Words by Justin Turford
Nottingham is a small city in the East Midlands ‘region’ of the UK and Local Healers, Louis Cypher and myself call it home. Claimed by neither the North nor South by a small country that regards this as important, those of us from here feel Northern. Cities with more cultural fame than us like Sheffield are as close as siblings in distance but somehow, Nottingham (or Notts) has generally got a swerve until very recently from the London-centric media gatekeepers. Due to this (alongside the high levels of deprivation, low(ish) rent and the historical self-image as a ‘rebel’ city) there has always been a thriving self-reliance about the city’s artists with a distinctly collaborative vein throughout and across the artistic disciplines. Metal-heads work with grime MCs, poets work with graffiti artists, everybody knows everyone or so it seems. City-wide, multi-venue festivals have become a regular occurrence and have fed heat and flavour into the creative broth but like all sectors in society right now, there are massive external pressures. The relentless Covid crisis, a Tory government who would love nothing more than to silence the progressive voices of change and an economic downturn of predictable pain has placed a burden on young people not seen in generations. This is where ‘Paintings On The Wall’ intersects.
Photo by Paul W. Dixon
“What happens when there’s no paintings on the wall?”
Local Healers comprise of Ty Healy and Nay Loco and their ‘local’ rise has been equally unstoppable and intriguing with their mix of lyrical freshness, raw energy, visual identity and just plain graft. They don’t stop. Releases and collaborations, podcasts, videos, that classic hip hop cliche of hustle, but hustle you must. The quadruple threat of talent, vision, copious production and self-promotion are the mainstays of success in the game. For their third release they’ve teamed up with a good friend of mine, Louis Cypher, a veteran of the city’s always fire MC scene, an OG member of 1st Blood, promoter and gravelly-voiced man about town. Together the lads decided to create a record under lockdown with an aim to reconnect senses, question their situation and just make some art.
“At the beginning of 2020, as we all collectively witnessed significant changes and traumas in our lives, the idea of being creative or making music any time soon, seemed like a distant dream to me. However this project has proven just how valid art truly is. For its catharsis, its beauty and its ability to bring people together when that is what we needed the most.” - Louis Cypher
Left quietly in the background, the seven track EP’s blend of 90bpm dope beats, warmly slick jazz samples and the unhurried flows of our heroes echo the mellower end of the 90s ‘golden age’ of ATCQ, The Pharcyde, De La Soul etc but delve in deeper and there’s something else happening. An uncompromisingly honest look at themselves, their people and the powers that be make this an historical note in this strange and demanding time we are all living through. The opening track and first single ‘Renaissance’ contains the EP title and is a love-letter to the Arts and in particular an exploration of the creative and financial struggles, self-worth and daily doubts of the those within this world delivered with a playful lightness of touch over Belgian producer Faux Sala’s guitar-sampled boom bap beatscape.
‘Neva Left’ is a self-hyping call to arms, readying and steadying themselves to return to the live arena, a rage against the tide of doom. ‘Pavement Cracks’ keeps up the theme of of trying to stay positive and yearning for peace despite your vices “Two steps forward and one step back, stepping over dreams in the pavement cracks, searching for the answer in the bottom of the bottle, when you can’t find it, who’s to blame for that?”.
“Water For Flowers” is a candid and nostalgic look at self-growth (or not) and moving on over a lovely piano-looped groove, pure sunshine inner work going on. The three MCs voices and flows combining to great effect, their homegrown accents and tonal variations adding textures amongst the cerebral poetry. The bars on “Anti-Gravity Suit” rip and trip over the comparisons between escape and reality, a brief but bumping interstellar dream. “Guru” returns to the artist theme, lyrical plays around childhood memories and more dope-fuelled flashes of thought , somehow managing to name-drop Thomas the Tank Engine, Gang Starr, Hendrix, Carhart, Jean-Paul Sartre and The Daily Mail’s Paul Dacre!
Final track “Let Go” looks calmly and unflinchingly at racism in the UK, toxic friends, God, mental health and the uselessness of keeping the pain in over the most melancholic of jazzy guitar and beats. It’s a fine closer on a fine EP, everyone involved should be proud.
Released on Notts label I’m Not From London’s hip hop sister label I’m Not From Brooklyn Records, ‘Paintings On The Wall’ is a worthy addition to any hip hop heads collection. This is 'local music for global people’.