8 Oct 2024
UsernamePassword

Remember Me? | Join | Recover
Click here to sign in via social networking

Scalper - My Blood Your Blood and Puppets Singles Reviews

02 Jun 2014 // A review by Peter-James Dries

Nadeem Shafi, British ex-pat and former member of Fun-Da-Mental, is Scalper. His solo and pseudonymous act is a known purveyor of underground Alternative Hip-Hop now here in New Zealand, and his previous two releases Flesh & Bones and Butchers Bakers garnered very favourable reviews here and abroad.

This year we've seen the release of Scalpers singles Puppets and My Blood Your Blood, a glimpse at the forth-coming album The Emperor's Clothes, due out in October.

The videos are dark and gritty, his beats and lyrical prose the moody the sounds of late night. The soundtrack to a modern Film Noir.

It's Trip-Hop like Tricky. Introspective and existential words are spoken, gritty like urban poet Saul Williams. Approachable like Massive Attack. Downbeat like Portishead. 

While the white middle class may find it hard to relate to Hip-Hop, which speaks of a hard life in the streets and slums the middle class try so hard to deny and ignore, Scalper's music, from what I've heard, transcends race, religion and creed. Anyone with ears to hear, a heart that beats and mind that listens can lay back and appreciate. 

You can find the Puppet and My Blood Your Blood singles with the Scalper back catalogue on his Bandcamp (http://scalper.bandcamp.com/music) and check out the accompanying videos on the Scalper Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/user/MrScalper). Look out for the new album The Emperor's Clothes later in the year.

 

About Scalper

Scalper is Nadeem Shafi, born and raised in East London of Pakistani descent. First seen in Aotearoa New Zealand at WOMAD 1997 as the vocalist for the British band Fun-da-mental. Now based on the wild West Coast of Auckland, having moved here in 2007. Scalper is Hip-Hop like you’ve never heard it before. Moody, gritty beats with introspective lyrics that conjure visions of epic proportions, and an electrifying live performance that demands attention.




Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Scalper

Releases

The Shine
Year: 2023
Type: Album
The Beast and The Beauty
Year: 2020
Type: Album
Want More
Year: 2019
Type: EP
Want
Year: 2017
Type: EP
The Emperor's Clothes
Year: 2015
Type: Album
Butchers Bakers
Year: 2012
Type: Album
Flesh & Bones
Year: 2010
Type: Album

Other Reviews By Peter-James Dries

Ben Lloyd - Album Review: Leap of Faith
26 May 2024 // by Peter-James Dries
For over 30 years, this self-taught rocker from Mt Maunganui has been writing music. Now, for the first time since 2013, we finally get to hear his songs.
Read More...
Yann Le Dorré - Album Review: The Circus is Closed
19 Dec 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
“We are Sex Bob-Omb and we're here to make you think about death and get sad and stuff!” - Scott Pilgrim vs.
Read More...
Sanoi - Album Review: Echoes Of Home
25 Nov 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
Electronica offers no escapism for me. It’s more of what I already have.
Read More...
Throng - EP Review: Decoherence
20 Oct 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
You know that thing where the letter B has a personality, or words have textures and colours? That’s called synaesthesia.
Read More...
Fortress Europe - Album Review: Old World
10 Oct 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
Have you ever been torn between listening to Mozart or Periphery? Does Epica have too much of that darn singing for your tastes?
Read More...
Yurt Party - Album Review: Yurt Party
07 Sep 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
It sure isn't summer, and this is really not the Balkans, but Yurt Party’s new self-titled album refutes that. Back with another one of them Balkan rocking beats, Yurt Party’s debut is jazzy, erratic, and full of zest and energetic grooves, with flavour notes of ska, dub, and bergamot.
Read More...
day13n - Album Review: /7/13/7/
06 Aug 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
I’m too old for this world. We’ve devolved to the point where music is only as good as the soundtrack to your 10 second TikTok, and the thirty thousand copies recycling the idea.
Read More...
The New Existentialists - Single Review: Invocation
16 Jul 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
The New Existentialists, a doom metal band known for their dark and atmospheric soundscapes, have just… Wait a minute… No. The New Existentialists are really not a doom metal band, and they’re really not known for their dark soundscapes… They’re more known as stalwarts of a bygone era.
Read More...
View All Articles By Peter-James Dries

NZ Top 10 Singles

  • DIE WITH A SMILE
    Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars
  • TASTE
    Sabrina Carpenter
  • BIRDS OF A FEATHER
    Billie Eilish
  • TIMELESS
    The Weeknd And Playboi Carti
  • ESPRESSO
    Sabrina Carpenter
  • GOOD LUCK, BABE!
    Chappell Roan
  • A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
    Shaboozey
  • LOSE CONTROL
    Teddy Swims
  • TOO SWEET
    Hozier
  • BEAUTIFUL THINGS
    Benson Boone
View the Full NZ Top 40...
muzic.net.nz Logo
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report a ProblemReport A Problem