Straight outta Brooklyn with a message for black people the world over, 'No Edge-Ups...' tackles the ingrained institutional racism still a problem in South Africa using the culture of the barber's shop as its chosen metaphor. It's a slightly eccentric conceit but then 7Heads is one of the last bastions of what has in recent years become something of a fringe sport: good independent hip-hop.
Essentially a collection of the music that the label has been releasing on 12" and in the case of album closer 'Trackrunners', a good couple of years old, the title simply offers the opportunity to wax on a few South African anecdotes. The one that appears to have struck the biggest chord was an observation from a friend of the label who found that not only was white queue jumping expected and tolerated in SA but local black hip hop fans, whilst wearing the same trainers and desert boots, were denied the culture of a clean 'edge-up' from the barber on a Friday evening. As the sleeve notes attest: "There is a sense of confidence that a cat fresh out the chair feels."
So, in a bid to spread the "financial, spiritual and artistic empowerment" that the folks at 7 Heads have discovered through hip-hop - and to see every fade and beard in South Africa edged-up - this album is addressed to South African haircuts.
Aiding the cause are 7Heads travellers Asheru of the Unspoken Heard, Brooklynite J-Live, former Artifacts emcee El Da Sensi, Talib Kweli and others. All very much of the literate school of the New York underground. As usual, the samples are drawn largely from jazz and the rhymes are lazy and informed, if a little rightous at times.
At their best - J-Live, Grap Luva and Asheru's 'Trackrunners', Asheru and Talib Kweli's 'Mood Swing' and BJ and Piakhan's 'Queen City' - they capture the blissful essence of independent hip-hop as it was perfected during Rawkus Records' lovingly-crafted '97-'99 run of greats. No small achievement in 2003.
