By Jack Spencer
Kano’s latest album is his fifth, marking a little over 10 years since he released his début album Home Sweet Home back in 2005. In this project, named after Manor Road on which Kano grew up, we see a more mature side to the Rapper as he moves towards tackling more of the deep emotions that he has experienced in, what he describes as, his most autobiographic album so far. This aside, Kano was always going to face a lot of scrutiny with this release. The grime scene has seen a lot of change in the five years since his last LP release, but he hasn’t disappointed.
The first thought that comes to mind when listening to Made in the Manor is how accessible an album it is. There are songs with obvious pop appeal like 3 Wheel-Ups and New Banger, but alongside those, we see this deeper, darker side to Kano. Tracks like T-shirt Weather in the Manor, Little Sis and Strangers explore a more emotional story and allow an insight into the artists past that we haven’t seen before.
The album does suffer from a lull across its middle section though, with going from the punchy, big bass of Hail as its opening track, this was going to be a problem. However, Kano does manage to bring this back with the ending of the album with Seashells in the East and the closing song My Sound (next to some bonus tracks).
Kano doesn’t fail to bring bangers, nor does he fail to bring a big-name features and some quality production across the board, especially on songs like T-shirt Weather In The Manor and This is England. Made in the Manor leaves a lot for you get your teeth into. There is definitely something for anyone here and is a nice bridge for someone looking for a place to start with grime.
