing, we don't sell out, they don't kick
our arses.
OK, well that’s it peeps.
I have to give a huge thank you Nekwreka
for giving me the chance to review the album and for answering my questions.
All the links and videos are below.
Be the resistance buy the album and watch the Bandcamp page as CD Copies are coming soon...
I’m outta here, I’m the resistance.
Steve.
Preorder the Album here:
Ataraxia - Official Video
Another Dimension - Official Video
