posted by Staff
July 2013

Every now and again you stumble across releases that are special. A diamond in the rough. I'm gonna come right out with it here and say that the Preparations EP by Wooty Woo is exactly that (or as I'm calling him, Adult-ish Gambino, but more on that later). I wasn't expecting much, I mean, how often does an EP from a relative unknown sound so professional and well rounded? Not very often my friends.

The EP is technically 11 tracks, but a few of these weigh in at little more than a minute and a half, leaving the entire release just shy of half an hour. But it's not all about length (sorry) with tracks like "Kim Possible" and "Wavy" being well produced and shrewdly rapped highlights. Take a look at some of this years best mixtapes by artists like Joey Bada$$ and Chance the Rapper, Preparations could easily stack up to any of them.

But what of Wooty Woo's presence and persona in the hip- hop genre? If you'll recall earlier to my horrible use of word play, I liken his vocal style to that of Childish Gambino. Listen to track "No Worries", I'm still not entirely sure that it isn't Donald Glover lending a helping hand. Granted, Wooty has a more earthy tone that makes him sound ahead of his years at just 20, leading to my shameful butchery of the English language and thinking of his voice as that of a more mature CG.

One final thing that I feel raises the bar in Preparations, is the use of references outside the hip- hop norm. obviously you've got your women, money, weed subject matters, that's to be expected. It's hip- hop. But something I really liked was the obscure movie and tv-show references, of which I count at least 9 (I did it so you don't have to, kids). It just shows a wider cultural awareness that is sometimes sorely lacking and I for one, appreciate it.

Prepataions is available now through Wooty's bandcamp and is a free download, so you have no excuse to miss out on this gem.

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