Letters to Myself

These sketches of urban life are raw, physical and full of the juicy rhymes of rap English. They come from a nightclub bouncer turned philosophiser, whose towering frame is now slightly stooped as he leans on his gold-topped cane and reflects on scenes in Soho, the Old Kent Road and Brixton. Club life (Nostalgia and Pugilist) and early training - learning the Boston crab from cousin Lance - give way to romantic and other spicy interludes, like Is Tania on Today? (`Hello John, what do you fancy?`). Doubts about race and identity (They Said. and Chocolate Cockney) are offset by a mellower, more upbeat tone in Charged, Ointment and Music Leader, and the heartfelt affection voiced in Cuba and Africa. Ha, Spirit`s weapons of choice are no longer the left hook and the big hand in your face; they`re, like he says, a packet of biros, a working journal and a computer terminal. Sure, his words will make you smile, but this `writing as cathartic remedy` (Dr Pen) has quite a few barbs in the balm: `just remember, my choice of expletives can psychologically dismember`. So read on, and watch yourself.