5. Massive AttackBlue Lines
It’s a classic record, but also just a real imprint and etching of what was going on, not just socially in Britain, but also culturally how that whole… being British, being Caribbean and being connected to sound systems and also connected to British culture at the same time and what that expression brought. It was completely different – even though you’ve got reggae and hip-hop influences there, we just take things on our own in a different way and Blue Lines is a cornerstone of that happening in England. There’s not one dud track on the whole album and that’s a classic album in itself. I was in Jumbo Records in Leeds the Saturday before it came out and they banged it on but I didn’t really clock it straight away because I was in there looking for something to play out that night. I got it but I didn’t listen to it properly for a good couple of weeks – I was in a DJ zone where I was constantly acquiring records and then listening to them when I had the time. But it was one of those classic moments of being back at home after hours and sticking it on and going, ‘Oh shit, this is amazing!’ It was the right time, right place. I love the Britishness of it – the multicultural side of British music is definitely within Blue Lines.
