The self proclaimed man with the 8-figure couch and the 8-figure house is back again to pay some of those outrageous furniture bills. Canada’s own E=MC’s claim to fame is by hooking up with the DJ kings from England [RDB] and signing onto England’s massive Bhangra label, Untouchables UK. Both moves have paid off immensely as his first album entitled “Call It What You Want” was a major hit just last year. With the confidence from the success and accolades E=MC hits us this holiday season with his follow up entitled “And What!”

E=MC for people that don’t know is a producer, MC, DJ, rapper and self made success. On “And What!” all the production is to his credit and along with the beats and some cameo vocal appearances. His style is more along the lines of RDB, in where he doesn’t stick to the traditional Bhangra beats, but instead has tunes made more for the streets and the clubs. This along with constant presence of rap is one of the major reasons his main market is geared to the 30 and under age group.

The album has 14 tracks on it, including an intro and outro. Both of which could’ve used some more work, or else left off the album altogether; but I guess that’s what more and more artists are continuing to do. The beats and production that you’ll find on the rest of the tracks are incredible from catchy clappy club tunes to eerie street vibes. “Nakharey” and “Mull Lagda” will probably be the two most played DJ tracks as they both have a nice dance feel to them. “Dolona” and “Jatt Dhe Donali” both have similar and quite unique influences to them. The use of keyboards and scratches make these two tracks catch your ear. The song “Nachana” sounds clean, but then I realized it was pretty much the same beat and similar vocals to E=MC’s version on RDB’s UrbanFlavaz 3. It might have been just an extension of that version? Finally the track “Dat Banger” is simply a rap song, and I realize there’s a market for it, but I absolutely hated it and wished he would’ve kept it off the album. But with that said, that one track didn’t take away from the success of this album.

Some people I have talked to have disliked the array of vocalists that appear on “And What!” Besides the well known Binder, all the other singers on the album are fresh faces to the arena. I believe E=MC wanted to bring something different to the table unlike other producers who keep recycling the same four or five vocalists, which is fine, but it can get old pretty quick. So I applaud E for trying something new.

When reviewing an album I try to be as fair as I can and I want to take into account both sides of the argument and realize that for just as many people who love an album, there’s an equal number of people that literally hate the album. E=MC’s “And What!” falls right into those lines. Exactly the reason I think he showed his braveness to endeavor on a new sound while giving his fans some of the same E=MC flava. So I will have to give “And What!” a www.punjabisongs.com rating of 7 out of 10.

Punjabisongs.com would like to hear your reviews, opinions and comments for this album. Please click on the link below which will take you to this albums forum:

E=MC - And What! [Forum Page]

- Reviewed: Neetu Samra ( Fri Jan 6 08:32:58 2006 )