If you’ve looked at my Last.fm profile recently, you will have noticed my excess rocking of Akir.

I can’t help it: since I got his album ‘Legacy,’ I’ve gone mad on it. It’s simply a supreme hip hop album. The stand-out trck for me is ‘Politricks.’

If Akir did nothing else the rest of his life, he could rest easy having produced this one track.

It’s a perfect hip hop track: it’s got an addictive, head nodding beat, lovely spooky samples / voiceovers and, of course, Akir’s stunning lyrics. They’re intense, political, sad, angry and completely now. And his timing! It’s hypnotising, it’s pure be-bop jazz mastery. This one song has more ideas crammed in it than most bands careers.

Every night, I flick through the music TV channels and get depressed. On the rock / indie channels there’s an endless parade of retro bastards trying to revive ’81 or ’77 or ’68 or whenever. On the hip hop / “urban” channels there’s a barrage of empty posturing and toothless, pointless warbling.

Then the sun comes up, I get in my car and put on ‘Politricks.’ Once the kick hits and Akir starts rapping, I can relax and be happy that there are still true, great artists out there.