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I've always had interest in the SA Hip-Hop scene, but haven't always managed to follow it too closely. I did gather, however, that this was Tumi's first solo album, having previously found success with The Volume, and I was curious what his sound and style would be. From the first verse on the first track, I realised Tumi's lyrical ability wasn't going to be a factor in the album; this guy is on point. He manages to seamlessly move between imageries and allusions on each line, and while this might occasionally make it a bit of an intense listen, it gives the album good replayability value. Listening to this months down the line I'm sure there'll still be a few "damn, that's what he meant!" moments. The production is also fantastic throughout. There's a contemporary flavour to much of the music, a lot of soulful bass and piano riffs; from start to end it's good music that perfectly complements the flow on it. A listen through this album had me simply in awe at the level producers in SA are reaching now, credit mainly to Mizi Mtshali and Emmanuel Kabana, the beats are fire. Tumi's delivery is though, as should be, the focus of the album. He switches up the flow often, from the relentless no-break spitting on the aptly named 'Breathe', to a cool off-step flow on 'A 2-Sided Self Portrait'. But it is his 'regular' straight-spitting flow that makes the album what it is. There's superb wordplay and metaphors on the album intro, 'Bophelo Hame', 'The Now Rich' and 'What they want'. Like he says himself, "This boy's in a planet of his own and it shows in his flows". A few tracks into the album, where I often face the disappointment of an artist throwing on singles that contradict the album pattern, I was pleasantly surprised that Tumi sticks to his themed poetic rhyming. And where he did try heavier boom-box beats, like on the clever 'This is not love', he manages to keep it subtle enough and keeps the clever lyrics going. 'I came home' is definitely the highlight of the album for me. Tumi tells the ills immigrants in SA go through; deportation, racist conviction, material dreams, he tells all in imagery-packed poetry on a great beat and a moving chorus. There's no shortage of experimentation on the album, this is obviously an artist who knows his niche and has mastered his delivery but isn't afraid to push its boundaries. The techno-rap fusion 'Breathe' had my jaws agape, both at how brave an attempt it was and at how well it came off. 'What they want' switches from smooth laid-back flow to an intense chorus, and Tumi's flow on 'Never take that for granted' perfectly comlements the acoustic guitar samples and sing-along chorus, that song will have you bobbing your head on the worst of days. I now can't imagine Tumi as part of a group, Dude really has a lot to say, there's no 'filler' on this. And with the kind of experimentation and versatile style he has, I can imagine why he wanted to go solo. On this evidence, I can't see how there'd be any going back, this is a great solo debut. The album has all you'd want, even the old-school bonus track buried after 2 minutes of silence on the last track. The spirit is never light or playful, Tumi comes across as having something to say and intending to say it. It may be a bit on the short side with only 12 tracks (including an interlude), but what's there is quality, from start to end. This is a good, true, hip-hop album. SK for beneathdasurface.com