Writer and director Ed Tracy has quietly released on behalf of both himself and actor Tom Hardy (Dunkirk, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Dark Knight Rises) a mixtape they made together nineteen years ago. The mixtape is titled, “Falling on Your Arse in 1999,” under their moniker names, “Tommy No 1” and “Eddie Too Tall,” and is available on Bandcamp for free download.

 

The project is eighteen tracks long with a runtime of forty-six minutes. Overall, “Falling on Your Arse” (FoYA) feels very much like a product of its era employing the use of heavy sampling, exaggerated stereo production, and a low-fidelity presentation (which is used commonly on amateur projects to mask or hide any imperfections in the mix).

 

FoYA takes inspiration from many artists of the era. There is a reserved but deep flow like that of DOOM on “Rusty Sheriff’s Badge,” a track which is capped by a Fugee-style outlaw’s escapade. Tracks like “Treason” and “No Love No Life” capture the highly-enunciated and anti-establishment mood of an Immortal Technique record, even down to the eclectic symphonics and a non-English spoken word section. The song “Wiser” captures the old school style that Joey Bada$$ recreated on his “1999” mixtape. The parallels in style that can be drawn between Hardy and both old and new school hip-hop legends is a testament to Hardy’s hidden abilities.

 

Topically, Hardy’s and Tracy’s project is aptly a reprojection of hip-hop from it’s time. The album runs rampant with dissenting political remarks and general criticisms for the socioeconomic hierarchy of England at the end of the millennia. Little is mentioned in specific, but the language is echoic of conscious hip-hop before it was overtaken commercially and enormously in the late 90s and early 00s by other sub-genres.

 

FoYA is as much a testament to Tracy’s skillful production as it is to Hardy’s lyrical finesse. Stereo imaging and placement is particularly deliberate. There are three versions of the song “We Makes the Beats,” each one taking on a slightly different mood due to changes in beat alone. Few tracks showcase Tracy’s production as much as, “Dr. Livingstoned.” On this track, Tracy samples a cartoonish dialogue sequence to create a surrealistic representation of a drive-by shooting, likening the precise firing of a gun to that of expert surgical procedure. Staunchly opposing, “Across the Gulf of Space” is Tracy’s vibey, jazzed-out interlude that is both reminiscent of, and yet much darker and more anxious than, Mos Def interludes of the time. Moreover, although the project is mastered in low-fidelity (some recordings don’t even have consistent volume), it seems to be a stylistic choice, and the overall warm balance of the project makes for a relaxing sound even during moments where Hardy is vehemently rapping.

 

Now two decades later, FoYA has managed to age as well as other 90s projects, and will appease anyone in search of nostalgic indulgence. In 2011, Hardy told BBC Newsbeat that he has “recorded loads of stuff, but its never been released.” With any luck, fans may get to hear more from the archive of Tommy No 1 and Eddie Too Tall.