Scalper

Artist: Scalper
Album Album : " Flesh & Bones" "Flesh & Bones"
Musical style : Dark Hip/Trip-hop like you have never listened before !!! Musical style: Dark Hip / Trip-hop like You Have Never Listened Before!
country Country : New Zealand New Zealand
Note : 89/100 Rating: 89/100


Scalper est Nadeem Shafi , l'ex-Frontman en live de l'excellent projet 2nd Gen et du groupe Fun-Da-Mental . Scalper is Nadeem Shafi, former Frontman live the excellent 2nd Gen project and the group Fun-Da-Mental.
D'origine pakistanaise, exilé à Londres, il vit désormais depuis plusieurs années en Nouvelle-Zélande. Of Pakistani origin, exiled in London, he now lives for many years in New Zealand.

Avec son premier opus "Flesh and Bones", Scalper apparaît comme l'incarnation trip/dark/hip hop idéale du moment. With his first album "Flesh and Bones", appears as the embodiment Scalper trip / dark / hip hop ideal of the moment.

L'album est telle une drogue, voluptueuse et hypnotique, qui commence à agir et distille son venin, rampant, avec Blak Glory , morceau envoûtant de par sa noirceur et son flow poétique magistral obsédant. The album is like a drug, sensual and hypnotic, that starts to work and distills its venom, creeping, with Blak Glory, haunting song of its dark and haunting masterful poetic flow.

On poursuit ensuite le voyage au dessus des limbes abyssaux avec des joyaux comme Necessary Evil et ses choeurs arabisants couplés à des superpositions riches en textures électroniques, puis Threepointfour et son piano lancinant, son flow venimeux enivrant et ses ornements orientaux magnifiques. Then continued the journey above the abyssal limbo with jewels as Necessary Evil Arabists and vocals coupled with overlays rich electronic textures and haunting piano Threepointfour and its flow poisonous intoxicating oriental ornaments and beautiful.

L'intro à la Portishead de Shadows , emplie de violons et de guitare seventies, séduit avec son rythme en apesanteur et le chant ensorcelant de Nadeem, decorum sonore tragiquement beau tel un combat d'anges noirs déchus qui chercheraient de nouveau la lumière salvatrice. The intro to the Portishead of Shadows, full of violins and guitar seventies, fascinated with its pace in weightlessness and bewitching vocals of Nadeem, decorum tragically beautiful sound like a battle of the fallen dark angels who seek the light of new saving.

Envoûtement assuré avec Abacus , titre hanté, empli d'obsessions et craintes, baigné par des bouillonnements électroniques industriels de haut vol : terrible et scotchant. Spell provided with Abacus, as haunted, filled with fears and obsessions, bathed by bubbling high-flying electronics industry: terrible and taping.

De douces volutes de tablas et de violons pointent à l'horizon, l'instrumental oriental et aérien Numbers enchante. Soft curls of tablas and violins on the horizon, the instrumental and air Numbers oriental delights.
Lorsque soudain surgit une ligne de guitare obsédante, familière , la thématique de Zero vous submergera alors avec son charme exotique cérébral sombre. When suddenly emerges a haunting guitar line, familiar, the theme of Zero then overwhelm you with its exotic charm cerebral dark.

Le flow oriental dub-step/trip hop de Treacherous Disciple orné d'une multitude d'instruments orientaux touchera le coeur noir de votre esprit. The flow of Treacherous Eastern dub-step/trip hop Disciple adorned with a multitude of oriental instruments touch the black heart of your mind.
Violons, cloches et carillons drapent de façon lumineusement sombre l'hypnotique Obsessive Idols au down tempo enjôleur. Violins, bells and chimes drape so luminously dark Obsessive Idols in the hypnotic down tempo beguiling.

Un joyau noir à acquérir de toute urgence ! A black jewel acquire urgently!

