A burning fuse never sounded so sweet. Ms. Dynamite, aka Niomi Daley, mixes American influences in hip hop and R&B together with her experiences in Britain's garage scene. Daley's first major effort, A Little Deeper, is a collection of innovative and refreshing sounds that would remind some of Lauryn Hill a few years ago, and others of the remarkably less famous reggaeton fellow, Daddy Yankee.
In her reggae preamble "Natural High," Daley separates herself from traditional "bitches, ho's, bling-bling and 40s" rap: "Listen to me, strictly chemical free... f--k coke or ecstacy, my music gets me as high as I need." Ms. Dynamite is no goody-goody, though. Unless you happen to buy the "clean" version of the album, Deeper's lyrics will strip paint off the walls and make Marshall Mathers blush.
The album as a whole is musical exploration and fusion at its best. It's got everything from family values ("Brother"), love songs ("Anyway U Want It") and, speaking of Eminem, the perfunctory "I'm a new artist, so here's a catchy song with my industry pseudonym in it" piece ("Dy-Na-Mi-Tee"). And no album would be complete without a song for unrequited love, "Put Him Out," a number for the modern, independent, empowered woman who's not gonna take it anymore. "Out" could seriously (please, God) replace "I Will Survive" as the song for jilted women everywhere.
The title song, though, is by far Daley's most stunning accomplishment. Every influence in every corner of the album is tossed into this musical smoothie of reggae, hip-hop, R&B, rap, rock and, is that... why yes... a sitar!
So, if the neverending stream of masturbatory rap-rock, brainless movie/war sequels and otherwise unimaginative media has you considering putting yourself into sensory depravation in the hope of attaining some level of creativity, put down that well-sterilized Furla ice pick and head instead to your friendly local music retailer. Though you'll spend about 20 minutes bouncing from genre to genre in order to find the album, Ms. Dynamite is a Little Deeper breath of fresh air for musical soul.
-Garver Moore
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