Album Review: Neither Collar Nor Crown by Vagrant Real Estate

 

Neither Collar Nor Crown

By

Vagrant Real Estate

 

Neither Collar Nor Crown is the new album from Aberdonian producer Vagrant Real Estate. He has been dropping albums since 2017, is part of the UK Crew It’sLeftField, and with this latest album focuses on Scottish artisty past and present, drawing on diverse sounds including Scottish folk, Traditional and Gaelic, alongside Gospel/R&B and live brass sounds. The album also features lyricism in both English and Gaelic, plus elements of choir and spoken word.

The album features twenty-five artists all in, with names such as Jackill, Bemz, and Globally renowned folk singer Iona Fyfe all featuring on an album that promises to stand as one of the essential Scottish Hip Hop projects.

This album was originally released back in November 2025, so there is a reasonable chance that some of you may have heard this already. However, for those of you that have not, I have just set the scene here and given you a lot to anticipate.

So, as I’m dying to get into this one, let’s get into it…

 

It all kicks off with a short little intro, At The Edge Of The World, a little sample that seems to have been taken from an old public information film about Scotland, just to draw you in. The first track is Go With The Flow which features Jackill, Katherine Aly, AiiTee, Florence Jack and Danny Cliff on vocal duties. The sound on this one mixes a nice head nod beat with strings, harp elements and a sung chorus that give this one a sound that you can easily drift off to. As you listen to the rap vocals and sung elements, there is a very reflective edge to this one. You get the sense that it’s all about looking back to see how far you’ve come to get to where you are now. Just going with the flow has made you who you are, but there is also the hope that continuing with the flow of life will finally help you to know true freedom from the struggles that life puts before you. HOTB is up next and features Jackill, Madhat McGore and DJ Fak of Dope Inc. Cuts, a dope beat, guitar elements and choir sounds, all mesh together to bring a sound that feel from the inside out. I might be mistaken here but, HOTB appears to stand for Home Of The Brave. There is a deep aspect to this one that refers to country of Scotland and what it means to make it your home. You can feel the passion they have for their home country, its music and so much more. There has been a lot of negative and racist comments, and such aimed at Scotland and Scottish artists over the years, and you also get the sense that this is aimed at setting the record straight, showing that Scottish artist have a lot to offer on the Hip Hop scene and beyond. Public Health Announcement is a short instrumental aural pallet cleanser that has a heavy pounding beat with a little comical aside. It seems to be bridging you into the next part of the album.

Easy Now features Jackill, Paque, Symi Nemesis and Kid Pro Quo, on the cut, and has a sound that mixes a pounding beat with flute and horns to give this one a folk edge to the sound. There is this vibe here that seems to bridge styles in the vocals as well as in the music. Here we have four artists with different styles, where spoken word and high paced rap are book ended with more classic rap styles. This is a cracking demonstration of different wordplay and delivery that shows you can easily mix them together without losing impact. Feeches features Jackill, Pro Focus, Kryptik (who has featured on the blog before), Mog and Jinx. Here piano notes take the forefront with etheric vocal samples, while the beat takes a step back, creating a sound that gets your head nodding in a different way while allowing the vocals to stand clear. This one seems to take us on a blistering trip around Scotland with various stories giving us an insight into life. As you focus on what’s being said, you find yourself associating with some, while others give you pause for thought. NMIL features Bemz and Sorley Mackay of DOSS. Guitar vibes grip us from the get-go, the beat drops in and gets you bouncing, both elements almost being at odds with each other. There is a very real uplifting energy to this one, as you listen you get this sense of looking back at the ups and downs of life and those who helped you along the way. It makes you think that no matter how hard things get, you make it to where you want to be. It just takes strength and sometimes that comes from within, while other times it comes from the outstretched hand of a friend.

