Remember the good old days? When the term Boom Bap had a simple definition. Tony Blair was still the man. Knight Rider and Airwolf re runs were still cool and Arsenal's defence moved forwards in unison (those were the days)? Are you like me, making regular, Golden Aged acoustic excursions to satisfy the craving? Tony Olabode was supposed to deliver what would probably have been the UK's first class ticket to that fabled destination. However the obligatory record label wrangles and contractual disputes rendered that a non starter. 18 years later however, comes the South East London residents own interpretation of the phrase 'better late than never.
Lets be honest, to myself and those of you reading this review with genuine interest, the emancipation of Dettwork Southeast is long overdue. But in the cold light of day this is a niche release of sorts. An album highly sought after by those in the know who are well versed on a particular era of music from a certain part of the world, or those studious enough on modern UK Hip Hop to have been self schooled on what Tony Rotten means to the culture. But even after putting those camps together and adding on international equivalents, that is still quite a select group. Quite frankly from the outside looking in, for Sony to have remastered and released this album in the first place (albeit with virtually no promotion) is quite something. Luckily the nostalgia fest (in more ways than one for Londoners) is worth the wait.
