The Re-view

Labrinth: Express Yourself (Official Music Video)

British artist Labrinth has released the video for ‘Express Yourself’, the fourth cut to be lifted from his debut UK #2 album ‘Electronic Earth’.

There is definitely an early 90s vibe to the clip, with the 23 year old singer/songwriter/producer rotating on a chair and dressed in Fresh Prince of Bel Air style garb, with grafitti scribbled on a wall behind him. 

Similarly the refreshingly chilled out hip hop track has that same upbeat vibe of the 1990 De La Soul classic, ‘The Magic Number’. But ‘Express Yourself’ is far from sounding dated, thanks to the electronic influence of Labrinth’s production.

The only thing that doesn’t ring true is when Labrinth purposefully attempts to set himself aside from his fellow Syco stablemates. 

“I don’t make the papers. I’m far from JLS,” he sings. “Ain’t got the X Factor, I’m not what they expect.”

As the first non-talent show associate to have been signed to Simon Cowell’s record label in six years, we all know that this is a bunch of cobblers but luckily this blip doesn’t detract from the song’s likeability. 

Labrinth has already shown that he is a real emerging talent, and overcome the Syco preconceptions by releasing three back to back Top 5 hits. ‘Express Yourself’, the follow up to ‘Last Time’, has already peaked at #34 on the UK Top 40, and is currently residing in the Top 20 on UK iTunes.

Surely it is just a matter of time before he adds a fourth consecutive Top 10 smash to his tally?