Kid Acne - Council Pop
[Invisible Spies]

No introduction needed for the highly anticipated new album, if 'Rap Traffic' was the Kid breaking into the hip-hop scene, 'Council Pop' finds Acne flooring the competition and setting his name in concrete as the illest mc this side of Compton. Hell, he's even got the legendary Chase on board providing killer human beatbox.

There's still no sign of his quirky lyrics and white boy vocals growing old quickly, in fact he seems as fresh as ever. Along with crisper, fatter production, the album already makes 'Rap Traffic' seem incredibly outdated.

It's a shame the inclusion of 'Zub Zub Rockers' is nowhere to be seen, this equals anything on the album if not overshadows them. The recent released 'Radio Music' does however, make much more sense when side by side to 'Rap Dracula', possibly the second finest track of his career.

As with the single, the vocals come across aggressive and harsh, especially in numbers such as 'Hot Up District' - where the Kid of old would have given you a blow to the face, this is a full-on beating.

Fellow Spies' SVC and Be My Twin make a welcome return for the sequel in the seriously haunting '9t4 Rugged', with production to rival Req's. There is no progression from the first album in the sense the style is still the same, but lyrically he goes from strength to strength, surely the next album could not better this quality!

Req's beats are harder than ever too, 'Council Pop' sounds as modern and fresh as any recent Neptunes number. Where the Kid goes from here is a tricky one, a token R'n'B album wouldn't exactly be his style, thankfully. Ace album though, the Kid has done himself proud.