If you haven't discovered the sound of 2015 yet, then "Working the Night Shift" is the right place to start.
His follow up to his first promising album "Take Two" is an exemplary piece of urban hip-hop.
"Working the Night Shift" is an enlightening and intelligent look into the head of a fiercely clever 16 year old poet. From the rain-soaked title track we are drawn into the dream and waking world of Oli "Eastgreen" Cox; his overactive synapses firing us between the heartache of the beautiful "Missing You", to the frustration of "Gangsta", via the snarky joy of youthful inebriation in "I don't know my name", before smashing us into the nightmare of "Dark Mirrors". It is by turns joyously parochial "Welcome to Reading", deliciously mundane "Cravings" and mischeviously saucy and gloriously juvenile "My Clock". Eastgreen also reveals a beautifully British sense of self-deprecation (most notably in "50 Shades of Green" and "I Don't know my Name") that bursts the posturing and groin thrusting bubble that we associate with the world of rap. There is a wonderful use of soundscape and sound effects throughout the album that make this more than just a series of songs, this is an immersive and exciting journey that goes beyond all expectation.
Eastgreen is also happy to collaborate with some other exciting artists who he clearly respects and gives equal voice to. The duets with fellow spoken word artists Esa Kwame ("Welcome to Reading" and "Charlie"), Shock ("Gangsta") and Finker ("Instead I'll Sing") are beautifully realised and they fit perfectly into his vibrant and fractured world. A litte bird has told me that there are some huge collaborations coming this year and it appears that this album is rattling all of the right doors.
So check it out.
Join Eastgreen on his nightshift and let's see where this journey takes us.
