_review of random nobody by rockbottom video magazine
"This is the first thing I’ve ever heard by English Bob, and I‘m liking what I hear! Coming straight out of Plymouth, English Bob makes music along the lines of Aspects, and other west country hip hoppers, as apposed to the more gloomy sound of many London acts out there right now. Although there is definitely humour in all the songs here, the mention of the hairy hand, an old legendary myth from Devon, on “Emcee Suicide” made me laugh out loud, but there’s serious side to the music as well. On “Poor Dave” he talks about lost love, bullying, office jobs, and so on, this is a good change of topic but I have to say I’m not that into the singing in the chorus, but that’s just me.

All of the 8 tracks on this CD are worth a listen without a doubt, makes a nice change to hear a UK MC not sounding like everyone else and not having to say yagetmeblood every few lines. Stand out tracks here are “My Banana, Your Banana”, a double time, west country jiggy tune, oh yeah! “Emcee Suicide” I just wish it was longer, and “Monkey Flip ‘em”. English Bob proves here that you can make interesting UK hip hop, without having to sound like all the others. Go check him out".

_review of random nobody by ukhh.com
"The word to explain this EP is 'diverse'. Just look at the production credits and you'll notice out of the 8 tracks, only one producer pops up twice. That's not to say that the EP diversity begins and ends with the production work... oh contraire. English Bob flips more styles than David Beckhams wig piece. Whether it's a southern-ish flow on 'My Banana, Your Banana' with its playful rhymes, or the battle raps on 'Wanton Waps', Bob appears to try his hand at any content.

When he needs to go a little deeper, 'Footprints On The Moon' offers it... looking at the state of the modern world. Hell, he evens gets all reflective on 'Contrition'. Still my favourite is 'Monkey Flip 'Em', with four verses about different people who have 'issues'. Bob tells a good story on all the verses and with a nice mellow beat, it hits the spot as a laid back tune every time.

My main criticism of this collection of ditties would be that despite his lyrical variety, Bobs flow stays very static throughout, with the exception of 'My Banana, Your Banana'. It would defiantly benefit from some more unique rhyme patterns, rather than the almost ploddy flow used in the most part. Certainly worth checking though, as it offers a lot of variety to keep heads happy. This EP won't be available from that many places, so you'll have to visit English Bobs website to order a copy (see the link below suckers!)."

* just a note by me; where he's put 'monkey flip em', that should be 'poor dave'.

_review of random e.p. jobby by ukhh.com
"Welcome to the slightly mad world of Plymouth's resident emcee English Bob. Working strictly on the self-funded tip, Bob has put together this five-track CD whilst working on his second LP. Lyrically I like Bob's very English take on rhyming and for the first three tracks he spits battle rhymes laced with some wicked humour and never takes himself too seriously. But it's when he changes gear into his musings about regret in 'Contrition' or the daydreaming, flight of fancy 'Dreamscape' that his imagination and flows really let fly. That's the good news.

The bad news is that it's the patchy production (each track has a different producer except for the first two), not Bob's rhymes, that lets this EP down. I'm not really feeling Kid Kuts' opening two efforts at all; the beats are OK, but the cut up synth/keys riffs aren't strong enough to carry a whole track and they both lack any depth or 'ommph'. 'Rant #3' is a better effort, with Heritage Productions dropping some jazz keys, but there's still not much going on even for a short two and a half minute track. The last two cuts fare best, with Jest One complementing Bob's regretful tone on 'Contrition' and the live band feel of Spike & Pump's mix of 'Dreamscape' - a track lifted from Bob's debut CD 'Random Stuff'.

On the whole, the Random EP Jobby (great title) is an entertaining release and English Bob has carved out his own individual style drenched in his regional twang, which is no bad thing. If he can exercise a touch more quality control on the beats he uses, the LP should definitely be worth a peep. Check him at his website. You numpties."

_review of random e.p. jobby by brit-ish.cjb.net
"Here we have MC English Bob from Plymouth who has been around on mp3.com for a while and has been steadily building towards this, an interim release between LPs. His first went pretty unnoticed, so the aim of this EP is to create a buzz for the second one he is working on now. Well, seems the practice has been put to good use and this South West MC has done the biz and come up with a very nice offering. The first couple of tracks are produced by Kid Kutz who has a Premier type style with simple one note piano hits in a repetitive loop, but he makes it work for him. And in order to grab your attention the most lyrically intense track Vituperate opens the set. Its self opening with the bare bones drums and English Bob's lyrics before the piano drops. It is a good track to open with, which I can only fault for a couple of things, namely the lack of changes in the beat and very occasionally Bob tries fit in more syllables into one line than he really can. Bob says he has an 'Animated delivery like Postman Pat', that ain't the best line he has, but shows how he fits in UK references and as he maintains his accent he shows a great deal of potential.

