Take Dis Review

If this was 1994 and this was the Shropshire Star you would be reading now that Peter of Donnington’s favourite albums were Dolittle by Pixies, If This Is Rock And Roll I Want My Old Job Back by The Saw Doctors and Take Dis By Credit To The Nation. This is 2010, I now live in Stafford and this isn’t the Shropshire Star.
Those albums are what a 24 year old me though were unsurpassed in modern music, I suspect Bandwagonesque was also part of that list. I still like all of those albums by the way, just perhaps not as fervently at 39 as I did at 24.
That brings us neatly to todays commute disc, Take Dis by Credit To The Nation. UK hip hop act fronted by MC Fusion, or as his mum calls him, Matty Hanson.
Walsall is famous for many things, its market is the punchline to a joke involving the lead singer of A-ha, Noddy from Slade used to roam the Beechdale, as did Martin Degville of Sigue Sigue Sputnik, the current Mrs D’s formative years were also spent there, as was MC Fusion from Credit To The Nation. Wikipedia also tells me that Boy George spent some time in Walsall, I find that hard to believe.
Enough of the history lesson, to here, and now and the CD.

I still like it it has to be said, its still a good album as far as UK hip hop goes. Mainly political in its themes, be them rascism, sexism, police brutality or the government. Fusion was politicised if memory serves working with the likes of Chumbawamba and possibly Blaggers ITA, that feeling and those artists at that time would always show up in the words of any left leaning youth.

Hanson at times struggle to hide his anger, on lines like “the fucker named Major” you feel his anger, more so at the time, these days, you think oh John Major (father of whom came from Walsall). Some times though he mocks, on Honey, the target is Shabba Ranks. Yes the targets haven’t dated well, but the sentiment still means the same.

The most memorable track was the Nirvana sampling Call It What You Want, This was the record that bought CTTN to the attention of most of Britain, it is a great song, but as they try to iterate a lot on the CD, they are more than a sample, Hanson stresses this and it is the case, this album is more than a sample, but in the book of life, after Godzilla has looked sheepish whilst they try to find him, Matty Hanson will unfortunately say, you know, the one that samples Smells Like Teen Spirit.

For me it’s a track that is the weakest on the album, there is better. These days Hanson is back recording under the name Credit To The Nation and is going to be playing dates in 2010, this is a very good thing, this album, the follow up and the album being recorded as we speak need to be heard. So Take Dis, 8 out of 10.



Sowing The Seeds Of Hatred by Credit To The Nation


NB. Matty Hanson is from Wednesbury, my wife has informed me, this is NOT Walsall.