The local rap star seizes his moment.
James Songer has become one of the biggest and most important acts in our local area. Wokingham born and a frequent performer around Reading over the years. His set at Reading Festival last year was an absolute triumph. He seems to take everything in his stride and has yet to appear overwhelmed by the trajectory of his career.
What If I Say No? is an impressive piece of work. If you count the mix-tape style releases, then this is his sixth album in seven years. It doesn’t contain the brilliant 2025 single ‘Alive.’ Songer works hard and keeps releasing new material. Despite the speed of his turnaround the quality bar never dips on this new album. The speed and quality of his wordplay are top notch; the range of styles he brings to the beats stops him from being predictable. It seems only a matter of time before he starts guesting on tracks from A-grade British rap artists and he gets exposed to a much wider audience.
‘LYRIC BOOK BOY’ uses a beautiful soul sample married to rapid fire beats. Songer discusses how he wrote lyrics in notebooks from a younger age, he is thoughtful and impressive in his flow. ‘FIND MY FACE’ ramps it up rapidly, a furious breakbeat and bass line underneath it. It also reminds us he can sing a decent chorus himself when he wants to.
‘SOMETHING I SAID’ leans more towards funk-bass with a hint of soul atop the breakbeat. ‘BONES’ is the sort of quality old-school hip-hop that would have DJ Shadow waxing lyrical. ‘AMMO’ leans more into pure drum and bass.
He returns to the idea of living your actual life rather than living an online fantasy several times. “Bare man wanna tell me to post more, like proving I’m living is better than living it.” There are also a number of comments on the state of the world and politics despite his protestations that politics does not interest him, or at least political parties. Mental health comes up several times, most notably on the ending track ‘ORCHESTRA OF SILENCE.’ “Check the stats about men because it’s one every minute, I think the world should start again so I’m saying we bin it. And if you ever take a message away from my lyrics, it’s that if you’ve got a life then I’d love you to live it.”
The only guest spot comes courtesy of KiLLOWEN. A solid turn on ‘PLACES AND FACES,’ another track that leans closer to a drum and bass backing.
This is a hugely impressive effort from a star of the rap scene. He balances thoughtful introspection with a good eye on what is going on around him. The local boy has done extremely well. Greater things await.
Essential Tracks: ‘FIND MY FACE,’ ‘SOMETHING I SAID,’ ‘BONES,’ ‘AMMO,’ ‘FRONT ROW SEATS,’ ‘PLACES AND FACES’ and ‘ORCHESTRA OF SILENCE.’
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