VA – Sovereignty

From the very beginning, the rawness of engineered recordings is a symbolic representation of that unmistaken Madman the Greatest sound. Intentionally not meant to be commercial, radio-friendly or mistaken, its purpose was made for one thing – to simply be in your face.  Raw lyrics, raw sound and a raw attitude are what this collection is all about.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  Placed over two volumes, this collection is simply a raw, historical moment that has been captured though 36 tracks of the Birmingham artist’s journey.  Remastered but un-engineered, the sound of this album is sonically authentic to the times.

What makes this album definitive is how unapologetic this is.  Beats are energetic using sounds of orchestral strings; electric guitar stabs and sad pianos whilst Madman the Greatest brings an assault of stylistic, lyrical, no joke verses to stabilise himself as an unmovable MC.  The warmth of the analog Behringer board used at the time of production gives this collection a distinctive reminiscence of the beatmaker’s old school sound which literally went over other producer’s head at the time.  Whilst everybody was adopting the influences of RZA and Jay Dee, it’s clear when you listen to this album Madman the Greatest steered far away from their production using above average Hip hop tempo and very confident vocals.

The second volume of this project is a collection of works where the artist serves as the main beat-maker to an associated group on talented individual from the boroughs of West Midlands.  The work delivered is second to none as each displays significant characteristics that prove that the producer isn’t messing around.  Regardless of status, the contributions made each are second to none as they combine the influential sounds of the raw unpolished street sounds that trademarked the label.