Day 128: Roots Manuva – Run Come Save Me
Album cover courtesy of Big Dada
Tragically, today is my last day off, so I’ve spent today getting ready to emerge back into society. I’ve been doing all the necessary prep to start my slightly delayed new year new me delusion – I have cleaned the house, I’ve bought healthy food, I’ve made salad dressing, I’ve reintroduced my body to nutrients, etc. I needed a record for pottering around, so I thought I’d finally listen to Roots Manuva’s Run Come Save Me, another UK classic album that I missed by not growing up here.
Roots Manuva, or Rodney Smith, is an English rapper and producer who has been active since 1994. He released his debut Brand New Second Hand in 1999 to critical acclaim and became a household name after the release of the first single from his second album, “Witness (1 Hope)” became a hit.
He’s one of the most influential British artists of the past few decades and he’s often seen as a predecessor to grime. But while his style is one of a kind, he doesn’t personally see himself as an innovator and says it’s all still just a version of what the ones who came before him were doing:
It’s all just soundsystem culture … as original as we are, we’re just copying what the original guys really did: Kool Herc, Grandmaster Caz, Busy Bee – all those earlier-generation guys. But [my music] was never supposed to ape what came out of Brooklyn or anywhere else. It was supposed to be its own nasty little mutant.
Released in 2001, Run Come Save Me does make for interesting listening. Roots Manuva’s voice is imposing and booming, which he credits to his pastor father, who was particular about voice projection even in everyday conversations. There’s an element of introspection to parts of the album that makes it interesting to listen to, like on “Stone The Crows” (“I look into the mirror - see the face of a mistake / Should I really be here, should I really exist? / Should I take these drugs? Should I get so pissed?”) On the less introspective parts of the record, his writing is still sharp.
Top of the album is obviously the iconic “Witness (1 hope)”, with its chorus that references Pete Rock and CL Smooth’s “They Reminisce Over You” and a bass line inspired by the Doctor Who theme tune, he raps about his British upbringing and Jamaican heritage on the song that has gone down as his biggest tune to date. But my favourite of the album has been “Sinny Sin Sins” where he explores the complexities of his relationship with religion and the church, where he, a pastor’s son, wonders “Do I need a middle-man to link with the creator?”
It’s a solid 7.5/10, I’m glad I listened to it from a UK music history point of view but it’s not particularly going into rotation. It’s still a decent record and I enjoyed it.