Issue 85 / February 2018

REVIEWS
MC Nelson (Chris Rathe)
MC Nelson
By The River Video Premiere
@ FACT – 08/01
What does the River Mersey mean to you? To Nelson Idama,
better known as the elusive South Liverpool rapper MC NELSON,
it means a catalogue of things. It’s childhood memories, it’s a
spiritual and cultural embodiment of the city, it’s the gateway
from other worlds, a catalyst that propelled Liverpool to a global
port, ascending its status from a quiet, sleepy Lancastrian town,
and a constant physical reminder of both the prosperous and
sordid past of the city. The river Mersey has many stories to
tell, and storytelling is something that Nelson feels is a duty of
his writing. “I feel as though the job of an MC is to provide new
perspectives and tell untold stories,” he explains as we discuss
his music the day after his successful By The River music video
premiere at FACT.
On the night of the premiere, a short documentary precedes
the video, detailing his influences that developed the song and
the accompanying video. From his upbringing on Aigburth’s
Riverbank Road, to the uncomfortable acknowledgement and
guilt of the city surrounding its troubling past. Most notably, the
often-forgotten slave trade that brought great affluence to the
city, albeit at the devastating expense of the millions of African
slaves in the 18th Century. Choosing the documentary as a
medium in which to expand his storytelling allows Nelson to
“I feel as though the job
of an MC is to provide
new perspectives and
tell untold stories”
explore beyond the constricts of a three-minute song. “You
don’t want to turn it into a history essay, which is why I decided
to explore other ways to convey my message, like through the
documentary.”
A large part of the documentary focusses on the dark and
harrowing tale of Charles Wootton, a 24-year-old ship’s fireman
from Bermuda, who fell victim to race tensions in 1919. The
young seafarer was reportedly chased from his home on Upper
Pitt Street to the Queens Dock where he was beaten with a
rock and drowned in the Mersey. It’s important and often untold
subjects like these that Nelson wants to focus on with his musical
projects. “All in all, I feel like my job is to tell the story of Liverpool
– the good, the bad and the ugly.”
The video itself is a sharply shot portrayal of Nelson’s literal
and symbolic relationship with rivers, water and Liverpool. Shot
by the local collective Leech, the video depicts Nelson through
various shifting scenes that scroll through different moods: it
begins warmly, a headshot suspended in vibrant waters of vivid
oranges and indigo petals, then switches to him meandering
in a raft in murky dismal waters, before finally morphing to him
frantically seething in the cold, ominous, livid grey of the sea.
These three distinct environments perhaps reflect his mixed
emotions and feelings towards Liverpool and the river Mersey.
The video also mirrors the contrasting themes in the
accompanying song; Nelson effortlessly spits over a cosy,
jazz-laden beat, with a languid flow rippling through the verses.
Midway through, the track spins away from the calm; the beat
spirals into a disorientating, hysterical jazz centrifuge as Nelson
repeats “time is a river”, while accompanied by the visuals of a
manic sea lashing at Nelson’s barge, before quickly returning
to the warmth and calm of the verse. Nelson’s lyrics in the
track evoke both a gritty realness, and a colourful metaphysical
imagery that relates both to nature and being.
As the video ends, Nelson gets up to perform a sharp set,
packed with unreleased and never-before heard tracks. He
exudes a bashful, yet confident calm in front of the audience,
dispersing the gaps between his songs with a coy wit. The list of
tracks performed tonight further showcase his considered style
and contemplative lyricism. Nelson a much-welcomed and longawaited
catalyst that the developing Liverpool hip hop scene
needs.
Jonny Winship / @jmwinship
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