Tag Archives: Filthy

Henok Achido – Almaz Charming Child

Almaz Charming Child
Henok Achido first entered the spotlight in 2001 when he featured on the group Fattaru’s debut single “Mina hundar”. Henok, who stood out with his fast rap and different flow, joined Fattaru on their tour through Scandinavia. It looked like he had a bright future in hip hop, but instead of riding on the hype he chose to take a step away from the spotlight to work further on his skills.

Nothing new was to be heard from him until 2007 when he released That Fucking Guy EP for free through his homepage. The EP was well received and he quickly gained a reputation as one of the most promising rappers on the Swedish scene.

Two years after his return to the spotlight the debut album is finally here. Henok has managed to build an incredible hype around this album and he even gained the attention of some of the biggest hip hop blogs in the world, like NahRight and RealTalkNY. Because of this my expectations were set very high when I received the album. To my big relief he manages to meet these expectations and delivers confident lyrics with an amazing flow.

The electro-wave that is currently taking Sweden (and hip hop in general it seems) is also present on the album, but instead of club-friendly disco the sound on Almaz Charming Child is instead rather dark and dystopic. The beats and, for such a large group of producers, the surprisingly held-together sound of the album is produced by some of Swedens most talented producers such as DJ Large, Filthy, Astma and Michel Rocwell.

The very frequently used auto-tune effect can also be found on the album, and is used on the dark track “Heartbreak Hotel” which is reminiscing to the sound on Kanye West’s latest album. But whereas Kanye, according to me, uses auto-tune to the point where it’s unbearable to listen to Henok manages to make it almost seamlessly float into the sound and lift the song.

Everything about Almaz Charming Child isn’t great though. Because even if he has a flow that can lift an otherwise mediocre song and he has some of Swedens most talented producers featured on the album I can’t help feeling that the lyrics are a bit repetitive after a while. There’s to many lyrics about his own greatness and to few lyrics with a bit of depth. Henok’s got swagger that some only dream about and because of this he shouldn’t have to tell you that in so many of the songs. It’s in the songs with a deeper meaning he really shines and shows you what a talented artist he really is. Like on the powerful track “High On Life (When The Drugs Don’t Work)” where the beat is scaled down in favor for his voice and lyrics, which reflects what I wished there was more of on this album:

“It seems like everybody loves my flow, but what’s a flow without a heart, I must touch your soul”

Despite all this, Almaz Charming Child is a very strong album which undoubtedly lives up to the hype and will follow me throughout the year!

4 out of 5

A swedish version of this review (which is slightly longer) is avaliable through the Whoa Blog!

Other Reviews:

City (5/5), Dn (3/5), GP (4/5), Kristianstadsbladet (4/5), Metro (3/5), Sydsvenskan (4/5), SVD (3/5), Sonic (8/10), Dagens Skiva (8/10)

Promoe – Detta Har Hänt

Promoe - Kråksången (cover)

The date is finally set for Looptroop Rockers own Promoe fifth solo album which will be the first time Promoe releases a solo album in swedish! The album, “Kråksången”, will be released the 22th of April at JuJu Records.

Promoe has a lot of records behind him and all of them in english, so I guess you can understand now how interesting this release is for us swedish fans. He has released songs in swedish before thou, but only on 12″, compilations and various guest verses – not a whole album.

Participated producers behind “Kråksången” are Astma, Filthy, Jimmy Ledrac and Dj Large and I am stunned over that Embee hasn’t been mentioned. Oh well, you will also find guest artists such as his Looptroop Rockers colleague Supreme, Timbuktu, Afasi, PSTQ and singer Vincent.

“Detta Har Hänt” is the first track released from the album and it is produced by Astma. It is a bright storytelling song where Promoe let us all know what has happen since day one ’til now. I sure do like it, and my expectations for this album is enormous. And I don’t think I am the only one with such expectations..

Download “Promoe – Detta Har Hänt” (.mp3) here!
Download “Promoe – Detta Har Hänt” (.wav) here!

Henok – Fly Fresh [Video]

The video for Henok’s single “Fly Fresh” is now out, and you will or have probably seen it as “Veckans Hitvarning” at ZTV. Anyhow, its directed by the brothers Lindgren – Karl-Uno and John (Film Deliberté) which are the masterminds behind the music video for “Mina Gangsters” by Näääk.

The single hits the store the 8th of October, go get yourself a copy!

Henok Achido – Fly Fresh [Download]

Henok Achido released his new single “Fly Fresh” last thursday by having a release party at Berns. It’s really a good song and Henok has developed as a lyricist. The beat is signed Filthy, so as you all understand it is a great combination. Henok is signed over at Form One’s record label DLX Entertainment and the record, from which the single is take from, “Almaz Amazing Child” will be released later on.

“Fly Fresh” is now available to download over at Discobelle.

Download “Fly Fresh”