Rappin' Black in a White World

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共18首歌曲

艺人: Watts Prophets
语种: 英语
厂牌: FFRR
发行时间: 1997年04月22日
专辑类别: 录音室专辑

专辑介绍

by Don Snowden

OK, so discs are distinct s, especially a reissue like the second Watts Prophets record, linked to a specific place and time, but how about some consumer value, too? Why not pair this disc with the Afro-poetics quartet's debut from back in the day and have a historically valuable CD with a decent running length? Rappin' Black in a White World clocks in at under a half-hour, and it's disconcerting to look up after hearing what you think are two or three pieces and find you're already on track nine. It's totally a cappella, working off word sound rhythms at first, with Dee Dee MaNail adding a female voice plus a piano and arco bass gradually fleshing out the later pieces. The bass enters on "Pain," and maybe not coincidentally, that's the first piece per se that's not just a quick hit of political self-affirmation. That's a big problem with the material here: the words are mostly about venting frustration, sloganeering, and raising consciousness, all of which may have been necessary and satisfying in the moment, but there's not much metaphor or insight that make you go hmm decades later. McNail's "What Is a Man" is a suite with the next tracks finding the three male Prophets offering different takes on the question. Richard Dedaux's "Tenements" is the best, throwing light on the internal head-trip frustrations of everyday life. "What It Is, Sisters" is kind of a surrealistic, first-generation Afro-centric "She Watches Channel Zero" that heaps ridicule on a Tom Jones-loving black woman (huh?). "There's a Difference Between a Black Man and a Nigger" flips gender on that protobuppie front, offering a black female perspective on men and militancy that includes some sharp observations on those who prefer their women "Shine Eye Gal"-style. McNail's tracks are the most substantial -- "The Prostitute" also takes you down inside to feelings and doubts. The pieces on Rappin' Black in a White World give very little sense of the times beyond the venting -- it's a one-dimensional portrait of the era (again, not that it wasn't a necessary catharsis then) when you would expect poets like the Watts Prophets to provide deeper, more human/humane insights. And it's just too damn short.

Rappin' Black in a White World

专辑介绍

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