Singles

Tinchy Stryder featuring Amelle - Never Leave you

Beckie Jordan 01/09/2009

Rating: 3/5

What were you doing when you were 22? Studying/avoiding University finals? Looking for the cheapest possible night out? Planning budget holidays? At the risk of getting too nostalgic I'll stop there but this isn't quite the same for Tinchy Stryder. Despite being a university student he's racked up a bar tab of 4000 in one night alone, had a couple of number one's and been nominated for a MOBO award - now that's more like it.

It seems 2009 has been quite a year for the young rapper. As he started off with his single “Take me back” featuring none other than Taio Cruiz it shot to number three. But was this the usual one hit wonder ? Featuring in Ndubz' song “Number One” (ironically going to number one) it was hard to tell as although the record was successful his only input seemed to be a couple of grunts here and there. It was all left to see whether his next single release from album “Catch 22” could meet the hype or like several artists before him he would seep back in to the underground grime scene.

With Sugarbabes Amelle featuring in the track it was almost guaranteed a certain amount of airplay but would this reflect its true popularity? Surprisingly yes. Although I'm one who usually avoids listening to “rappers” talk over a backing track I've got to admit this one is , dare I say it, really rather good. As soon as the record kicks off you can instantly hear the gorilla like “Oh Oh's” of Tinchy which combine intricately with Amelle's strong voice. Although the verses do start to drag as his rapping gets rather repetitive it is quickly forgotten as Amelle's voice strides in to the chorus bringing the track in to a whole new league proving he's got more than one good song tucked up his sleeve.

Whether Tinchy can fight off the likes of Chipmunk and Master Shortie remains questionable but as 'Star in the hood' t shirts become a must have it seems Tinchy Stryder is here to stay...at least for a bit anyway.

Tincy Stryder Myspace