S.I.O.S.O.S.

Critical reception

S.I.O.S.O.S. garnered a mixed reception from music critics. Steve 'Flash' Juon of RapReviews found some songs of lesser quality and the rappers' voices to be nondescript, but gave praise to tracks like "Sweet Revenge", "Karma Hotel" and "Jungle House" for their haunting experimental beats and use of Ming Xia's vocals, concluding that "Whether you buy into their claim that they represent a totally new direction in hip-hop or not, it's not hard to enjoy the positive aspects of this album - it's hip-hop, well done." A writer from Entertainment.ie also praised the group's mixture of hip hop and soul music with Ming Xia's chorus delivery, but was critical of their comedy skits and views on the music industry, concluding that "If the Spooks cut out the foolery and focus on their musical talent, which on this evidence is considerable, they could go far." Jim Alexander of NME commended the Fugees and RZA influences found throughout the various tracks, and singled out the group's singer Ming Xia for "adding a touch of steely R&B modernism, a welcome female counterpoint, and enough hook-laden soul to catapult them into the big time." Vibe writer Jon Caramanica said that despite Ming Xia's appearance throughout the record, he criticized the rappers traversing from different topics and styles as being "disorienting", concluding that "S.I.O.S.O.S. compromises compelling parts that never yield a revolutionary whole."AllMusic editor Steve Kurutz said of the album, "S.I.O.S.O.S. (Spooks Is on Some Other Shit) is an eclectic mix of jazz, reggae, hip-hop, and neo-soul, and it's also not that good. Spooks consist of four gruff, male MCs and female singer Ming Xia, but five is truly a crowd and often the arrangements are so cluttered that the vocalists trip over themselves and interrupt each other like overeager grade-schoolers."

Personnel

Charmel Rogers - Guitar, Dougie Griffiths - Bass, Vladimir Narcisse - Keyboards,