Power in Numbers (2002)
17 tracks, 56 minutes
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Record shops are great, aren’t they? Rooms filled to the brim with CDs and LPs and the like that you’re allowed – nay, encouraged! – to finger through, taking in the artwork and imagining what exciting new sounds are contained within. A good record shop will have albums of all sorts, laid out in a way to guide you on a voyage through a world of music as you stroll around. Go into the right shop in the right mind-set and you can come out with armfuls, each new record you pick up leading you to the next one. They’re also a great place to hear music – the soundscape of the record shop is usually controlled by its guardians, those shadowy entities that lurk by the tills.
That’s how I came across Power in Numbers. It was in the Manchester branch of Fopp, when that shop was still a small independent chain before they got bought out by HMV. They had the great combination of both a huge selection and cheap prices, and the music they pumped out into the shop was usually stellar, ensuring you’d always want to stay in there as long as possible. And so it was with this album: they played it all the way through. I was intrigued by the first track (not including the intro), hooked by the second, and I think I’d already bought the CD by the third. There’s no better way to sell an album than by showing people how good it is.
I think this is probably my favourite straight-up hip-hop album. J5’s whole thing is that they hark back to the old-school, and that really shines through in every aspect of Power in Numbers, from the rhythms of the MCs’ flows to the samples they use (an excellent array of funk, soul and jazz) to the topics they tackle. All of it has a gloriously vintage vibe, but at the same time they keep everything up-to-date and polished. Their sound is classic without smelling musty. It also helps that this album features stand-out performances by Chali 2na on almost every track. His deep baritone and simple but effective flow make him one of the most recognisable voices in hip-hop, and acts as a stable counterweight to the other members of the group, all the while shored up by the inspired and intelligent work of producers Cut Chemist and DJ Nu Mark.
Really, the best thing about this album is just how cool it is. Everything is laid back, even when the tempo speeds up. They deal with issues that are sometimes quite weighty, but they’re all approached from a more mature point-of-view, without undue excitement or hysteria. And the music itself is just the embodiment of that coolness – even if this album was entirely instrumental it would be a great soundtrack for strutting down the street in the sun or kicking back to chill. It’s not aloof either. The undisputed highlight is the track ‘A Day at the Races’; it’s completely next level stuff, and although it’s still as cool as the rest of the set, there is so much fun in it too.
For me personally, Power in Numbers always reminds me to keep my ears open and allow myself to be taken in by the unexpected. I probably didn’t go into Fopp that day expecting to come out with a hip-hop album, but hearing it played over the shop’s sound system made it an inevitability. Take a listen – how could you not?! It’s an all-round hit, and I owe a lot to a record shop for having it in my life. Bless those temples to recorded music – they may be teetering on endangered, but they’re really important to our musical ecosystem. Head down to your local record shop and discover something new today!
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