Spooks – S.I.O.S.O.S. Volume One (CD) (2000) (FLAC + 320 kbps)

Inspired by the rap/R&B success of the Fugees, Spooks came together in the late ’90s with a similar message and group structure, but a much different musical approach. Consisting of vocalist Ming Xia and MCs Mr. Booka-T, Vengeance, Water Water, and Hypno, the group’s male-female dynamic brought comparisons to the Fugees almost immediately. The difference lies in the production, which referenced trip-hop and jungle and rarely stuck to a typical hip-hop structure. Boasting this unique approach, the group recorded S.I.O.S.O.S., Vol. 1 in 1999 for Artemis Records. The album was a huge success in Europe, where it turned gold in France, Belgium, Sweden, and Germany, but hardly made a dent in American markets. They re-released the record and put together a live band for their live shows in an attempt to woo U.S. audiences, but the single for “Things I’ve Seen” did catch on and the group quietly disappeared soon after.

S.I.O.S.O.S. (Spooks Is on Some Other Sh*t) is an eclectic mix of jazz, reggae, hip-hop, and neo-soul, and it’s also not that good. Spooks are comprised of four gruff, male MCs and female singer Ming Xia, but five is truly a crowd and often the arrangements are so cluttered that the vocalists trip over themselves and interrupt each other like overeager grade-schoolers. The first single, “Things I’ve Seen,” does have a nice hook propelled by the jazzy vocals of Xia, but overall the record attempts to take on too much and suffers for it.

Tracklist:

01. Other Script
02. The Mission
03. Things I’ve Seen
04. They Don’t Know
05. I Got U
06. Flesh Not Bone
07. Sweet Revenge
08. Deep Cutz
09. Karma Hotel
10. Safe House
11. Something Fresh
12. Swindley’s Maracas
13. Bitch Blood
14. Murder

Download:

FLAC – Wayshare

320 kbps – Wayshare