Next up is For Instance.. which is harder than the first track as Bob goes on the attack spraying verbal bullets in all directions, but at no one in particular. The chorus for this tack is made up of vocal samples from other tracks, but the beats aren't quite in synch towards the end, but this just make the opening of the subsequent verse drop all the sweeter. Both Kid Kutz' beats need more bounce and sound a bit stayed, but the ideas are there. Guess I'm getting old but references to the Raggy Dolls don't sound too dangerous as a diss, but in the flow of the track I can accept it.

Rant #3 sees new production team Heritage take over on the beats and take the mood in a different direction, with their use of a more down tempo swinging beat and guitar. The lyrics are about how many listeners probably aren't really going to hear what he is saying and how he hopes his messages can get through and hopefully in the future he can gain recognition for his work and have his records sell for £90 on E-Bay and have fit girls chasing him.

Mellowing things even further Contrition sees Bob expose some of his inner personal feelings, mainly remorse for the way he acted with his Grandfather and regrets for the way thing turned out with an ex girlfriend and the heart ache it caused. His message is for everyone to forget the past and concentrate on the present. Writing this must have been Bob's form of catharsis. I just wish more MCs were brave enough to take chances like this by investing more of themselves into their music and risk laying themselves open. It makes more powerful music. The producer for this, potentially the nicest track, is Jest One, who's name rings a bell, but I can't place it for now. The lazy beat receives by support from a grand piano and some moving strings.

The final track Dreamscape (Recurring mix) is again produced by another set of producers, this time Spike & Pump, who lay down another nice track with their use of a synthesiser pad with moans, wind sounds and all sorts of evolving instrumentation in a well sequenced track. Through the track English Bob raps about an amazing imaginary world and throughout the EP proves he has the ability to take center stage over several tracks. At one point he states that he has never played at the Plymouth Pavillion and I wondered if he ever played live and whether he sounds as nice in real life. Production wise the latter three tracks have a fuller sound, but with a bit of tweaking the others could be as fat too. English Bob has a team of producers behind him, all he needs now is to hook up with a DJ and hopefully he can pump out hit after hit.

I don't know Bob's plans for this and what the label Funk Monkey is all about and whether this will be hitting the shops anywhere near you. Bob's done a nice job on the cover too with a pic of what is presumably himself aged about 5 or 6. If it does, you want to support this MC cos he's one of the people who quietly gets on with his own thing and gets the job done, rather than endlessly mouthing off about what he is going to do and never having anything to show for it. English Bob - 'Hoping to stay in the light like a big fucking moth'!

_review of random e.p. jobby by rawroots.co.uk
"This release for Plymouth's English Bob, stands out in the uk hip hop scene as something a lil different, bob comes with not only a voice unlike any other but he adds a touch of real humour. The high light of the album is by far contrition, where he firstly drops 1 of the deepest verses i've heard in a long time, then goes on 2 address the fairer sex. A common problem in the underground these days is mcs who cant really ride the beat, English Bob doesn't suffer from this, he not only uses developed rhymes but can switch flows without any difficult and fit the beat superbly. As for beats, production isn't much special, first 2 joint are by kid kutz, "for instance" stands out as the stronger of the 2, and although "vituperate" has potential it just doesn't sound complete. The tightest beat is on "Rant #3" by heritage productions. Which in my eyes has potential 2 be a big underground hit.

It's definitely worth getting, damn refreshing."

_review of random stuff by scene magazine
"This would be an amazingly accomplished hip-hop opus if it weren't for the fact that the beats'n'tunes are not the work of the man himself. But the Plymouth-reared English Bob's rapid, fluid raps are a breath of fresh air that draws heavily from hip-hop's salad days, Jurassic 5 style, through to Eminem-style skits (with a few unnecassary anti-gay Americanisms). The choruses work well, the tunes are crisp and simple and the vibe elevates rather than incites."