Speech Debelle - Speech Therapy ('09) & Freedom Of Speech ('12) 320kbps

Speech Debelle (1983, London, England) is a British rap artist, winner of the 2009 Mercury Prize. Debelle is signed to the Big Dada record label.
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"Debelle’s debut album, Speech Therapy, was released in the United Kingdom on 31 May 2009. The album has had three singles released, “Searching”, “The Key”, and “Go Then, Bye”. It won the Barclay Mercury music prize in 2009. The Mercury judges said she was a “remarkable new voice in British hip-hop, tough, warm and reflective”. One judge, the broadcaster and conductor Charles Hazlewood added: “She’s just quietly telling her stories in the most beguiling way.”
Speech began writing poetry aged nine and started rapping lyrics in the schoolyard aged 13. Back then, initial inspiration came courtesy of Michael Jackson, which quickly turned to Blackstreet, Mary J Blige, TLC and reggae.
The first thing about Speech Debelle that strikes the ear is a contrast. Her voice is warm, youthful and listenable, and if you heard her in the background you might assume that her lyrics were the same. You’d be better placed tuning into them. In common with her new label-mate Roots Manuva, she’s astoundingly honest in her music, detailing and exorcising some very personal demons. That isn’t to say she’s another run of the mill rapper with more complaints than insights. Quite the opposite. Like all musicians worth listening to, she draws you into her universe and makes you glad you visited. There’s always a thaw to the chillier moments.
‘Searching’ is her debut single, and a perfect example of the offbeat, folky production that will litter the forthcoming album, as well as the whisper-in-the-ear quality of her vocals. One thing is certain, hip-hop has never been done in quite this way before. ‘Searching’ makes you wonder why not."
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In March 2010 Speech Debelle teamed up with Bonobo to co-write and sing on the song "Sun Will Rise", taken from Ninja Tune's 'XX' Boxset.[24] In August 2011, Speech gave away a new track, "Blaze Up A Fire", via her Soundcloud page. Although this track, dealt with notable uprising events across various countries including Egypt and Libya, Speech believed the song to have even more pertinence because of the 2011 England riots that occurred.[25] The track features features Roots Manuva and Realism.
“I feel it could give insight into the hearts and minds of some of the people that have taken part in, not only the peaceful marches for Mark Duggan in Tottenham and the Smiley Culture march for justice, but also I believe it speaks of the frustration of many young people who took part in the rioting and the consequent looting over London and areas of the UK. I am not attempting to condone, I'm attempting to be a voice of understanding.”
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Debelle's track "Spinnin" has been re-worked by Tinchy Stryder and Dionne Bromfield and will be used as one of the official anthems of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
In February 2012, Debelle released her follow-up album, entitled Freedom of Speech, via Big Dada Recordings. The album prompted Trebuchet Magazine to describe Debelle as 'a fiery, if naïve, seeker of justice and truth' and featured the aforementioned 'Blaze Up a Fire' as well as lead single 'Studio Backpack Rap'.
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from Wiki & BBC
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Rick Anderson:
"This album was about five years in the making -- that's how much time elapsed between the young Speech Debelle's first visit to London's Big Dada label and studio (home of underground hip-hop legend Roots Manuva) , where she quickly recorded the outline of "Searching," and the eventual release of Speech Therapy, which was largely recorded in Australia at the temporary studio of producer Wayne Lotek. It's interesting to consider how different the album would sound if it had been recorded in London rather than Melbourne; as it is, Speech Therapy is one of the most unique hip-hop albums you're likely to hear. There don't seem to be any samples or turntablism. Instead, the grooves are supplied mostly by acoustic instruments, and many of them are lightly, skitteringly jazzy -- notice in particular the soft, jazz-inflected accompaniment that adds an entirely new dimension to Debelle's nervous and unsettled rapping on "Searching" and "Better Days," and notice also the subtle but elegantly complex rhythmic displacements in the lyric to "The Key." On "Bad Boy," sweet strings and jungly drums push nicely against each other, and on the kiss-off rap "Go Then, Bye" a lushly beautiful acoustic guitar and small string ensemble accompany a startlingly angry and unsettled rap. There are, inevitably, a couple of clunkers: Debelle's flow is awkward on "Working Weak," and "Finish This Album" is a bit too literally self-referential. But those are minor missteps compared to the great strengths of this very fine debut."
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by Rick Anderson:
"This is where she starts showing off. Two years after her startlingly original and borderline-brilliant debut album, Speech Debelle is now the most interesting and possibly the most exciting British MC on the scene. This is partly due to the fierce intelligence of her rhymes, and partly to the newly dark and insistent power of her beats, crafted in collaboration with Kwes. But it's mostly down to the jaw-dropping grace and nimbleness of her flow, which is pretty much peerless. Hip-hop that talks about hip-hop is usually tiresome, but on "Studio Backpack Rap" she plays with the beats so expertly and rhymes so slyly (matching "lesbian" with "thespian," for example) that you find yourself hanging on her every syllable. When she teams up with Roots Manuva and Realism on the rabble-rousing "Blaze Up a Fire," she eases up and cools out, offering a nice contrast to her guests' more nervous and rapid-fire delivery. But she really shines on "X Marks the Spot," a complex relationship song that perfectly showcases her greatest strengths: her flow is rock-solid but nimble and complex and apparently effortless despite the weird and shifting beats -- her performance evokes the mental image of someone hopping gracefully across a treacherous river on very small stones, never losing her footing. The album-closing "Sun Dog" finds her returning to the sound of her debut, delivering a hushed and hurried stream of words over languid strings and a minimal beat."
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