For Maverick Sabre it was a slice of UK Hip Hop that helped kickstart his own musical journey
Celebrating 70 years of the album format, today marks the very first National Album Day here in the UK.
Over the years music has gradually become disposable. It’s a shame but it’s true. More a promotional tool to plug a tour or help sell merchandise, it’s very rare today that we see an artist who takes their time in crafting a complete body of work with the end result sounding as such.
We tend to listen to a new album for seven days and then Friday rolls around again and we’re onto the next, and because of this we’re in danger of losing the album forever.
Putting singles, playlists, EPs and mixtapes to the back of our minds for 24 hours, we caught up with singer/songwriter/producer Maverick Sabre who shared his thoughts on the album and highlighted a complete body of work he deems very important to his growth as both a man and a musician.
“For me the ones that stand out the most are the ones that spurred me on to make music,” he begins. “So I would say it was probably The Saga’s of… by Klashnekoff.
“I was this young kid who had been brought up in Ireland but had connections to Hackney so when I heard any reference to Hackney I was already immersed in everything Klashnekoff was talking about. He took me on a journey through London. And then his lyricism, for me he’s still Top 5 all-time. I’m talking in general, MC-wise.”
Continuing he adds: “See I came up through MC-ing so Hip Hop was – and still is – the foundation of who I am as an artist, even if you don’t hear it on every record.
“That’s why I say this: there’s loads of Bob Dylan records, Marvin Gaye records, records by Bob Marley, who all of which had a massive effect on me, but the moments that really captured me were when I was in that first stage of making music. It’s when I first heard “All I Got” by Klashnekoff, or even Skinnyman’s Council Estate of Mind, they made me want to write.
“Klash is someone who has always stood out to me because of his storytelling. I like to look for artists who are able to tell great stories that focus on love, pain, struggle and they have a view on society that inspires a message in their music. The Sagas of Klashnekoff does that perfectly.”
Remembering a time pre-streaming when he had to wait three weeks for an album to be delivered to his hometown of New Ross, Maverick Sabre is still very much a fan of the album format.
“Where we were from in New Ross some records, even English records, you had to wait three weeks before they came in,” he explains. “I remember waiting for a More Fire Crew album for like three weeks. And don’t think that when it came I didn’t absolutely blast it. And you’d listen to it over and over again, even the tunes you didn’t like, because I wanted to get my listener’s worth.
“I still want to be able to sit down and listen to a record in its entirety. Everyone has that one record, and probably more than one, that they sat down and listened to intensely, dissected it, and can to this day listen to from start to finish. I’ve always felt like that about albums. And sure, if the music’s good enough it’ll make a playlist.”
Maverick Sabre’s new single “Drifting” is out now (Listen/Watch).
