Greenie - Positive Influence

Hear The Track Here

Greenie (aka Matthew Greenberg) is a hip hop artist from the USA whose interest in music was shaped by Tupac Shakur, Tribe Called Quest and other luminaries of the early 1990s hip hop scene. Not to mention a past history that would probably make a good novel, Greenie sounds like he's lived a couple of lifetimes already judging by the notes on his webpage. Mind you, I guess that is almost de riguer in an increasingly violent world. The good thing is that it doesn't come out in the music. Positive Influence does exactly what it says...

With a certain twist that makes it soooooo brrrrrrr

You'll have gathered I kinda like this track by now, and that comes as some surprise. In a market increasingly dominated by clones (particularly in the US) it's harder and harder to find an original take on the style. I don't know whether Greenie is partial to mixing up styles or not, but Positive Influence certainly right down to it with a will. As I got the first blast of this, I wasn't sure that I wasn't about to face yet another sound-alike, my spirits sank. Nothing I hate more, I tell ya. The right around :35 or so, the first chorus kicks in and everything is up for grabs. While it's true that there is a kind of 'heard this before' about this track it doesn't make much difference because the hook is it's brilliant melange of rap and ragga. Veeerrryyyy neat.

A couple of essential ingredients make an ideal hip hop/rap track for me; an interesting and varied music mix and a sense of humour about itself and Positive Influence has both. The music that backs up the sterling vocal performance is casual, light even and I think that is where I get the biggest 'Tribe' influence and the brass injections in the chorus, and the ragga vocal - the list is endless. I'm not sure there if there aren't two vocalists on this or whether this is all voiced by Greenie, if it is good on ya bud, the ragga tone is done to perfection. If not, any chance of knowing who the other vocalist is? Anyway, knockout track and I look forward to hearing some more.

Highly Recommended