For all I know, 2001 was a great year for Roots Manuva. The British rapper's album Run Come Save Me had introduced a heavy, claustrophobic, dub-inflected strain of hip-hop, going gold in the UK and earning Manuva a Mercury Music Prize nomination in the process. But I can't shake the image of Manuva staring at the "21 Seconds" video, shaking his head, muttering to himself, realizing that his time was over just as it was starting.
Since 2001, everything has changed. Grime has become Britain's homegrown hip-hop, and Manuva can't possibly hope to compete. As an MC, Manuva is more Tricky than Kano. He uses the empty spaces of his slow, layered tracks, laying his strong, commanding voice over the top of the beat rather than riding it. It's not that he's not a good rapper-- he is-- but if he was a contestant on Making the Band 2 and Diddy made him freestyle against Ness or Chopper, he'd stare at his shoes and mumble: "Um, toast, um, government conspiracies. Um. I like dub." D Double E would eat him for breakfast.
But then, D Double E would never record a track of vague slam poetry about "mystic maze of sonic mathematics" mumbled over late-Specials chamber-ska; Manuva does just that on "The Haunting". Awfully Deep is Manuva's Kid A move, his retreat from street-rap relevance to navel-gazing experimentation. On older tracks like "Witness (1 Hope)", Manuva's voice was sharp and urgent; he had something to prove. These days, he sounds old and tired, and he knows it. "This could well be my last LP/ I've had a good run, I've made a few Gs/ I've had a bit of fun, I've smoked a few trees/ And now I wanna rest my knobbly knees," he raps on "Colossal Insight".
As a result, Awfully Deep makes for churning, menacing background music. Manuva did much of the production himself, and the album's oceanic basslines, winding laser synths, and echoing guitar ripples dissipate nicely into the air. But Manuva still sounds nicest on songs like "Rebel Heart" and "Chin High", brittle, ominous tracks that don't sound too far removed from grime. Manuva has the force, vision, and charisma to remain relevant, to keep ahead of the game. He's too good to let the world pass him by, but that's exactly what will happen if he continues to disappear inside himself.
