The Tinchy One's Gone Big Time (Catch 22 - Tinchy Stryder)

Member Name: XICripZ

Product:	Catch 22 - Tinchy Stryder
Date:	14/09/09 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: One big tune

Disadvantages: Generally weak

"Catch 22" was released in summer 2009 as the second Tinchy Stryder album. Coming two years after his debut, it finds that by this point the East London, self-entitled 'Star In The Hood' that he had broke through with a few successful singles to set him apart from this earlier work in the more general Grime scene whereas here he went at it from an alternative angle by following the lead of the likes of Dizzee Rascal, Chipmunk and Ironik (and sometimes Wiley and Lethal Bizzle) with the Pop-based Grime.

1. "Take Off" (Intro)

2. "I'm Landing"

As he gets thing underway here you see that he comes through on some grungy Electronic beats which are seen to water-down the general Grime sound from out of London since around 2003 so that it suits more general styles that are prominent in the Electronica-based Pop scene in the UK for not the best start. He raps of where eh at in his career here and doesn't seem to offer much new, and comes up with an extremely annoying hook to top it off.

**Two Stars**

3. "Take Me Back"

Here you get one of his first successful singles as here you see him linking up with the UK R&B singer Taio Cruz. I personally couldn't do with this kind of thing at all as you see just how far he had gone to commercialise his sound with a typical Rap/R&B link-up that is taken directly from the US scene, although he would say that he is doing exactly the opposite by keeping it all 100% UK with his guest.

**One Star**

4. "Spotlight"

Here you see that there is a bit of a change to things as he jumps on a variety of various UK-based beats and chooses to go off using a range of styles as he primarily uses some Breakbeats to base it on and form this point you get a few other popular synth-based Electronica tracks integrated into the mix too as he rhymes about how strong his flows are. I felt that although the beats are decent, they weren't enough to carry the plain flows he brings.

**Two Stars**

5. "Number 1"

As things advance further he moves into another track that I really just can't do with as you find that here he gets the chance to work with another artist who seems to break down the things that make the Grime scene, in London especially so enjoyable as N-Dubz Dappy comes to sing alongside Tinchy here for another wasted track that simply does nothing but have them boast about how they can take over (which they are bound to do if they leave behind the true street material).

**One Star**

6. "Shake Me"

Rapid gets on the beats here and comes out with another track that fits in with the general direction of the album, one that doesn't really have any depth to it whatsoever, and with this who see that it results in another pointless track where he raps about things which have no substance to them whatsoever and are only likely to be heard by those who can see past the club beats (which simply didn't do it for me).

**One Star**

7. "Stryderman"

This was, as I saw it , the artists breakthrough single and one that initially I could say that I actually enjoyed, however that was all before it was massively overplayed and I saw the way in which he simply based every other track (for this album) upon this one in order to squeeze even more hype out of his material. It is a decent club tune, but his rhymes once again are where it is lost for him to the point where it prevents it from really going anywhere worthwhile (when you consider how others such as Wiley have rhymes to back up more commercial turns.

**Two Stars**

8. "Warning"

Here even though now you get another new producer (this time Labrinth) you get no chance whatsoever in the style of the music as if you've heard the biggest singles that he has produced then you can expect just this from this track as he comes in with more of the light electronic production with nothing really going for it and no potential directions to show how far it could be taken as he raps about where he's currently at in his career once gain, and it really doesn't impress at all.

**One Star**

9. "First Place"

In this short one you see that here he raps about he position in the game at the time when he recorded it, and obviously (going in-line with his Dappy collaboartion) he says he's on top of the heap and can't be brought down. He comes with a much more lively flow with the speedier approach, but the content still doesn't really seem to have gone anywhere since it all began and so it acts as another flop for him.

**Two Stars**

10. "Pit Stop" (Lude)

11. "Halo"

Following a brief interlude you see that he gets back into it here and brings a track that has a structure and production style that s almost identical to that of "Number 1" (although you could say that it sounds like a blatant mix of that one, "Never Leave You" and "Take Me Back" (and so would have pulled him down had it been released as a single to show just how little creativity he has within him.

**One Star**

12. "Tryna Be Me"

Here you get the first real improvement in the music as you see that here he revisits the roots of the Grime scene by riding some 2-Step garage beats here. Personally, I can't just ignore beats like this and so as you see Fraser T. Smith laying down such fly beats it means that I couldn't knock this one as he works with the Ruff Sqwad and he somehow manages to break out with a banger when I thought there was no hope (though with his music dominated with others, its obvious why it sounds better than the rest).

**Four Stars**

13. "Never Leave You"

Working with Amelle from the Sugababes, this one finds that he comes out with another lifeless Pop song that has him moving as far away from the true grime scene as possible (especially when you compare it to how exciting it was in the early experimental years when Dizzee Rascal led the pack with his dark sounds). It is a wack track and has nothing for those into Grime at all and is for those who liked the other singles.

**One Star**

14. "We Got Dem"

Here you see that Tinchy gets some help from Chipmunk here on a track that seems to be a bit closer to the more general Grime sound (but it still remains a far stretch from what you get from the street-based material in this style and so I expect that it would get rejected from most fans of the more prominent form of it. Chipmunk's aid is valued here, but I wouldn't say that he was the best artist to include to try and break back into this scene.

**Two Stars**

15. "You're Not Alone"

Sampling the song of the same name by Olive, you see that he comes out with another track that embraces his 'Old School' as he takes things back to 1996 with the hook and comes out with a tune that I personally can't say that I felt it really made that much of an impact on the urban scene all that much and so doesn't really have much potential really within it (although I expect he will fdn someway to get more out of it).

**One Star**

16. "Preview"

Before the outro, with this one you see another track that seems to take from lots of the things that have been found throughout the rest of the release and the sort of thing that made it difficult to engage with the music due to the fact that it is so watered-down and has him rpa about things that he expects people to care about without actually having the skills to first grab your attention through the beats or an early rhyme and go from there.

**One Star**

17. "Catch 22" (Outro)

This album was worse than I expected as you find that here, aside from one track, he makes no attempt whatsoever to try and appeal to the main Grime field and keeps it all to the Pop style for the rest of the thing. I can't say that I felt anything for him and it seemed rather desperate as a result. However those who enjoys the singles with probably like the rest of the thing (and probably likes the music of N-Nubz, DJ Ironik and post-2007 Dizzee Rascal).

Summary: Tinchy Stryder's second album