The Beekeepers (f/t Mystro) – Queen Bee (Single Review)
Monday, 11 July 2011
Written by James Ball
Hip Hop is often (and I will make this point bleeding obvious right now that I’m not talking about ALL hip hop here) a conglomerate of the single biggest collection of overused ideas fused into a song. A bunch of people just shouting about how shitty their lives can be but how they’ve also got a Bentley, guns, bitches and sweet dollar dollar pouring from every orifice. Life is so incredibly tough, and pimpin’ ain’t easy. Too many rap artists get bogged down in what their music should sound like before going and having a war of words with another dude about something pointless. Not only that but a lot of artists make themselves out to be a lot tougher than they really are, especially when it comes to physicality with other human beings. I have no time for people who glorify mindless violence on someone else because it’s got crunk bass and a catchy hook. So, thank all that is holy for this offering from the Beekeepers and UK maestro, Mystro.
The point is that this doesn’t conform to the stereotypical ideals of urban music in general. Yes in effect it’s rhythmic talking over a produced beat, but it’s kept fairly simple. There’s not an awful lot of over-production. Auto-tune is a no-no. It’s just a good old fashioned track designed to tell a story in thought provoking, and musically merited manner.
It’s not what a lot of UK hip hop is these days: Fun. There’s no terrible comedy or terrible sound effects (Lady Sovereign, I’m looking at you as Britains biggest offender of this). There’s no over dramatic lies about killing someone in a kitchen for fun, or whatever. It’s just a simple tale of two people who aren’t exactly well matched in relationship. It’s not a chauvinistic view upon women though. In fact it’s all about that point in which two people realise they don’t love each other anymore brought about this incredibly funky, bass-driven beat. You can almost hear a little bit of Dub Pistols classic 'Peaches' in the instrumental style.
Mystro is always reliable, having guested on a couple of Braintax tracks, among others among the years, he’s always had his head in the right place and rarely disappoints and his delivery and vocals fit well here to this cautionary tale. It’s clever throughout, and each of the remixes are all recommended, offering an entirely different tangent to the original interpretation without veering into the weird.
Therefore, 'Queen Bee' keeps the hive buzzing, so to speak.
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The point is that this doesn’t conform to the stereotypical ideals of urban music in general. Yes in effect it’s rhythmic talking over a produced beat, but it’s kept fairly simple. There’s not an awful lot of over-production. Auto-tune is a no-no. It’s just a good old fashioned track designed to tell a story in thought provoking, and musically merited manner.
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