Noise du Jour: “Letter From God To Man” By Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip
Posted by Ross Rosenberg
I can say that one of the good things that has come from writing for Ectomo has been the wide range of music it has exposed me to. It almost outweighs the many downsides of working under They Who Shall Not Be Named including, but not limited to, a new-found hatred of squid chips, the slow, painful whittling away of my self esteem, and shingles. Also, soy. I feel no need to explain that one, you’ll just have to trust me.
Today’s offering hails from the island near Europe that is a part of Europe but refuses to use Europe’s money; the United Kingdom. Specifically that part of Great Britain which causes people to pronounce “nothing” as “nuffink” which, if the wikipedia article I skimmed is correct, is Essex. Should I be wrong some politely incensed Briton shall correct me; of this I have no doubt. They are a proud, if not predictable people.
“Letter From God To Man” is, then, an serving of British hip-hop, my knowledge of which is limited being confined mainly to the works of Mike Skinner, known as The Streets, a fact that the aforementioned Britons will perhaps sneer at. The themes here are decidedly different than Mr. Skinner’s; they are, in the simplest of terms, bigger. Scroobius Pip’s verse is not concerned much with the day-to-day routines of his fellow citizens but with things of a more philosophical nature. Nowhere else is the more plain than in this single. Less about god than about man’s idea of god and his own place in nature, it is a song that you will either love or hate depending much on your ideological leanings. It is an unavoidable side-effect of making a song with “A Message”.
If you can avoid internalizing the meaning I think there is still much to appreciate here. Pip’s slightly slurred delivery retains a natural, easy rhythm, a fact that makes the more clearly enunciated emphasis that much more pointed. His verbal gymnastics lope along comfortably inside Dan Le Sac’s stuttering, churning sampling of Radiohead’s “Planet Telex” with all the anthemic trappings it brings with it.
The video is odd. I find it interesting in the sense that I get the feeling that there may be meaning, subtext, metaphor but I cannot, for the life of me, figure it out. Should I be mistaken, then it is simply footage of a little girl walking around in a dinosaur costume. WHAT DOES IT MEAN!?
Letter From God to Man OFFICIAL [YouTube] : Thanks, Frowardd!
Categories: England, Tongue-in-cheek, Noise du Jour
Posted at 11:32 am on November 26, 2008
16 Comments -
Wait, hookers have lollipops? This. Changes. Everything.
Comment by Jason - GorillaSushi — November 26, 2008 @ 11:46 am
mr. rogers meets choncords while perfect drug blasts itself in the back hall next to Potocki who is putting finishing touches on Corrupt Mother.
Comment by Douche Baggins — November 26, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
The whole album is a gem. I came to it from “Thou Shalt Always Kill”, but fell in love with everything along the way. A personal favorite is . Scroobius Pip really nails the ennui of a long-term relationship that can’t or won’t, but should, die.
Comment by racerabbit — November 26, 2008 @ 3:06 pm
Sorry, bad html and short-attention span strike again.
Comment by racerabbit — November 26, 2008 @ 3:07 pm
couldn’t understand a word he was sayin’.
but found the video and music quite lovely.
lol @Jason
Comment by groonk — November 26, 2008 @ 3:48 pm
I hate it. Not because I’m sensitive to jokes about religion…
Trying to squeeze comedy out of treating God as an average guy is predictable enough for both Seth McFarelane and Alanis Morisette to have thought of it.
Scroobius Pip strikes me as a intelligent man who has been unlucky enough to be surrounded by dimwits most of his life. Lacking a sparring partner or a critical eye, he grows up convinced of his own cleverness and throws up shit like this without batting an eye:
“Religion became a tool, for the weak to control the strong”
In the big world, observations like this simply don’t cut it as smart or poignant.
Some decent rhymes in there, just not original nor meaningful. Hundreds of English rappers out there better than this
Spaceape, Roots Manuva, Ms Dynamite, Lady Sovereign…top of my head. Give them a share of the spotlight and throw this one back in the gym, he needs to shed some lyrical lard.
Comment by ShitdeSac — November 26, 2008 @ 9:14 pm
In accordance with the basic principles of cosmic balance, I loved it.
