FFWD Weekly
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CD Review by Rob Faust RONI SIZE REPRAZENT In the Mode Talkin Loud Records · More massive, more MCs – Roni steps up for the future With hardly a remnant of Brown Paper Bag left, Roni switches the focus of this album from the tender to the tough. Immersed in hard knocks and raised fists, In the Mode is a pounding 16 track exegesis on the state of the drum ’n’ bass nation. While the riddum has been turned up to 11, the MCs for this – Dynamite MC, Rahzel, and Onalee – are on turbo. With them, Roni’s executed the inner care bears of previous Reprazent outings, opting for darkcore where the adrenaline flows like manna and the high lasts all night. While this latest incarnation isn’t quite as mindblowingly fresh as Brown Paper Bag, it does succeed in doing one thing extremely well, and that is further entrenching hip hop into the mix. While there’s no doubt this album roots itself firmly into the drum ’n’ bass world, at times its fusion of MC vocal work could be mistaken for something straight out of planet rock – a destination that Roni has little challenge steering the crew towards. In the Mode is in the mood for a punch-up, cruising for trouble with love ’n’ hate stencilled across the windshield and paper bags broken across the grill. 4/5

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