yeah, they worked the hell out of the mid tempo ish, but on the whole, i thought it was a tight album.

the oft-repeated 'it all sounds the same' complaint doesn't get it with me. voodoo *does* however, sound (mostly) non-radio-ish, but that's because radio is so bullshit nowadays, and plays such a narrow cross section of music. i still have to throw in "Spanish Joint", "The Root", or "Greatdayinamornin" every now and then, cause i just get a vibe from 'em that i don't get elsewhere. "Africa" is cool in that way, too. from there, the rest of the joints constitute a 'regular' album, a good, listenable album, but stuff i likely wouldn't be talking about a year after the fact.

yeah, the sex symbol thing kind of took off and began to take over the focus (general public perception, i have no way of knowing or caring what D' thinks about the phenomenon). still, that's part of the game, and, on balance, its better that he got some shine and can continue with space and support from his label to develop his craft, then for him to come out, sans gimmic k (ie, publicly accessible 'angle'), and get lost in the shuffle as a lot of talented artists do every day.

plus the ripple effect of letting quest an nem do their thing has got to have mega-positive effects on the state of black music. without artists like D', Com, and Jill blowing up the spot, heads like me will be waiting in vain to hear Roy Hargrove soloing on a Ginuwhine track, or, probing the emotional depth of a Destiny's Child CD. come on now.



peace & blessings,

x.


January is Kool Keith quote month, for lack of anything else:

"I never hearda you stupid, what's your name man??"

"Rappers don't know, I'm out the hospital/
cold buggin' and illin' like Dr. Doolittle"

"I'll chew your ass like monkeys on Wild Kingdom"

"you call yourself GOD, can you make it rain?/
can you tell me now what I'm thinkin' in my brain?"

"under your arms, you're kickin power and musty"

"word to mom, I'm in my own world.../
galaxy raaaaaays... powerful"

peace & blessings,

x.

www.twitter.com/poetx

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I'm an advocate for working smarter, not harder. If you just
focus on working hard you end up making someone else rich and
not having much to show for it. (c) mad