Proving that Switzerland has more to offer than just good quality chocolate and even better quality porn, American-born, Netherlands-based duo Nefew have crafted a debut album that stays stubbornly faithful to the sample-heavy true-school hip-hop that hypnotised both members during their early-’90s youth.

Full of dusty drums, warm horns and jazzy basslines, ‘Off The Cuff’ is MC / producer Polemikk and partner DJ PA-Double’s musical middle finger to what they see as the destructive commercialisation of hip-hop and its culture. So with that in mind, the album contains much talk about wack lyricists, greedy record companies, and how Nefew could change the game if given the same opportunities as their major label counterparts. All of which is typical subject matter for underground rap cats, but thankfully Nefew display enough personality to elevate their familiar topics beyond redundancy. ‘What U Talk About’ challenges critics who dismiss the pair’s brand of backpack rap as being stuck in a time-warp, while ‘Admit It’ finds Masta Ace and Wordsworth joining Polemikk to lament lost loves over exquisitely smooth production. The playful ‘Got To Go Away’ stresses the importance of taking a break from the daily grind, and the Rick James-sampling ‘Hollywood’, although based in fantasy, encapsulates the duo’s hopes that one day they’ll move beyond their subterranean status. The closing ‘Where There Is No Peace’ delivers positive social messages with a sublime soul loop as accompaniment.