N'fa

Best known for his work as the frontman for the highly successful Aussie hip-hop group 1200 Techniques, as the writer and vocalist for the hugely popular singles Karma and Fork In The Road, N'fa's debut solo album is a uniquely personal insight into the man himself and his outlook on society, life, sex, and everything in between.

'Cause An Effect' is a big step for N'fa, moving beyond the boundaries of a band situation. Even though N'fa was able to do things exactly how he wanted to on his album, he's quick to establish that he doesn't feel that 1200 Techniques held him back in any way at all. "The project began because we were all quite tired of the band, we all needed some time to breathe in again and I found myself without any real projects to do.

"I'm not saying the band was limited; my head was in a different space when I was with the band. When I was in this space, when I was making 'Cause An Effect', I just thought 'How far do I want to take it?'"

The evidence of this thought is displayed thoroughly throughout the album; conscious, socially-motivated raps sit contentedly beside more party-orientated tunes, and more than any sign of a lack of direction, N'fa believes this is a representation of himself and of life in general.

"There were definitely parts of me that I hadn't let out for ages, but some songs we'd write more party-based tracks. There were a few more social or personal tracks," N'fa explains carefully. "Even some of the heavy lines have funny moments in them; I guess that's a bit like life. There's a time for enjoyment, and a time for revolution, and a time for play. Sometimes they combine."

As with a lot of hip-hop, 'Cause An Effect' is pretty heavy on collaborations, featuring beats by hip-hop whiz-kid Styalz, the massive drum-and-bass producer D-Bridge, and Dobie. "I went overseas and when I was traveling I kept meeting people; they'd be like 'Let's jam, let's do something' and a whole album formed from that. It wasn't really a planned thing."

Anyone familiar with D-Bridge and his work as part of Bad Company will be taken by ambush at the much cleaner vibe of his beat on the title track, Cause An Effect. N'fa discussed this, and explained the variety that went into the album. "He [D-Bridge] is a very diverse person. That's what's great about this project; there are a lot of quite diverse and just good people generally. It's very interesting how people come together and create very different music. It's kinda like the Roots Manuva track, I didn't expect to make that kind of song."

I asked N'fa about the Roots Manuva collaboration, and after a little chuckle, he described the weekend it came about. "There'd been a birthday weekend with lots of Jamaican rum and late nights, and he goes 'I'm loving the vibe of your record, I'm gonna do something for it tomorrow, let's do it'. It wasn't really that planned, it was really a day plan."

'Cause An Effect' is an incredibly spontaneous, unpredicted record, but N'fa believes this is because it's a reflection of life, and dealing with the events that transpire.

"I've had interviews where they say I subjugate women, but the songs are so far away from that. I mean, I'm down on my knees, bawling to what I find breathtaking. The general theme of the album is overcoming adversity; finding light in darkness, and that song [Seduction Is Evil, with an almost crunk groove, shows one of the things that could rule me. It's also meant to be a track that you can have a bit of fun with, some of the lines are actually quite funny. As much as I'm searching for spirit, I can so easily be ruled by flesh."

Ben Ford Smith

'Cause An Effect' is released Mon 24 July through Inertia