In Finzean features appearances from FiDa and Fiona Soe Paing, the sound has a very folk driven sound that has a very calming vibe to it with what sounds like more traditional instruments and etheric vocals, which feel like there is a mix of English and Gaelic. Listening, you can’t help but, let your mind fly to Finzean, a rural community in Birse, Aberdeenshire. The former Ecclesiastical parish is known for its historical significance as the subject of many paintings by Joseph Farquharson, whose family owned the Finzean estate. It is also an area recognised for its natural beauty as well. The perfect inspiration for this piece. After that little aside, it’s back to the Hip Hop with All I want, where guitar notes hit alongside the head nod beat. Vocals come from Jackill and Chef The Rapper who give us words with a reflective edge, looking at lived experiences that show the struggles they have experienced on the path of life. As you listen you realise that these experiences are not too dissimilar from your own, giving this one and edge that hits a little too close to home and giving you plenty to think about. Next up is a track, that in English translates to Elm or Elmwood which a species of tree common to the region, but in Scottish Gaelic is Leamhain. It features vocals from Jackill and Chris Greive on trombone, over a sound that has horns, keys and a heavy beat, giving this one a deeply personal edge. The vocals reflect that as this feels like Jackill taking stock of life and detailing the moments that define who he is. What occurs to me here is that if we think of life, you might feel like you can’t separate the wood from the trees? But, Jackill selects each tree carefully from the forest of moments he can choose from, those that stand that little bit taller, are more stout, or whose roots go a little deeper, those are the ones that stick out bring key moments to mind, and the same can be said of anyone reflecting on life.

This Is How We Live features Jackill, Mae Diansangu and Best Girl Athlete. The beat is almost softened into the background as guitar and choral vocals take the forefront, giving this one a sound that hits on many levels. This is a track of two halves, separated by a touching conversation between father and daughter. The first half is a rapped verse, while the second is a spoken word poem, both of these reflect what is around us and things that touch us and affect the way we live day to day. This may mean something different to each person, so listen and just let it take you forward. The penultimate track here is Brighter Days, which features Jackill, Viv Latifa and folk singer Iona Fyfe. The sound uses traditional instruments to great effect to bring a vibe that has a gospel air to it but also has a sound that puts you in mind of singing around an open fire. This gives you a huge sense of those silver linings that we often struggle to see, but are there all the same, and this one helps you bring them into focus in a way lifts you up as only music can. The album ends with Turn The Sun Blue, featuring CRPNTR, there is no music here, just the spoken word poetry. This one might well tax you with vivid mental images that form and disperse as quickly as the words are heard and then gone…

 

Neither Collar Nor Crown is more than just a statement of life in Scotland. It is a celebration of everything that makes living there, the experience that it is and what makes such an impact on those who live there. From the Glens to the cites and every step in between, this album gives you an insight into Scotland the country, its history, its myth, and what connects the lives of those who make it their home. It takes a special kind of passion to bring something like this to life, and Vagrant Real Estate and each of those featured artists who stand alongside him, bring that passion for their country to life.

The sound is very much rooted and inspired by the Hip Hop sound but, beyond that is the knowledge aspect of Hip Hop and here that knowledge aspect is brought alive with knowledge of self and knowledge of the history of the country in a way that breaths passion and with every word and beat. VRE brings a sound that merges Hip Hop and traditional sounds, with other contemporary sounds to bring you soundscapes that move you and bring you some vivid impressions of beauty and stark reality of Scotland and the lives of those living there. Not only that but, the sound also allows the listener to connect with their own experiences, bringing those to mind as you visualise what the music brings to mind.

Bringing some of Scotland’s top artists, from Hip Hop to Folk and vocals that speak to you in both English and Gaelic, shows a desire to draw on the roots of your subject matter in a whole different way. Each of these artists bring their own talent to bear here from rap to spoken word and poetry, this does not just bring us another Hip Hop album with traditional influences; it brings us an album that literally breathes the true essence of Scotland into the Hip Hop mould. An album that is not just for VRE and the artists to be proud of, but one the whole country can be proud of.

For me, this is an inspirational album, unlike any other you are likely to hear for a while and one you have to really hear and allow it to truly speak to you on all levels. There is nothing not to like here and it will have you giving it listen after listen, because it has the kind of fresh sound that only comes along with a blue moon, and also makes you realise that what really binds people together is not a collar or a crown, in fact it is nothing visual or physical, but love. The love for where you are from, to see that place recognised for what it is and the love of your fellow countryman and that recognition that, when it comes down to it, we are all one. 

Album artwork comes from Chelsea Frew.

Don’t sleep on this one, it also has a vinyl release too.

 

My Humble thanks to Vagrant Real Estate for giving me the chance to bring you my take on this superb album.

 

I’ll see you next time.

Steve.

LINKS

Grab your copy of the album here:

https://vagrantrealestate.bandcamp.com/album/neither-collar-nor-crown

Vagrant Real Estate Website:

https://www.vagrantrealestate.com/

Socials:

https://www.instagram.com/vagrantproducer/

https://www.facebook.com/VagrantRealEstate

VIDEOS

Easy Now ft Jackill, Paque, Symi Memesis and Kid Pro Quo

 

All I Want ft Jackill and Chef The Rapper

Brighter Days ft Jackill, Viv Latifa and Iona Fyfe