ELLESQUIRE – READY
Sydney local Ellesquire is the new kid on the hip-hop block and with his debut Ready he delivers us a refreshing album full of refined, laid back flows, crispy jazzed up beats and a tongue in cheek perspective on life and rap. Being part of Big Village Records, Ellesquire is a member of not just a label but a hip hop fraternity that consists of P Major, Thundamentals and MC Rappaport amongst others who combine resources, inspiration and ideas to feed each others craft. They’re doing a great job of it too.
The album has drips of A Tribe Called Quest, Slum Village and Black Star, and Ellesquire leaves the bravado which characterises a lot of rap at the door and instead rhymes for us his own story. The track That Night is about the difficulties of maintaining a close female friendship, Chasing The Pay is a number about sacrificing time writing music in order to work to pay the bills and the album centrepiece On The Prowl is a humorous take on being inept at picking up girls at a club. The overarching theme that pervades the record though is that Ellesquire simply loves hip-hop. It’s his oxygen, it’s his lifeblood. He loves to write and he loves to rhyme and people need to be listening.
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