Jim Noir Jim Black
- Dark Divine Magazine - France

By Kate Foster
Nadeem Shafi is Scalper, a dark and thoughtful commentator weaving his insights through desolate and paranoia inducing beats. Originally from East London and now residing in the rugged west coast area of Auckland, Scalper has been at the hip hop game since 1997, demonstrating his skills with British band Fun-da-mental and more recently, in support of the mighty King Kapisi on the Hip Hop Lives Here tour around NZ. ‘Flesh & Bones’ is a mesmerising debut comprised of inspired instruments and samples to provide a warm mix of Eastern chants and gentle, heavy-lidded riffs. Percussive rolls and flourishes wash over the senses to deepen the hypnotic swirls created by Scalper’s urging delivery of verses. Although this album would easily delight the ears of trip hop, dub and dub step fans alike, make no mistake this is hip hop at its darkest and most self-evaluating. Having created all the beats and soundscape backdrop himself (with a little help from friends) Scalper has free reign to paint his impressions of authority, power, life and lessons over their undulating surfaces. Sinister and at times cryptic but always compelling, ‘Flesh & Bones’ is, as one of the track names suggests, Necessary Evil. - nzmusician.co.nz

Harking back to the dark, industrial, instrumental hiphop of the 90’s, conjuring up nostalgic thoughts of listening to Tricky and feeling the pre-millennium tension, Scalper has delivered a vast, rich, mood-inducing debut album of outstanding quality. But the real treat is that he is now living in New Zealand…

This debut full-length album from British born producer and vocalist Scalper, aka Nadeem Shafi, brings a totally fresh approach to a the NZ hiphop scene, which often gets caught oscillating between commercial gangster MC’s, party DJ’s and reggae crossovers.

Its dark, orchestral, full and far-reaching sound drifts between slightly abstract and eerie echoing effects to the tuneful melodies of middle-eastern music that are elegantly scattered throughout the album, without distorting it into some kind of world-hiphop confusion.

These gritty instrumentals are the setting for Scalper’s dark themes and clever word play, held together by a constant metronome of downbeat drum patterns.

With each track delivered with precision, produced with professionalism and presented with confidence and pride, this debut album is a truly satisfying listen. This obviously talented musician will surely dominate his own sector of the NZ hiphop scene and could just be the new blood that we need to get things moving forward again.

Alexandra Dunn - Sideromm.com

The Hip-Hop is a genre sadly distorted by a large majority of its artists present and immediately rejected by the incessant communitarisation music. C'est pourquoi – et à l'instar de beaucoup d'autres genres musicaux, mais encore plus dans celui-ci – Il faut souvent creuser et ne pas se fier à l'écoute (souvent involontaire) du compost rappeux diffusé dans les médias (et oui, on recycle de vieux trucs et il en ressort de la merde) pour trouver des perles qui redonnent ses lettres de noblesses à cette culture du MC. Therefore - and like many other genres, but even more in it - often need to dig and do not rely on listening (often involuntary) compost rapper released in the media (and yes, we recycle the old stuff and it comes out of shit) to find the pearls that bring its pedigree to the culture of the MC.

Paradoxalement, cela donne encore plus de jouissance à l'écoute d'un vrai « flow », d'arrangements musicaux intéressants. Paradoxically, this gives even more pleasure to listen to a real "flow" of interesting musical arrangements. Oui, la rareté donne de la valeur, mais gare à une disparition dans la mass culture abrutie et généralisée ! Yes, given the rarity value, but beware of a disappearance in the mass culture and widespread brutalized!



C'est comme cela que j'ai découvert Scalper… message d'une amie, ouverture d'un lien video (« Black Glory ») sans trop de conviction…et la découverte de la meilleure œuvre Hip Hop depuis très longtemps pour moi ! That's how I discovered ... Scalper message from a friend, opening a video link (" Black Glory ") without much conviction ... and finding the best work in Hip Hop for a long time for me! Pan dans ta gueule, tu n'as rien vu venir ! Pan in your face, you do not see it coming!



Alors, qui est Scalper ? So who is Scalper? Scalper, c'est Nadeem Shafi…et Nadeem Shafi est l'ancien frontman de Fun-Da-Mental (déjà très intéressant groupe anglais mélangeant un Rap politisé et intelligent – donc dérangeant – avec des sonorité orientales mais aussi electro et rock) et de 2 nd Gen . Scalper is Nadeem Shafi Nadeem Shafi ... and is the former frontman of Fun-Da-Mental (already very interesting British band mixing a Rap politicized and intelligent - so disturbing - with oriental sound but also electro and rock) and 2 nd Gen . Et on peut dire que son projet actuel n'a rien perdu de son efficacité ni de son engagement, toujours, malheureusement pour nous, d'actualité. And we can say that his current project has lost none of its effectiveness or commitment, always, unfortunately for us, timely.



