Dot Rotten – Something Out Of Nothing [Rotten Riddims]

Dot Rotten is back with the underground album Something Out Of Nothing the follow up to one of my favourite grime CD’s of recent times R.I.P. Young Dot and the free promo This is the Beginning that got him some well-deserved attention a while back, so SOON has quite a bit to live up too. Dot is on a fierce independent tip producing most of this himself and self-releasing, he’s got the fire to pull it off too.

After the opener with some dodgy teacher skit things quickly pick up with a solid first track before you get ‘Two Step Non Stop’ which sounds like the official lift off of SOON with a dirty broken beat, horn stabs and a skippy grime meets hip-hop funk feel welcoming you in and setting out the stall, ‘I’m Not Stopping’ has a similar thing going on. And before you know it you’re in deep and he’s playing to his strengths, Dot’s got skills when it comes to adding darkness and emotion to tracks; he comes out sounding like a UK version of hard underground southern hip-hop at times with grimy edge. On ‘Get Money’ and ‘Best Of Me’ he pulls off the emotional struggle bars brilliantly where as ‘The Roads Are Cold’ and to a lesser extent ‘The Days’ gets a little let down by the grating auto-tune hook that he’s no doubt got skills with but sometimes misses slightly, the beats and lyrics are dark and on point though. Not many people have pulled off the bars about struggling and reaching for more so well and with such emotion maybe since Boy In Da Corner Dot has got a knack for it and its refreshing to hear honesty along with hype in grime, which brings me to ‘There’s More To Life’ where Dot rips up Dizzee’s classic beat from ‘Brand New Day’ and more than holds his own.

It’s not all emo-grime though he can go hype when he needs to as his ‘Talking The Hardest’ remix and bars show, he plays Giggs at his own game and even ups the stakes by brining energy and aggression. He brings some greeze to some low down dirty synth funk on ‘I’m Going Hard’ with Faith SFX on the buttons turning in a beat that stands tall with Dot’s productions. He pulls it off again on the ‘Rowdy Riddim’ freestyle with a splattering of old bars I swear I heard on SB.TV/Westwood and all that; the remix bars still sound good. ‘Don’t Diss The Program’ is another highlight, maybe even my favourite on SOON. Dot’s production is deep, dark and skips along with energy while him and clipper go at it with bar after bar. The chorus is too much: ‘I’ll crack your head like a coke can’. ‘They Don’t Know About Me’ and the preview of ‘Violence In The Music’ show Dot has really been working at song craft, his stuff is sounding less like he’s just got a sick beat and rhyming on it and more like fully formed songs than ever before.

Dot shows his ambition on ‘Ride For Me’ on a quality Terror Danjah beat he drops a track with a bright and trancy Pop/R&B hook and lyrics about girls. Danjah pretty much has the perfect beats for keeping it grimy while having that musical ear for the mainstream, it reminds me of JME’s ‘Over Me’ produced by Deco and that’s the way I’d like to see grime go mainstream without to much compromise, bright and gully. Dot’s reaching for the money and he’s got the talent for it, but there are still a few more underground albums in him yet before that avenue is explored.

Something Out Of Nothing is a diverse affair with dark, gully, emotional, hype and a little bit of cheese all thrown together and it holds up well. Dot’s productions are on point as are his flow and lyrics. It’s a grower though it’s not all instant hype and cheap tricks, he takes it deep and it shows. You really have to stick with him a bit before it opens up. It sounds like he’s been working hard on song craft, every track bar the freestyles are a full on song where everything feels tied up and like one solid piece rather than just balling on beats full tilt with 8 bar rallies. He can do both and do it well mind but its refreshing to hear fully formed tracks on a grime mixtape. I might still prefer R.I.P. Young Dot right now but it’s still early days and you can see Dot is improving his craft and putting the work in, SOON is still dark and rough but it’s slicker than the last. He’s not done yet either with the Extra Attention CD due to drop pretty soon, it looks like a good year for Rotten. Dot is the full package he can write songs, spit bars and produce beats, if/when he breaks out and makes moves for the mainstream, which he’s threatening to do he’s easily the best placed to do his thing and keep his personality by making music and not just a quick buck. But who knows if that will happen the grime kids are seeing green and reaching for it, but for now enjoy the sounds because Dot nailed it.

Dot Rotten Interview & bars on SB.TV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugM2IcBt6wg

Dot Rotten - Two Step Non Stop

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV1kls5Lktk

Download: Dot Rotten Presents – 50 Free Instrumentals

Download: Young Dot – This Is The Beginning

http://www.myspace.com/Itsdotrotten