91Èȱ¬

Difference this time is that once you get past the kiddy-sampling chorus - a trick which, if you'll excuse my bluntness, was BLOODY RUBBISH when Ice Cube did it, then STILL BLOODY RUBBISH when Jay-Z did it, and continues to be BLOODY RUBBISH to this very day, no matter who does it - the verses are great in a kind of Junior Outkast way.

Especially the bits where multiple Jibbses...ses are all howling the verses like debating how brilliant your jewellery is is on a par with finding out you've won the lottery but lost the ticket. Apparently his chain has red diamonds, white diamonds and blue diamonds, like the American flag.

Leaving aside the argument about whether red and blue diamonds are actually rubies and sapphires, or possibly some other kind of coloured stone, can you imagine how rubbish a flag with actual diamonds in would be? NIce and shiny, yes, but if it flapped so much as an inch, it would be seized by health and safety officials and taken away for questioning before it had some poor unfortunate's eye out. Pointless.

So, in summary. In a chorus versus verses war, the chorus bores us, but the verses nurse us all better. And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is 'flow'...

Released: January 22nd

(Fraser McAlpine)