Kano: Method to the Maadness

Until now, Kano's major musical contribution of 2010 was his guest appearance on Gorillaz' White Flag. Like Damon Albarn – who produces a track here – the Newham rapper knows how to build a coalition of the musically willing and exciting. Method to the Maadness is Kano's fourth record, and like other London grime perennials Dizzee and Wiley, he's now operating from his own label. The lack of label heft is a shame, because this is a record that deserves at least a modicum of Rascalesque success. Take Upside: a great UK hip-hop moment released in July, and a Limey cousin to Empire State of Mind, with Michelle Breeze taking the part of Alicia Keys. It didn't even chart. Then there's the clutchy musical tiki-taka of All + All Together, with Hot Chip, and the sinister dancehall glockenspiel of Get Wild with Wiley: both scintillating. A crappy spoof of a Radio 5 Live "state of the youth nation" phone-in is the only thing that grates, but you can forgive him that. There's little madness in Kano's methods.