Album Review: PanthaDogg – Mind How You Go

Born in Surrey and raised in Lincoln, rapper, singer-songwriter and beatmaker PanthaDogg releases his first full-length album Mind How You Go through Kycker Music, recorded at Lincoln’s Playing Aloud Studios. It’s refreshing to hear an album like this; honest, genuine, lo-fi, independent music that blends soft rock, modern folk and hip-hop with touching and relatable lyrics, innovative production and clever musicianship. Kind of The Streets meets Frank Turner with a fair dash of Casper Grant thrown in for good measure, it makes for a pleasing and inspired listen.

Diagnosed with autism since age 3, PanthaDogg himself cites a huge range of influences, including Sleep Token, Taylor Swift, Eminem, Disney, Black Thought, Post Malone and Tupac - this spectrum of artistic influence really shines through in the music he creates. Mind How You Go itself draws influence from the Yahi Native American Ishi and how his story and life connected and inspired; if you don’t know of Ishi, it’s a pretty stirring true story of a life that was lived, and for both added context on the album, and for learning in general, have a read.

Abandon Ship launches first, introducing new listeners to a fair blend of poetic, sad-boi rap and self-reflective lyrics. The clarity of vocals in the mix of this is striking and effective, indicative of skilled production. The Storm continues the order, more of a sung track than the rap/spoken word of the previous, nice diversity between tracks which somewhat defines MHYG overall. The dude actually poses a pretty decent singing voice, and again a nod to good production makes it stand out more, with clever nuances added which emphasise the

lyrical importance of the work. Time Won’t Tell continues these vibes with more raw, poetic lyrics and top-tier delivery.

You Stay I Go travels more along the lines of a singer-songwriter-type of track, showcasing a more folksy story-telling atmosphere than previous. Unavailable shows off some really nice guitar work, which is always appreciated, along more deep, relatable, frank lyrics, as does Last Call.

Classic hip-hop beats pave the way for Rhyme Forever in a notably more upbeat final stretch, continuing with Bigger Picture (featuring Longusto), showcasing good use of strings – my favourite track and an obvious single to be released. I Don’t Want You to Go rounds things off in a simultaneously well-polished and slightly haggard sounding finale, again really exemplifying the lyrical work that has gone into the writing of MHYG, and the care and attention to songwriting and musicianship that has been put in.

Overall, Mind How You Go is a decent listen, and I enjoyed it. It’s inspiring to hear albums like this come through still, a very good example of what some might consider to be rule-breaking of genres and clever experimentation which shouts non-convention from the rooftops. Take a listen and see what you think!