So Solid Crew's recent Channel 4 documentary seemed to mark the start of a charm offensive from London's controversy magnets. If Megaman's bullish insistence on the plight of "thugs in need" failed to tug the nation's heartstrings, then perhaps Romeo is the man for the job.
Apparently the only So Solid member not to have an enemies list longer than Richard Nixon's, he has produced the collective's most enjoyable release yet. If You Was My Girl and Da One, which match Romeo's raps to honeyed female choruses, are sophisticated homegrown variations on the US hip-hop-soul formula, while Nothin' But the Truth and the title track reflect on a difficult childhood with neither self-pity nor braggadocio. He lays the Casanova schtick on a bit thick, but at least those pesky "haters" who have bedevilled every So Solid release to date are conspicuous by their absence.
