Eclectic UK pop group Mr Hudson has a powerful advocate in US rapper and, recently, new wave crooner Kanye West. “I believe Mr Hudson has the potential to be bigger than me,” West is on record claiming, “to be one of the most important artists of his generation”. Kanye put his money where his mouth was by inviting Hudson (Christian name “Ben”) to sing and co-produce some tracks on his “808s & Heartbreak” album. Now he returns the favor by co-producing their second disc, “Straight No Chaser”.

by Mark Emge

“808s & Heartbreak” is Kanye West’s superstar-freakout album: his “Low”, his “Trans”, his “Kid A”. The affably doofy Everydude talking shit on “The College Dropout” has all but disappeared. Even “Paranoid,” the closest thing to a club-jam on the disc, sounds creepy, its sticky French-house synths conjuring coke-fueled restlessness. Kanye’s recent Euro-dance influences take over, pushing his music into thrilling and unrecognizable new shapes while he does some more hatin’ on the non-celebrity ex that caused his Auto-Tuned malaise. Mr Hudson (given name “Ben”), from the London’s alterna-R&B The Library, enables.

by Mark Emge