Skilf - Slow Me Down (Riztone Records)

Former childhood actor Skilf certainly took an unconventional path to the hip-hop industry. Having discovered his songwriting talent while studying performing arts at college, he started to MC on various drum 'n' bass tracks, before writing and recording his first album.

Latest single 'Slow Me Down' is heavily autobiographical, focusing on how Skilf has got to this point in his life, both personally and professionally. While listening you get the feeling the song lyrics act as something of an introduction to a wider fan base, though whether or not this was intentional remains to be seen.

It's clear his style is heavily influenced by Eminem, though the beat sounded as if it could have been used just as easily by Mark B and Blade. The second track on the single (entitled 'Lemme See Ya') is much less lyrically driven and has a slight grime/dubstep sound to it. On third track 'Dead Ender' he once again treats the listener to Skilf at his lyrical best, this time talking about experiencing university and later time spent working at a call centre.

Whether Skilf's "destined for Wembley" (as he says on 'Slow Me Down') is still unclear, but he'll win himself many a fan with this record.

Rating: 4/5