‘cut the weather vain,
I hear blood water
tapping out the lords most cold
on my window pain’ – Alcoholic Author

An album that started a British back-pack movement and a milestone in the history of UK hip-hop, Jehst dropped his debut High Plains Drifter back in 2002. More aggressive and lyrically venomous then the laidback sequel Falling Down, many consider his first installment the best and most influential out of his releases. It’s not that Falling Down held less weight, but with Lewis Parker driven beats shaping ill tracks like ‘Monotony’ and ‘China Shop Thaurus’, it just painted a different picture.

Jehst was born in Kent but moved to Huddersfield at an early age. There he experienced the bleak realities of the post-industrial north, experiences he often relates to in his music. After his school years he moved to London for a university education and the subsequent release of his this album. A true classic which ever side of the fence you stand on High Plains Drifter was written and produced solely by Jehst, proving from the start his supreme talent to construct beats as much as metaphors.

Dusty with all the right samples and scratches, it also comes as a direct result of the global impact of Hip-Hop on the UK in the early 90’s. Initially it can prove difficult to absorb but the pleasure that later grips will never leave. Timeless beauties like ‘1979’, ‘Alcholic Author’ and the massive anthem ‘People Under the Weather’ introducing Huddlesfield heavyweight Asaviour, make this a must have for any Hip-Hop lover and one’s seeking education of the genre in the UK.

Words Ali Raymond
YNR Label
Buy High Plains Drifter