The UK scene is brimming with a whole range of new hip hop artists right now. There’s Sway, Foreign Beggars and Yungun & Mr Thing. You can add Klashnekoff & Joe Buhdha to the list. Buhdha handles the production while Klashnekoff handles the rhymes for ‘Lionheart: Tussle with the Beast’, their first full length collaborative album. Klashnekoff was a founding member of the Terra Firma crew, and took his name from his weapon of choice, the AK47 Kalashnikov. Apparently the name was taken in an attempt to promote positive change by his rapping, as an ‘outspoken revolutionary force’. Refreshingly, this challenges the idea that hip hop is all about guns and violence.

Something that bugged me about this album was that it took quite a while for me to get into. While there are some decent tracks at the start, like ‘The Revolution (Will Not Be Televised on Channel U)’, it still feels out of place. Only on ‘Terrorise the City’, does it start to pick up. Buhdha’s banging beats have a feeling of hardness to them, almost like he is trying to mimic the gangsta stylings of similar American artists. The rhymes are tight, however, and the track features Klash’s fellow Terra Firma Crew member Kyza and former Juice Crew member Kool G Rap. ‘My Life’ featured a softer beat and vocalist Mpho Skeef, but perhaps would have been better suited in the middle of the album, to break up the rhythm.

On ‘Sayonara’, Buhdha has fashioned a catchy beat, while Klash, Kyza and another Terra Firma Crew member Skriblah spit at a frenzied pace. This is easily one of the better tracks on a somewhat mixed album. There are some standout tracks, including ‘Two Guns Blazing’ and ‘Bun Dem’, but the rest of the album is a bit hit and miss. It is pretty obvious that Buhdha and Klash started off as underground artists, and that may be the problem right there. It just feels like a lot of the beats are not that accessible and sometimes the rhyming feels like I’ve stepped into the middle of an MC battle at a club.

Despite this, Klash and Buhdha have come up with an admirable effort here. Sure, they aren’t in the same class as Sway or Yungun & Mr Thing, but ‘Lionheart’ has its moments. There are some throwaway tracks, but definitely some worth listening to. Which I guess balances out, pushing this album slightly more towards listenable and keeping it away from just another hip hop effort.