Review: Pa Salieu’s Album “Send Them To Coventry”
The production ranges from lush to stark, melodic to hard-hitting. Vocals shift accordingly, always striking a new rhythm against the support of backing tracks. Inhabiting the nexus between UK grime’s intensity and the increasingly popular appeal of Afrobeats, Pa Salieu’s late 2020 album Send Them To Coventry positions him to join the likes of genre-fluid Brits such as J Hus, SL, and Dave.
‘I was born in England but I’m a Gambian boy, so I’ve got pride in the culture,’ Salieu says in an interview with the UK’s Evening Standard. ‘It’s only now that being African is “cool” but my accent has always been strong. [The other children] must have been making fun of me and so I got on the table and started fighting. Like, I’m not getting bullied. I ain’t with that, bro.”
Though his Gambian influence is prevalent, Coventry, or “the C.O.V.” (City of Violence), is the setting for Salieu’s debut album. It’s where he was shot in the head in late 2019– luckily he survived and has since made a full recovery. While Send Them To Coventry is confrontational at times, it’s far from unhinged. On “Frontline,” arguably the album’s most compelling drill track, he maintains a controlled cadence, floating atop blaring, tense instrumentals. There’s a depth and tonality to the vocals that mark the genre-bending that he’s known for, resonant again on the bassy “Informa.” “My Family,” a track featuring frequent collaborator Backroad Gee, is far more grating and aggressive; though Salieu promoted this song heavily on social media, it may not resonate for those unacquainted with UK rap’s fringes.
Despite his adeptness in the role of embattled grime star, it’s the integration of syncopated Afro-style beats, grime bass drops, and catchy background riffs that uniquely ties the album together. As if bridging a divide, “They Don’t Know (Interlude)” finds space for a couple melodic bars over a light, yet tense, chord progression. The one-minute track becomes a sonic standout, especially after the trap beat drops.
Another favorite of mine is “More Paper,” featuring Eight9FLY on the hook. It’s perhaps the second most listener-friendly song on the tracklist (outdone only by the soothing “Energy” ft. Mahalia). One might recognize the name Eight9FLY from KAYTRANADA’s “Vex Oh,” a vibey song that rose to the top of the Bubba album—or on the writing and production credits for giants such as WizKid—here he delivers another melodic, West Indies-inflected hook that ties “More Paper” together. As with many songs on Send them To Coventry, Pa Salieu’s relaxed verses read like an introductory monologue, a confessional of his lifestyle and how it came to be: “Look, my name is Pa and I’ve got a lot of enemies.” Similarly vibrant to “More Paper” is “Active,” with “Betty” being the most thickly-accented nod to Salieu’s Gambian roots.
What is ostensibly the record’s most popularly appealing track, dubbed “Energy,” is a softly glowing ode to self-care. “Protect your energy,” croons Salieu, “Crown on my head, I was born shinin’. They put us in the dirt so we keep dyin’. I died a hundred times and I keep fightin’. ‘Cause you doin’ your people shaky and I’m still ridin’.” Mahalia offers a brief, shimmery bridge and some background vocals, but the simple fact of her vocal presence undeniably brings out the quiet, reflective side of “King Salieu.” As the finisher of what is largely a striking, charged album, “Energy” leaves one with the sense that Pa Salieu is unique and multidimensional in a way that the burgeoning UK music scene has yet to encounter.