I wasn’t aware it was supposed to be funny. It was cute and sweet and entertaining. To quote someone of no cultural authority whatsoever “It was either a good deed in a bad world, or a bad deed in a bad world and will go completely unnoticed”.
I’m going to go listen to the rest of the album.
Comment by Agent Irons — November 26, 2008 @ 11:12 pm
‘Angles’ and ‘Look out for the Woman’ are stronger pieces IMO. I loved ‘Letter….’ when finding it on a fan-made YT video with nothing but the lyrics appearing on a piece of paper. This one…. too many symbolism, and the ‘cute kid personificating innocence ahhhhhhhhh’ just grates on me.
Comment by Optical — November 27, 2008 @ 1:41 am
This cutesy portrayal of god(whom I believe to be false), coupled with the act of sampling Radiohead does not bode well with me. Recipe for extreme annoyance.
Comment by Tark Wilkins — November 27, 2008 @ 7:22 am
“Lady Sovereign” Really? You ommited Plan B in that list, but included Lady Sov*? I’m not going to pick apart the rest of your comment, seeing as it seems that you prefer the grimier, grittier urban side of British rap rather than the offerings from a spoken-word poet who, before releasing records, would perform his pieces at poetry readings in Hoxton and Shoreditch to the arty hipster set of East London. Ithink that maybe you have the wrong impression of the kind of artist is and unimpressed after expecting something different.
*Dizee Rascal wouldn’t go amiss either
Comment by Dr Nautilus — November 27, 2008 @ 10:15 am
Welcome to the wonderful world of dan le sac vs. scroobius pip, a great team! and shitdesac, I wouldn’t say that it’s trying to be funny, more emphasising the point that mankind has missed the point entirely when it comes to the subject of religion.
Comment by Adlai — November 27, 2008 @ 5:46 pm
Loved it, and I have to agree with a few others- I don’t know that it was meant to be funny at all, just clever commentary. Which I think it really was (clever).
Comment by January — November 27, 2008 @ 9:08 pm
At the end of the day, how many hop-hop groups even tackle this sort of stuff? And how else would you treat this theme? I think Mr Pip pulled it off pretty well, despite the feigned innocence of a hired child in the video. The lyics work, the verse is well composed. The tune fits well in its genre, It is in every way, in my honest opinion, better than the Amanda Palmer stuff posted before it…
Comment by Big Dave — November 28, 2008 @ 11:28 pm
@ ShitdeSac
I don’t think Scroobius here was trying to be funny.
—
On another note, I wonder if said hookers will accept lollipops as currency? *hopeful*
Comment by Kingfisher — November 29, 2008 @ 5:39 pm
@ Dr Nautilus
I realize there are different types of hip-hop coming from the UK and I’m not going to pretend I know all about it (it sounds like you’re from there - which I am not). Skinner already got namechecked and for the most part I like his stuff, Dizzy is good but I don’t know him well enough. In general I feel the UK scene does dark and grimy better than cute and quirky.
Oh, and mea culpa for leaving out Plan B, that guy is great!
@ Big Dave
“At the end of the day, how many hop-hop groups even tackle this sort of stuff? And how else would you treat this theme?”
At the end of the day, how many “hop-hop” groups do you even know? I’m not even close to being any kind of expert on rap or hip-hop but still it frightens me how many people seem to think Scroobius Pips is inventing the wheel here. Bands tackling this and more?:
cLOUDDEAD, Alias, Busdriver, Why?, Dalek, Sage Francis, Aesop Rock, Cannibal Ox, Buck 65, Anti-Pop Consortium, Cadence Weapon, to name a few.
@ Everyone else. I have no idea if the guy was going for funny. It sounds like he’s going for droll, dead-pan, social-commentary Amando Ianucci type of comedy, just neither funny nor poignant…in my opinion.
Comment by ShitdeSac — November 30, 2008 @ 5:10 pm
I really like the vocals but frankly those sweet stuttering beats just cry out to be left alone. If I can find the instrumental I will be in heaven.
Comment by chesh — December 5, 2008 @ 1:25 am