Sketch Nine has released an EP, The Expenses Of Living Free and one of the tracks off that EP is They’re Watching.
Sketch Nine is a Belfast emcee and is signed to Melted Music, a Northern Hiphop/Electronic label ran by Matt Agnew. Sketch is a member of The Activists, a Hiphop group made up of Belfast emcees and producers that also includes Fitzy, Phizuals, Pro P and Greeners.
The track is taken from his first EP that was released to introduce Sketch to the Irish Hiphop scene. The EP was recorded in Terawrizt’s Smoke-Room Studio in Dublin and it also features Dublin’s Nugget on one of the tracks.
The production on They’re Watching goes to fellow Activists’ member Greeners. The track begins with an electronic left to right panned filtery sound and a solid but profound beat that is driven with a mid pitched but semi-funky bassline. The track is simple enough and progresses along with added ambience and electronic sounds leaving space for Sketch to fill his vocal and utilise his style, putting his own unique stamp on the song.
From the beginning Sketch’s spoken intro summarises the theme of the track, on being constantly observed. His first verse captures it perfectly as he spits a slow paced, syllable snappy rhyme
Everywhere we go there watching us
Cops clockin us, hot boxin whips
even know the cops stoppin us
You can’t evade their watching eyes
CCTV is on the premises to catch you getting high
Sketch’s rhymes on this track completely take your ear to his snappy lyrics and direct delivery. He holds the plot well and delivers a well written track. He holds the hook on the track too which is a simple but powerful loop that you can imagine been delivered by a hyped live crowd in retaliation to the modern facist ruling system.
Everywhere we go, they’re watching us
Everywhere we go, they’re watching us
Everywhere we go, they’re watching us
They got their eyes in the skies and their cams on us
Personally I really like this track, it’s not super off the wall lyrical, subliminal stuff but it has what a lot of tracks miss out on, its crafted well, the lyrics are good and more importantly is that the lyrics are delivered well. The message is carried from the first word to the last and as I said with the hook, yes it’s simple but you can almost feel and hear it resonating from a crowd of disgruntled civilians in want of change.
Next up for Sketch Nine is a mixtape that he is currently working on and should be available soon that will feature some well known Irish artists. He has also recently started releasing forthnightly videos of freestyles etc. to keep himself relevant in the game.
You can pick up The Expenses Of Living Free EP which features the track They’re Watching and the well known Belfast Mate from the label’s website http://meltedmusic.co.uk/SketchMELT002.html
