Tieum – Tcher No Beat 1

Most of Tieum's early records got a lot of play in the UK, and for me this is his best. Mostly for the tune "Speedragga" - which despite the name has no ragga samples I can hear. Instead, there's a great hip hop break with a very famous funk sample (as used by NWA for Dopeman, amongst others) - leading into a punchy kick with some simple but effective hoovers. It doesn't as much of the raw crunch that most other Tieum tunes have, but it is certainly still heavy.

The other tunes are more typical - "Hardcyp" has some nice crusty breakbeats and fun samples, with a kick that almost overpowers the whole mix - and "You LMA" is similar, with a great energetic off-beat hoover in the middle accompanying the "lick, lick, lick my ass" sample. "Touch" is the only one I was never that into - less energetic arrangement, and a lot slower than the others (often played on the wrong speed for that reason). But the other 3 tunes are Tieum at the early peak of his powers (before be became boring. only my opinion!)