Gorilla Voltage are one of my favourite active rap groups at the moment… At least they were, as they announced two weeks ago on the 26th September that they’ve just disbanded. I’m gutted to say the least, as I mentioned in part three of my ‘Artists the UK Should Pay Attention To’ series, they were an absolute joy to discover after they signed to Majik Ninja Entertainment in 2016.
They’ve not disclosed why they’ve split, but confirmed they are both pursuing solo careers going forward, with Mr Grey releasing his next solo album ‘Vicious Vendetta’ soon (no date given), and ClockworC confirming he is deep into development of his debut solo album (no title or release date announced yet).
They released four albums in their time as a double act as Gorilla Voltage, originally called The Damn Dirty Apes, and so I’ve decided to rank the releases by my personal preference, and outline why I find each of their albums absolutely unforgettable. If your order of favourite Gorilla Voltage albums differs to mine then definitely let me know what your order is on Twitter @MaliceVER.
Gorilla Voltage’s most recent album is full of absolute bangers, and the fact it is at the bottom of this list shouldn’t reflect negatively on it in the slightest. Personally I just haven’t had as much time with it to grow as addicted to it as the others, though I still bump it almost weekly, and tracks like Good Die Young and Feeding Time are among my favourite tracks by any rappers of all time.
I’d say this is the best jumping off point to get into Gorilla Voltage, as this album has the most variety to it, along with one of the best opening tracks to any album in the last year or so!
As with how list features work, the only way from the bottom is up, but if I were giving scores to their albums this one is still an easy 9 out of 10.
The self-titled debut album when Mr Grey and ClockworC formed as The Damn Dirty Apes, the absolute power and passion contained in this album blew everything else out the water when it released in 2015. The opening track, also called The Damn Dirty Apes, sets the tone with a bass bursting frantic verse from ClockworC, followed by a highly catchy and memorable hook, followed by (in my opinion) one of the best verses in Mr Grey’s history.
This track is followed immediately by Ape Shit, the track I’ve seen Gorilla Voltage favour to warm up the crowd in their live sets, and even in a hungover vegetative state in bed watching on my phone when I don’t want to move, I still find myself joining in with it, to the loud protest of my pounding headache.
It doesn’t stop there. Gems like Rap Game Goliath, Eye of the Storm and Numbnut will never get old and as anyone who hears the album will surely agree, cemented The Damn Dirty Apes into the rap history books.
Marketed as a collection of tracks that didn’t make it into the number one spot album on this list, I love the tracks in this album almost as much as the ones in the album they ‘weren’t good enough’ for. Heavy hitters like Hella White Tiger, Lie, No Rest and Concrete Sea have incredibly high replayability and are some of my favourite tracks to try to rap over the highest volume setting in my car (and work exceptionally well with venting road rage).
It could be nothing else. I reckon almost anybody who ranks the Gorilla Voltage albums is going to put this at the top. It baffles me how some of the tunes embedded in this masterful madness haven’t gone mainstream, with massive amounts of radio plays and every other car in traffic bumping it. The track that got me as into Gorilla Voltage as I am is in this album, Grime, but it’s accompanied by other brain melters like FTWFE (Fuck The World Fuck Everything), Ninja Star and (another of my all time favourites) Level Up.
If you pass on this album then you’ve passed on happiness in my opinion, and Gorilla Voltage won’t disappoint you when you decide to take an hour out to devour this masterpiece.
And that’s it, the end of an era, if four albums in five years counts as an era, but it’s been memorable to say the least! I will definitely continue to follow their careers, and hope they reunite at some point if they can get passed whatever caused them to split in the first place. I hope I’ve been able to convince anyone to check their music out, and thank you for reading.
So, for the last time, take your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape!!
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