White Girl Wasted – Sonnyjim & The Purist Album Review

White Girl Wasted - Birmingham Emcee Sonnyjim and producer The Purist (Action Bronson, Danny Brown) – came to fruition after exploring the idea of making a tape, inspired by an array of artists with signature styles and personalities. The result is the debut album by the pair – the self-titled White Girl Wasted.

The record is oozing with choppy beats, deadpan flows and a host of incredible guests – including the legendary late MF DOOM. And coming in at only twenty-one minutes, White Girl Wasted cuts any filler and delivers eight tracks of swagger, calibre and nostalgic production.

‘Paris Hilton’ kicks off the record, with steady flows from Sonnyjim and a piano-driven instrumental. The synth and vocal inflections are immediately reminiscent of early 2000s hip-hop, complete with some great sample choice from The Purist. ‘999’, featuring Milkavelli and Lee Scott, showcases an almost Nas-type instrumental; a smooth, dusty break with layers of orchestral inflections. Woodwinds and strings duck in-and-out giving the track a cinematic energy, a clever contrast to the laidback verses of the artists on ‘999’.

Madlib also shows up on the album, with production credits on ‘Does Mushrooms Once’. Based around an almost Aphex Twin or drill ‘n’ bass eerie bells loop, the track also creates a noir sound with dissonant chords and a repetitive, droning bass guitar riff. The voice recording at the back end of the track is also hilarious; it has an individual discussing using mushrooms, and how they ‘created the majority of a positive affirmation colouring book’.

Featuring none other than MF DOOM, and Jay Electronica, ‘Barz Simpson’ is a track that bops along, again slotting into the overarching stylistic themes of noir and US hip-hop. Hearing a fresh DOOM verse is bittersweet, but as expected, the man nails it. Another big-name comes on ‘Doc Ellis’, with additional production from DJ Premier. The track is another that is bustling with cinematic inflections, as well as 90s-tinted record scratches, clearly courtesy of Premier. White Girl Wasted is also an album bursting with crate-dug sample choices, from dark jazz and soul all the way to 70s rock.

White Girl Wasted is a clever marriage of UK rap and American alternative hip-hop. Witty bars and slick production make for a fantastic listen, and the short length of the project just has you wanting more.