The Two Fingers album is an inspirational musical uprising by a seemingly odd group of collaborators. The album was highly anticipated because it brought together the two worlds of electronica and hip hop which have been colliding for years with artists like RJD2, Zilla, Z-Trip, DJ Shadow, Nerd and even The Roots. Two Fingers however is a massive collision of these worlds, equivalent to a 300 car pile up. This album is the wreckage from that collision.
Although the album is classified as a hip hop album, there are still similar (but not familiar) Amon Tobin and DoubleClick confrontational electronic undertones.
Songs such as Ms. Jade’s “Better Get That” involve high frequency alarm sounds seemingly surrounding the listener as they stand still and alone in a dark, empty underground parking lot with unusually bad florescent lighting.
The song “Keman Rhythm” which, beyond its interesting use of Middle Eastern rhythms, introduces a bass line that is not easily describable. It will leave you scratching your head realizing you’ve been introduced to a new sound today.
The song “What You Know” chronicles the problems of police discrimination and the blurred lines between different worlds of gangsterdome. The song contains a dreadful, yet surprisingly hopeful audio which simulate the sounds of a man in a jail cell running a police billy-club along the bars of his cell. An undernourished free man, with the opportunity, but not the ability to escape. This is just one example of the many confrontational sounds you’ll hear on this album. Sway’s vocals only enhance the story of these mad rhythms.
Amon Tobin and DoubleClick are known for their creative slant towards an area of music that goes way beyond the confines of being considered simply “electronica”. Sway on the other hand is undoubtedly UK’s biggest hip hop artist, and offers the album sometimes light-hearted and funny and at other times politically charged and issue based lyrics over Amon and Doubleclick’s beautifully crafted soundscapes.
Two Fingers is a surprising album. It’s not surprising in the sense that it’s a great album (I think most people expected that), it’s surprising because listeners have no idea what to expect with this collaboration. It’s a new sound with new dub, jungle and hip hop rhythms, highly accented rhymes, and unpredictable soundscapes. Whether you’re interested in the sounds of dreamlike obscurity or mainstream rhythms this album will hit you hard.
Just to give you an idea of how seemingly contradictory this album is, listen to an Amon Tobin Track (Bloodstone) for example.
You can also buy the album below.
Now listen to the recent Sway song featuring Akon (Silver and Gold).
Yes, it’s an odd collaboration, but it’s refreshing to be surprised by music isn’t it?
We are working on the first Two Fingers video for the song “Not Perfect” as well as doing a video for the lyric-less track “Keman Rhythm”.
I’ll continuously update this post with making-of photographs and videos.
