Killa Kela is widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest beat-boxers. Having seen him live I can attest to this, and he deserves to be put in the same league as Rahzel (albeit a UK version). This CD is actually a mixtape of his big hits, live sessions and collaborations over the past few years, all put together deftly by Plus One of the Scratch Perverts fame.

The collaborations read like a who’s who of the British scene, with Roots Manuva, Plan B and Wiley waxing lyrical. Adam Freeland also weighs in, starting a breakbeat theme that moulds beautifully with tinges of grime, electro, drum & bass and the obvious dominance of hip-hop, old and new. The beats are varied and amazing, considering the majority are emanating from only Kela’s vocal chords. From the ghetto bass on Multiply to the mimicking of producers such as N.E.R.D., Kanye West and KRS-One, the CD is far from boring. Reveal Your Inner Self is the new single and the focal point of the mix, providing a bass-heavy lyrics-driven journey, playing beautifully into Business Woman with Plan B’s punchy rhyme-spitting connecting the two.

The live sessions are highlights of the disc as they really show Kela’s talents, the most notable of which is the ability to do multiple parts of a song at the same time. That is, he does the beat at the same time as the melody, and sometimes even the vocals. It’s jaw dropping and if you ever get the chance to see him doing this live, lap it up. Plus One puts this together in typical Perverts fashion, with lots of chops, changes and cutting, only ever letting a beat play for a minute or two. The result is a face-paced mixtape progressing from basic hip-hop, to orchestral sampling melodies, with strong elements from the ever-changing UK scene all the way throughout.

The bonus disc is Kela’s critically claimed Elocution album, which makes this a good buy for those looking to explore the magic of Kela for the first time (it was never available in Australia). For the heads, it’s a solid mixtape with a top quality bonus disc. Either way, you can’t go wrong.