South London MC SL constructs a vibrant blend of drill, grime and trap with the help of Kenny Beats and Kwes Darko on this stunning four track EP.
This is Thirty Three RPM's Album Of The Week.
With his latest EP, 18 year old SL sets himself out as one of the most exciting and unique talents on the UK scene with his blend of laidback delivery with dense lyrics and dark and brooding instrumentals. It might only be four tracks, but Selhurst SE25 is already looking to be one of the year’s strongest UK projects. It’s nothing new, and nothing complex - it’s just grime, drill and trap done well. Really well.
To classify SL as just another drill rapper is to do him a disservice, his style fusing the darker aesthetics of drill with grime sensibilities and trap. This flexibility has set him apart from his contemporaries on previous tracks and his debut EP Everything Good Is Bad, but on Selhurst it feels more fully realised. This comes with more expansive and luxurious instrumentals as well as more playful and creative narratives and lyricism delivered with that dry and menacing flow.
A large part of this aesthetic comes from the highly collaborative nature of the project, with much of the album’s production being handled by infamous super-producer Kenny Beats. This transatlantic collaboration leads to some interesting fusions of SL’s usual style with Kenny’s high-octane and slickly produced trap aesthetics. This leads to some pretty exciting instrumentals. From the rattling, signature Kenny Beats 808s and flutes of ‘Bad Luck’ to the choppy samples and warped piano of ‘Little Bird’, they might not be particularly flashy or extravagant but they perfectly compliment SL’s flow and tone. The one track that Kenny Beats didn’t have a hand in, ‘Hit The Block’ has an instrumental that prowls and bounces with an anxious, almost claustrophobic energy that SL chops and weaves around. A quick peek at the production credits shows we have Slowthai affiliate and producer Kwes Darko to thank for this one. ‘Leave Me Alone’ is perhaps the most typical drill track on the project, a dark and textured instrumental from Kenny Beats offering a moody backdrop for SL to weave narratives and punchlines around.
Lyrically, SL is bringing anything game changing, but he spins playful narratives about sex, drugs and violence with more maturity and self-assured confidence than your usual drill artist. It might not be anything new, but it’s done really fucking well. This is delivered with SL's signature, dry flow that drags slightly behind the beat and brings a lot of character to the vocals on the album.
There are times where both the instrumentals and delivery feel like they need a change up, with the flow occasionally feeling a little lazy or sluggish and the beats repetitive. This is a trap many drill artists fall into but thankfully, at 10 minutes and change, this is a very rare occurrence on this project due to how tight it is. It’s concise and clipped, there’s no fat and no filler to bloat the tracklist. It’s just four bangers packed into one of the year’s most exciting EPs.
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