Roots Manuva meets Wrongtom

The grooves and beats on this record will be begging you to pass the dutchie on the left-hand side. But the cool story is in its creation, which started when South London producer Wrongtom reworked a fly dub version of Roots Manuva's "Buff Nuff" (from fourth LP Slime & Reason) for Big Dada on spec. This one track grew into a limited edition bonus dub disc for Slime & Reason. Response was positive. Two years later, full-length Duppy Writer was born, a record largely composed of reworkings of songs from Roots Manuva's four main LPs (plus Dub Come Save Me and Alternately Deep) and lead single "Jah Warriors," an original collaboration between Roots, Tom and Ricky Ranking. Duppy Writer takes Manuva's hip-hop vocals, like from "Juggle Tings Proper," off Brand New Second Hand, and precisely links them with dub. Wrongtom transforms the original track, backed by a capricious break beat, into the super-slick bass line and space-y sounds of "Proper Tings Juggled." "Chin High," a track with hard-edged beats and scratching (from Awfully Deep) becomes "Chin Up," representing upbeat, low-grooved dub bliss via the grove. The dub and dancehall beats are awfully complementary of Roots Manuva's sublime lyrics and will have fans hearing his philosophies by means of a wholly new musical method.