The first time I became aware of Chiddy Bang was the single "Opposite of Adults", and then I forgot all about them.
Until I heard "Ray Charles". What a great song. Having read the reviews here I decided to buy the album "Breakfast", and for the most part I'm glad I did. I can't say I love every track on the cd but how many albums can you honestly say that about? Strangely enough the title track "Breakfast" is one of the weakest songs here, but after a shaky start we move quickly into 4 songs in a row that are great! "Handclaps and Guitars", "Mind Your Manners" and "Ray Charles" all up tempo bouncy hip hop tracks with catchy melodies and great rapping from Chiddy. Then they slow things down a bit with "Does She Love Me?' which is nice, and shows a slightly more serious and tender side from the duo.
I have to say I tend to skip the next song "Run It Back" not because of the singing, which I like, but I don't feel the music and rap gel well together. The music is quite slow and yet the rapping is loud and fast. It doesn't quite work for me. But things soon warm up again with "Whatever We Want". My favourite slow number on the album is "Talking To Myself". When I first heard it I found the singing slightly strange but now I love the clever lyrics, good beats and rapping.
The highlight of the whole album has to be "Happening" featuring VV Brown. Just a great feel good song, that bounces along at a great pace, and could easily be a big summertime hit for Chiddy and Xaphoon Jones. Yes to some it will be a bit too commercial and poppy, but what's wrong with that? These guys can do both pop and non-commercial music, as the final track "4th Quarter" with its much tougher sound, proves.
All in all a great album, with only a couple of tracks I tend to skip as I'm playing it, which, for me is highly unusual.
The single "Ray Charles" reached 13 in the UK Charts, but their first single from the album "Mind Your Manners" didn't chart here at all, but hopefully their future releases will do better because they really do deserve to have more success here in the UK. Take a listen to "Breakfast" and I'm sure you'll agree.