Sur un fond hypnotique mélant des rythmes lourds – voire dubstep à certains moments - aux sonorités orientales (indo-pakistanaises surtout) et mais aussi folk comme une sorte de western futuriste à Dilli, le phrasé lancinant et précis de Scalper (Nadeem Shafi pourrait nous réciter sa liste de courses, nous serions pendus à ses paroles) nous emmène de l'autre côté du miroir de notre société actuelle. On a background mixing hypnotic rhythms heavy - even dubstep at times - with oriental sounds (especially India and Pakistan) and folk but also as a kind of futuristic western Dilli, phrasing and haunting accurate Scalper (Nadeem Shafi we could recite his shopping list, we would be hanging on his words) takes us to the other side of the mirror of our society. Une errance sans concession dans le matérialisme, le repli sur soi, le rejet de l'autre mais aussi un constat sur les détournements de la religion et des valeurs de l'individu (faut-il être « nécessairement mauvais » pour vivre dans notre société ?). A wandering uncompromising in materialism, withdrawal, rejection of the other but also a finding of misappropriation of religion and values ??of the individual (should be "necessary evil" to live in our society ?).

De cette vision du monde, Scalper plonge naturellement dans les tréfonds les plus sombres de l'âme humaine, y compris la sienne ! In this worldview, Scalper plunges naturally in the darkest depths of the human soul, including his own! Une réaction conduisant à ne pas se considérer comme juge mais comme un acteur lucide de la société et qui pourrait être chacun de nous. Reaction leading to not see themselves as judge but as a player and clear the company could be all of us.



« Dark Hop » ? "Dark Hop"? « Trip Hop » ? "Trip Hop"? « Hip Hop Fusion » ? La force d'une oeuvre réussie est l'inclassabilité de celle-ci et Flesh & Bones en est le parfait exemple. "Hip Hop Fusion"? The strength of a successful implementation is inclassabilité of it and Flesh & Bones is a perfect example. Tout y est une question de sensations et de réflexions dont les effets se combattent. Everything is a matter of sensations and thoughts, the effects are fighting. Une sorte d'invitation au cauchemar dont on voudrait sortir…pour immédiatement et irrémédiablement vouloir y entrer à nouveau sous l'aura de Scalper ! A kind of invitation to the nightmare from which we want to leave immediately and permanently ... will enter again in the aura of Scalper!



Scalper sera en tournée en Europe en 2011, nous donnerons de plus informations sur les dates dès que nous les aurons…et nous y serons ! Scalping will be touring Europe in 2011, we will give more information on the dates as soon as we have ... and we'll be there!


Suicyco - www.alarrache.tk

Nadeem Shafi is a well-travelled individual, born and raised in East London, he now lives on Auckland’s West Coast. Throughout the ’90s Shafi fronted the now legendary hip-hop group Fun-Da-Mental (founded by Aki Qureshi aka Propa-Gandhi), whose politicised hip-hop was pivotal in the fight against social injustice and racism in the UK. Adopting the name Scalper in 2000, Shafi has released three EPs and now Flesh & Bones is his full-length solo debut. Despite now living a more comfortable life in New Zealand his music still contains the same fire and passion, proving old wounds are hard to heal. The album is dedicated to his late father and focuses heavily on alienation, dark times and destructive behaviour, all of which have been themes throughout his musical career. Lined with psychic jams blending many elements of continental hip-hop, from the rich emotive tones of trip-hop to the slower, wavier rhythms of Polynesian hip-hop, Shafi lays down lyrics that at times confront and challenge your mindset but never become overly aggressive in presenting its themes. Perfectly broken up by an instrumental track (‘Numbers’) mid-way, the album is separated into two beautifully formed parts. Confronting and relishing in an aggressive majestic tone from the beginning via opening tracks ‘Black Glory’ and ‘Necessary Evil’, Shafi perfectly spaces the album with ‘Threepointonefour’ and ‘Shadows’ leading into ‘Abacus’, three finely tuned tracks backed by more traditional American hip-hop instrumentation with catchy hooks and gentle pulsing beats. The second half of the album is more layered, lyrically focused, and requires more concentration. ‘Treacherous Disciple’ has a sense of reggae through its sun bleached rhythms and melting guitar parts, with lyrics that journey and have a rich sentimental gaze. ‘Obsessive Idols’ then returns with a rougher approach, presenting a more hostile, fighting inclination. Flesh & Bones is without doubt a well constructed album that has taken many months, even years to complete. Shafi’s experience is a complete centrepiece and his life dedicated to music and especially politically motivated music is on grand display.
Nick


