Ambivalence
By
Shabbz
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Shabbz is a name you may not be familiar with, hailing from
Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, the rapper began his musical journey back in 2020. Born
in London, he moved to Irelend while still a child and has lived there for the
last Twenty years or so now. Irish by nationality, he spent the most formative
years of his life, through his teenage years into adulthood in Ireland. It was
2020’s fan favourite King of the South gave him a cult following on the grime
scene and has helped him to forge a solid foundation for grime and rap in
southern Ireland.
The press release notes “With an overriding belief in the importance of artistic integrity, Shabbz
favours a quality control approach to music. Instead of pumping out frequent,
algorithm-based releases, he instead prefers to deliver works of art;
celebrating the importance of each brush stroke through an avante-garde final
painting.
Three years
later, Shabbz is back with his latest project “Ambivalence” - a project that
promises to elevate the Southern Ireland rap scene and show many of Tipperary’s
residents that a career in rap is indeed possible.”
Ambivalence is
five tracks deep and with what I’ve noted about his importance to create
quality, promises a lot, so let’s get into it…
Kicking of with
Sticks & Stones (Prod. By Vincemania), Keys and a melodic drumbeat
create a deep vibe over which you have that classic grime high-speed cymbal
sound. The message here seems to be all about what it is being an upcoming
artist within an urban music scene. The struggles of trying to make it as a rap
artist, looked as no way to make a real living. Not just that but, there are
the outside pressures of family looking on you to start a family or the people
on the streets trying to draw you into another life altogether. The message here
is to be you, create your dreams and build towards them and stay on that path
no matter what. The melodic drums continue, mixed this time with organ notes
and the cymbal notes. State of
Mind (Prod. By Ecee) is focusing on
mental health and the struggles that so many go through as they wrestle with
their mixed emotions around a person or situation, even to thoughts of suicide. The soulful vocals of Becky McNeice, on
the chorus, act as the Yang (the light) to the Yin or dark side of Shabbz
vocals, as she builds the positive focus of someone looking to free themselves
from the pain and suffering in the mind.
Becky McNeice
appears, once more on Tha Stars (Prod. By Jan.MP3), which has a lighter vibe
with drums, guitars and synth notes. The cymbal notes fade more into the
background here creating a more uplifting vibe. Shabbz speaks on the love of
his life with Becky’s chorus being the words of that person floating through his
awareness as he contemplates all the reasons why he loves her so deeply. Drums,
horns and a ticking (which sounds like a metronome) combine for a laid back
vibe which has more of a Hip Hop vibe to it. 085 (Prod. By Frederick
James) looks at, what is almost the flipside of Tha Stars, here its all about
chasing someone special and how that often means that you can get yourself into
some tricky situations by texting the wrong person and such like. This is just
one of those tough situations you might find yourself in on the way to finding
that true love.
The last track
is Too Late (Prod. By Axxeum) which features Slickbullet.
This is a far more heavy bass trap sound which vibrates the speakers big time.
Shabbz drops one which is all about that bravado vibe as he deals with those
trying to be a part of what he’s built but, it’s just too late for that, the
moment has passed, and he is now on the next stage of his journey…
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What is
immediately noticeable here is that, although he moved to Ireland while young, Shabbz
has retained that London accent and it is immediately noticeable when you
listen to his work. This takes nothing away from what this release achieves and
that air of quality over quantity is very noticeable here too. Regardless of
your own personal tastes in music, if you look past that you get this feeling
that the quality of the release is crafted with the careful attention to
detail.
What Shabbz
gives us is five tracks that display differing influences and a wealth of
emotional content and subject matter. The overall vibe bends more to a modern
sounding rap vibe that draws on grime, trap and a dash of Hip Hop. Now, I might
not be a fan of the more modern sound but, you have to give credit where it’s
due and I can’t fault Shabbz on his lyrical content and delivery. He definitely
has the skills to see his career take him as far as he is willing to go. Once
again that attention to detail comes through in his writing and in the flow of
how each track is delivered.
These five
tracks are a pretty solid foundation which see him speaking on the struggles of
an emerging artist, mental health Love and just a sprinkling of ‘just for the
hell of it’ style and packing this all into five tracks is no mean feat either.
The production really polishes the quality of the whole thing here and really
creates the perfect audible backdrop for each track, helping to put you in the
right mood to vibe perfectly with each. I have to say that I am not familiar
with these producers but, completely acknowledge the quality of their production
through out.
The appearance
of the guest artists Becky McNeice and Slickbullet really gives that extra
depth to the tracks they feature on. Again, you might not be familiar with
their names but, they ones to watch for as well.
It is good to
hear emerging artists from Ireland, such as Shabbz, as I feel that we don’t hear
enough from Irish rap artists. This does show that underground Irish music
scene is in good hands. So, if you really vibe with that more modern rap sound
then you’ll definitely like what Shabbz is doing. I would also advise anyone
who enjoys good rap music to check Shabbz for themselves and decide what they
think, because it’s the only way you are really gonna know by checking the
music yourself. One thing is for sure, you will definitely be hearing the name
Shabbz in the future…
Ambivalence
drops today, 3rd March, on all good streaming platforms.
On that note,
I’m out, see
ya.
Steve
LINKS
Check here for all the streaming links:
https://ditto.fm/ambivalence-shabbz
Shabbz on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/officialshabbz/
Shabbz on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUdj1z8WI_D5HSdcivGqfgg
VIDEOS
State Of Mind ft Becky McNeice
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