Bugzy Malone follows up his January single, 'Notorious', with his latest, 'Welcome To The Hood', featuring Emile Sande. Malone's new track comes just about six weeks ahead of the expected release date for his up coming album, 'The Resurrection', due out on the B.Somebody label. His new album was due out earlier this year, at the beginning of January, but has been delayed and is now due early in May.
Bugzy's fifth full length album follows up his very well received fourteen track album from 2018, 'B.Inspired'. On that record Bugzy collaborated with artists including Rag'n'Bone Man, Maverick Sabre, Laura White and JP Cooper. This time around Malone has hooked up with Dermot Kennedy on the album's second single, 'Don't Cry', and also with Emeli Sande on this, his latest track, 'Welcome To The Hood'.
Bugzy Malone, the rapper from Manchester, and Emeli Sande, the soulful singer-songwriter from Sunderland, hook up well together on Bugzy's latest single. The duo combine to produce a track of contrasting styles, paired together to give up an individually creative single that bodes well for the forthcoming album.
Malone's intense and impassioned delivery works extremely well as a foil to Sande's outstanding vocal. Her range and expression are equally passionate but are in stark contrast to Malone's urban rhymes.
The song builds and breaks giving up great set pieces for both featured vocalists. The combination of the two is mildly reminiscent of 'Empire State Of Mind' by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys and that can never be a bad thing.
The video to accompany the song, directed by KC Locke (Stormzy/Skepta/Ed Sheeran etc) is, as you may have guessed, quite a gritty, sometimes harrowing watch. The all too real story of knife crime and drugs that unfolds in the song and via the video is a difficult but compelling watch. "We learn to tell a lie before we even learn to trust" Malone raps, and you know he means it.