Posted by Nick Fulton under Album, Reviews - Einstein Music Journal

Scalper is Nadeem Shafi who was previously a vocalist in the exciting London mutli-culti hip-hop (and beyond) outfit Fun-Da-Mental.

These days he lives in New Zealand but little of the rather more benign South Pacific atmosphere intrudes on this dark, brooding and menacing mood-piece where his up-close and urgently delivered vocals speak of a spiritual fog, the horrors of war, bloodshed, fallen demons, fires of hell, betrayal . . .

This in places comes off like the Book of Revelations pulled through newsreels of Middle East conflict and the nightmares that would ensue.

While this would not be to everyone's taste it is, because of the consistency of tone and vision, quite gripping and Scalper's lyrics drag you in -- and down. But it also has an oddly cathartic effect and it is not so much menacing as conjuring up of a disconcerting state of mind.

The political and spiritual subtexts throughout are evident, and it will be interesting to hear what he comes up with if he chooses to reflect on his new homeland with the voice of "an outsider". My guess is it will be challenging ... and important.

By Graham Reid, posted Feb 8, 2010 - Elsewhere.co.nz

Rating: 4/5
Verdict: Sinister hip-hop from a Pakistani Englishman in NZ.

Scalper. Photo / Supplied
Scalper. Photo / Supplied

Scalper - real name Nadeem Shafi - was born and bred in east London and is of Pakistani descent. He first visited New Zealand in 1997 as the front man for British hip-hop world fusion band Fun-da-mental when they played Womad at Western Springs - and 10 years later he found himself back here and now lives on the west coast of Auckland.

Musically, his adopted homeland doesn't appear to have rubbed off on him at all, because this sinister sound is not typical of New Zealand. His formidable alias says it all really: Flesh & Bones is ruthless and dark music, yet it's informed and empowering. His tense and terse tone, in a rap-cum-spoken word style, takes some getting used to, but it weaves in and out of the beats effortlessly. Sonically he brings together propulsive and swinging hip-hop beats, an eerie orchestral trip-hop sound like 90s Brit act Archive, with a distinct eastern musical influence akin to what Fun-da-mental used to do, to create a deliciously oppressive and menacing mood.

On Necessary Evil a wailing vocal chant rings out relentlessly; on eloquent but evil Threepointonefour jaguars are on the prowl and going for your jugular; and Zero, the lightest offering here, is a curious and clever mix of Led Zep's Stairway To Heaven and Public Enemy's She Watch Channel Zero.

Long may this man live and make lurching hip-hop on our fair shores. - New Zealand Hearld

If you like the spooky intensity of Massive Attack and the paranoid ramblings of Tricky then you'll like this: Meet Nadeem Shafi, a London-born New Zealand resident creating his own brand of brutally dark hip-hop under the name Scalper.

He's been around for a while now and it's taken time for Shafi, a former member of British act Fun-da-mental, to release his debut solo album, but it's well worth the wait.

Thanks to the unsettling, Portishead-style trip-hop beats and frequent use of Middle Eastern strings, Flesh & Bones bristles with tension, and album opener Black Glory - with its warped samples and thudding production - sets up the album's ominous atmosphere perfectly.

Shafi obviously has a chip on his shoulder and it's his gruff vocals about "death knocking on that door" that shine in the bouncy ThreePointOneFour and makes Obsessive Idols darker than a funeral procession. Superior instrumental Numbers sounds positively chirpy after the thrillingly moody Abacus.

The overbearing bleakness can get a little monotonous but if you're looking for something to soundtrack a thunderstorm at 2am, Flesh & Bones is perfect. - Stuff.co.nz