Once upon a time not long ago, when people wore pyjamas and lived life slow...I was was fairly in love with the genre that is Hop Hop. But, I became disillusioned with the generic new wave (anything that ever sounded vaguely good to me was only because it was recycling some old classics, and they were better the first time around anyway) and we parted ways. However, I still hold a candle for my much-loved favourites (EPMD, Biz Markie, Big Daddy Kane, etc, etc) and always kept an ear to the ground lest someone might ignite that spark within me once more.

Fear not, folks, as this tale of musical woe has a happy ending, for along came Aim with his track "Before." Before is taken from the Barrow-In-Furness-based down-tempo master's Birchwood EP, and is the vocal rendition which features New York's finest Hip Hop duo, QNC, working their lyrical magic. Of course, as one might expect, Aim doesn't disappoint with the music, serving a delicious helping of glorious brass, strings and vocal loops. But, for me, it's QNC who take this from being just another really great track into something very special. You see, what was lost to me in the Hip Hop genre was the art of storytelling, but this is a skill which QNC brought back with this very sweet and heartfelt tale of the makings and breakings of industry strife. If you don't feel a lump in the throat at such lyrics as "it was only just me" you need to check you're not running on WD40. Fuel for a case of the happy/sads if ever there was one.

Visit Aim's Myspace page at www.myspace.com/aimflight602

Visit QNC's Myspace page at www.myspace.com/qballandcurtcazal