Released at the back end of 2006, Brainfood is the work of young man with old head on his shoulders hip-hop dude, DJ IQ. Just 20 years old and with a loyal following already attached to his credible discography, Brainfood is a smoky old brew of lo-fi jazzy cocktail minimalism, itchy and scratchy beats, Get Carter guitar capers and general woozy nonchalance; the mean and moody gansgtas having kicked off their Reeboks, rolled up a couple of fat ones and taken their medication. Sharing the beats with mic-misters like Sir Smurf Lil’, Kashmere, Foreign Beggars, Dubbledge, Bill Zoot, Kaspa, Lewis Cooper, Jehst, Big Deal and Adverse, tracks like ‘The Real’, featuring Verb T. and Asaviour offer a mysterious, lopey slant on the existential grime scene, teetering around on a precarious, slow grooves, stabbing at the piano and stumbling through the ether of some wobbly psychedelic daydreams. ‘Medication’, featuring Sir Smurf Lil’ on the otherhand is all popping mic, gentle paranoia and junk-shop fumbling whilst ‘Alright’ features the chill pub-chatter of Messrs Big Deal and Adverse, chasing down a snakebite with some deliriously easy tempos and liquid brass. It’s conversational and informal, but far from being any kind of non-sequitur.
Hip-Hop as high as a tower block and as low as the underground. Beautifully layered. Tastefully paced. And comprised of a flat-pack mentality that really builds from the floor up.