“Mattress” Prod. by Pete Cannon Embodies Everything We Love About Dirty Dike (Album Review)

Here we have the 6th studio LP from Cambridge, England, United Kingdom emcee/producer Dirty Dike. A member of Contact Play, his solo debut Bogies & Alcohol as well as the sophomore effort Constant Dikestar under High Focus Records were both welcomed to warm reception although Return of the Twat was considered average by many in comparison. The Sloshpot EP & Sucking on Prawns in the Moonlight have since become his most celebrated work ever & Acrylic Snail was a great look at his transformation into his current self, leaving High Focus to start his own label Melonskin Records afterwards & is returning to the mic to drop Mattress independently.

“Pusspuss” produced by Melonskin co-founder Pete Cannon chops up a sinister piano sample for the 3rd & final single talking about putting pussies in their places whereas “My Way” dustily finds himself turning up on a weekday like it’s the weekend. After the “Samaritans” skit, “Bumpkin” has a more ghostly boom bap vibe instrumentally attacking those who aren’t fit to swim an inch of his one leading into “Broken Mattress” featuring Ronnie Bosh & Skuff finds the trio giving a fuck less about people bigging up their chest.

After the “Arr Kid” skit, “I’m a Peen” blends boom bap & jazz rap together for a self-aware depiction of how much of a dickhead the Dirty Dike can be just before “The Places We’ve Been In” featuring Jam Baxter takes a shot at the people who don’t know what it’s like setting foot in the locations they’ve visited. “Keith Meets Dike” featuring Kool Keith sees the 2 ruggedly talking about being completely insane in their own rights while the 2nd single “Just Dreamin’” spits a verse off-top over a soul sample.

“Cyclops” after the “Pouring a Rum” skit continues the nostalgic boom bap beats reminiscent of 90s east coast hip hop taking people to places they’ll feel uncomfortable in & after the “U About?” skit, the lead single “Bucket Kicker” would ultimately be saved for the last song reiterating his mission of speaking to those who push us to know what we’re supposed to be. We do get a proper “Goodbye” with the outro, although it’s the 5th & final skit throughout Mattress altogether.

Instead of producing his Melonskin Records debut by himself, Dirty Dike has his partner-in-crime Pete Cannon handle Mattress’ production duties & celebrates this new era of his career by doing his own thing after making some of High Focus Records’ most celebrated material the previous decade. The instrumentals created using a Commodore Amiga 1200 are more lenient towards the traditional boom bap sound rather than continuing Acrylic Snail’s varied explorations & the Contact Play extraordinaire retains his signature sense of humor.

Score: 8/10