The real mayor of Brixton, AKA acclaimed and respected rapper/producer Ty returns with 5th longplayer ‘A Work Of Heart’. Produced predominantly and written by Ty, this hip hop classic is a proper artist album that elevates the genre in an ambitiously artistic manner.
The crisp and bouncy audiophile production is suffused with evocative, flavour-filled samples, live instrumentation and a heady, groovy atmosphere, whilst clever but accessible, vivid and entertaining lyrics are delivered with a grown-man hip hop finesse and honest, bullshit-free directness.
With wit, subtlety and humour Ty tackles subject matter ranging from Brixton, depression, poverty, racism, family, hip hop and the creative process, to philosophical musings on life and even imagined film soundtracks.
Despite being Ty’s masterwork, he also finds plenty of space to accommodate others, with a cast of guests including Durrty Goodz (now known as Rootz), Tall Black Guy, Wayne Francis from United Vibrations and the legendary Umar Bin Hassan from The Last Poets.
As the title suggests, Ty poured all of his heart into making this record, and it’s clearly audible.
With a nod to Roy Ayers ‘Brixton Baby’ masterfully captures the bittersweet essence of one of London’s most prominent areas, in a celebration of coming from somewhere and the opposite to a hip hop postcode war. We’re very excited to premiere this exclusive for Musica Macondo , Ty has called on one of the pioneers of London’s Broken Beat sound Daz-I-Kue (a man who has worked with the likes of Soul II Soul, 4Hero and Macy Gray) to masterfully remix this timeless song with a rare-groove twist.
Ty values hip hop as a high art form. He set out to create an album where every beat, sound and idea were thought-out, then thematically and coherently fused to create what he considers a perfect whole.
“I wanted to move away from the hip hop album approach where a bunch of disparate beats by different producers and different rappers with stock rhymes are strung together” he explains.
“With every guest, every sample, lyric and instrument I thought about whether they suit the themes and mood of the song, then decided what to include accordingly.
As the songwriter and producer, I created whilst thinking what the album is actually telling you. This is my life work, it’s how I feel, and it’s a catharsis. I want to upgrade the view of hip hop; rappers need to view their artform as important, which is why I have lyrics like ‘every rhyme written should be in a museum’. This music should be treated with importance and a lasting high value”, he concludes.
A work of heart is currently out on the Jazz re:freshed record label and you can order your copy here.