(EV/Shogun)

Perhaps the greatest legacy current hip hop megastar Kanye West will leave is creating renewed interest in Chicago. Chi town native Copperpot has released his debut long player and it is the first brilliant release I have heard in 05. It may be reaching to tie Copperpot and West together, but there is no doubt the latter’s success sent record executives scurrying to his home town and has given gifted producers like Copperpot the chance to shine. At a young age Copperpot decided to travel the world, and in between eating a whole lot of weird crap like crickets and ostriches, he managed to purchase a stack of records and develop his production talents to the unique and razor sharp sounds featured throughout Chapter 7.

As strictly a producer, Copperpot could have released a beat only release and no doubt it would have been impressive, he has however used his connections and enlisted a slew of talented underground MCs to raise the project to a whole new level. The style of production, although quite simplistic in parts, really shines and gives the release a distinctive sound. Utilising quite broken drum lines, the stop start feel of the bass is highlighted and complimented by a huge array of live instrumentation crafted to suit the guest MCs style of delivery. Although each guest MC brings their absolute A-game, there is no doubting who the true star is here as the beats are what take the tight verses to the level of a complete package.

As far as the MCs go, the topic matter is diverse yet all compliment each other. From the aggressive gangsta delivery of earatik static, to the storytelling of Braintax, who is still one of the best MCs to come from the UK, through to the wit of Mr Complex and clever wordplay of Akbar, each verse works of the beats brilliantly. Other standouts are Edo G who tears Take’N’Over to shreds, and previously unheard of - at least by me – UK duo Kashmere and Verb on Headtrip, to Iomos Marad who delivers on Its Evident. Each MC seems so at ease of the beat that I was left wondering why I hadn’t heard of them or for that matter Copperpot before.

I know it’s a big call to make in February, but this will be one of the year’s best. There is something about Chapter 7 that is going to make it very hard to top. In a marketplace sparse of quality new releases Chapter 7 is a glimmer of hope for what 2005 has to offer. Fans of hip hop give it a spin and like I was be pleasantly surprised.