CHARLIE BUCKET
One Life
Low Key Source
This new six track EP from Perth’s own Charlie Bucket came out late last year, but the local luminary is giving it a proper release party this weekend with a joint launch alongside Detroit’s Tall Black Guy. Somewhat fitting, given Charlie’s EP features two Detroit rappers in Guilty Simpson and Boog Brown, testament to the international standard of his productions.
A vinyl aficionado, prolific party starter and local legend generally, Charlie Bucket’s music knowledge, versatility and deep crates see him busy DJing a wide range of gigs around town, as well as hosting a couple radio shows on RTRFM. This is Charlie’s second EP – the longtime stalwart of the DJ scene started his production career with the release of 2014’s Honesty, and One Life is another eclectic record fusing his love of classic hip hop, funk, soul and afrobeat.
Charlie’s music has an organic feel, using a lot of live instrumentation and sample-based beats, pulled from his amazing collection of obscure records. He kicks things off with the afro-beat flavour of the title track, One Life, featuring a fanfare of horns while Brooklyn-based Ghanaian-American MC Blitz The Ambassador and the Crown City Rockers’ Raashan Ahmad trade verses.
Detroit MC Boog Brown (now based in Atlanta) lends her smooth flow and dulcet tones to Over and she reappears of the album closer, the more slinky R&B vibe of So Far with local singer Natalie Mae nailing the hook.
In another massive scoop, Bucket secured Slimkid3 of legendary LA hip hop group The Pharcyde to spit bars on the sunshiney tropical beat of Treasures, who rides the groove with his distinctive rhymes.
Detroit heavyweight, Guilty Simpson, known for his collaborations with J Dilla and Apollo Brown, guests on the toughest, heaviest joint on the album, Wisdom, complete with eastern strings samples and some nice scratching. His unmistakable gruff baritone, solid flow and world weary words lend weight to this tune, an EP highlight.
You know the beats are legit when rappers the ilk of Simpson and Slimkid3 get onboard, but there’s some local love too, with legendary Aussie rapper NFA Jones of 1200 Techniques’ fame (who featured on his first EP) back again, alongside renowned UK wordsmith Ty, on the awesome Scatter Scatter. All up, it’s another quality release from Charlie Bucket.
ALFRED GORMAN
https://soundcloud.com/user-443455864/sets/charlie-bucket-one-life-ep
