Rating: 4/5
Verdict: Sinister hip-hop from a Pakistani Englishman in NZ.
Scalper - real name Nadeem Shafi - was born and bred in east London and is of Pakistani descent. He first visited New Zealand in 1997 as the front man for British hip-hop world fusion band Fun-da-mental when they played Womad at Western Springs - and 10 years later he found himself back here and now lives on the west coast of Auckland.
Musically, his adopted homeland doesn't appear to have rubbed off on him at all, because this sinister sound is not typical of New Zealand. His formidable alias says it all really: Flesh & Bones is ruthless and dark music, yet it's informed and empowering. His tense and terse tone, in a rap-cum-spoken word style, takes some getting used to, but it weaves in and out of the beats effortlessly. Sonically he brings together propulsive and swinging hip-hop beats, an eerie orchestral trip-hop sound like 90s Brit act Archive, with a distinct eastern musical influence akin to what Fun-da-mental used to do, to create a deliciously oppressive and menacing mood.
On Necessary Evil a wailing vocal chant rings out relentlessly; on eloquent but evil Threepointonefour jaguars are on the prowl and going for your jugular; and Zero, the lightest offering here, is a curious and clever mix of Led Zep's Stairway To Heaven and Public Enemy's She Watch Channel Zero.
Long may this man live and make lurching hip-hop on our fair shores.
