Chapter Seven

by Stewart MasonAfter years of culturally biased sniggering and the occasional one-hit wonder (Neneh Cherry's "Buffalo Stance," for example), the development of grime -- with the attendant rise of the Streets, Dizzee Rascal, and Ms. Dynamite to a certain level of alternative rap stardom -- has finally established U.K. hip-hop as its own valid scene. Strong evidence for how seriously Americans have finally started to take British hip-hop is on the first album by Chicago-based producer Chester Copperpot. Chapter 7: Verses 3, 2 & 1 began as a collaboration with the British MC Braintax, but expanded to include guest appearances by a number of other British and American rappers; the fact that the British MCs and the U.K.-style minimalist beats are so matter of factly included in the mix is not only an acknowledgement of grime's artistic relevance, but it also makes the album one of the strongest underground hip-hop releases of 2005. Braintax and Kashmere's heavily accented raps sound natural next to the more familiar flow of an American rapper like Profound. Copperpot's settings feature inventive samples and rhythms fluid and tricky enough to make the songs interesting even without the guest stars, most notably on tracks like "Take'n'Over," which features Edo G over a groove built on the canny use of what sounds like a kitschy slice of '60s easy listening, transforming what could have been a cheap musical joke into an effective hook. Although Chester Copperpot is unlikely to reach the megastardom levels of fellow Chicagoan Kanye West, Chapter 7: Verses 3, 2 & 1 proves that he's a smart and engaging producer with talent to burn.