| I still remember when I first put the
needle on the wax and after the first songs I was blown
away. I could smell the fresh air. I could feel the power
from this windy city. Chicago. I could feel that love
this people want to share. A love for life and hip hop.
I was experiencing one of the best fusions of hip hop
and jazz that I've heard in a while. But not one of the
many wack or more-expected-but-failed fusions: All Natural
know how to blend the jazz into the structures of the
without a doubt raw ass hip hop beats. Imagine: you take
the essence, the soul of hip hop and jazz and combine
it - voila here you have it. Oh my god, these piano lines
throughout their efforts, the lyrics, the music are something
I don't want to miss. |
| The basics |
| All natural should be looked at as
a classic MC/DJ duo: capital D (David Kelly) and Tone.B
Nimbles (Tony Fields) do have their place among the likes
of Guru & Primo, Fresh Prince & Jazzy Jeff, Pete
Rock & C.L. Smooth. And this position is a lasting
one. Fifty years down the line they still will be the
bomb. cap's delivery is as unique as original, as rough
as smooth - straight up and down one of the best. Back
in the very old days Homer used to recite his poems backed
by music, which was very repetitive, so that people could
concentrate on the text in a meditative way. Or think
of The Last Poets or go even further back. Hip hop at
its best reminds me of these traditions, which all are
rooted in various occasions that have their origin in
parts of Africa - where celebrations and obsequies, healings
and religious traditions were and are assisted by drums
and led by the master of ceremonies. Thus "No Additives,
No Preservatives" is pure poetry in motion. And today,
four years later it sounds as fresh as then. It's a timeless
masterpiece. |
| Expanding in all directions |
| capital D is all but
a one-dimensional artist. His book "Fresh Air"
(which I still don't own, it neither was in the blacklabel,
nor in the reissue I bought, suprisingly) was included
in "No a Addidives..." and opened another chapter
of his work which will probably become his future main
focus. It's a fresh collection of comics, short stories,
essays, lyrics and poems. His second book, as far as I
know, a poetry collecton, is still to come. He is also
responsible for a lot of excellent beats to be found on
All Nat's albums, as well as handling production for the
likes of his Family Tree fellows. |
| After releasing the debut,
All Natural's family got bigger. Since the founding of
their base 'all natural inc', they had the structures
to release stuff of other members, to take on bigger audiences.
The family tree consists of The mighty allstar, Tone.B.nimble,
Mr.Greenweedz, Spotlite, Iomos Marad, Tone the Strategist,
capital D, G(riot) & Rita J. |
| During the years they
hit us with a bunch of 12''. One of the highlights besides
the 12"es was a collective-compilation called "The
Family Tree; A Close Knit Family" on which various
members had the opportunity to shine, while the production
came from J.Rawls, Molemen, cap D, Dug Infinite. So definitely
don't miss that out. |
| Mr.Greenweedz, Daily
Plannet and Iomos Marad continuosly released 12''. The
latter hits us with his new 12''("L.I.F.E.")
these days. His first one, "Deep Rooted", rocked
my turntables for a long time: it consisted of a jazz
influenced beat with a great piano break. On "L.I.F.E."
(meaning: living in a foul environment) he delivers lyrics
over a quite decent beat provided by Dug Infinite that
is based on a beautiful guitar loop. |
| If you hear one of the
family tree MCs you should have no problem to remember
where they belong to if you've heard their music before.
Although every MC has his own characteristics and his
own sophistication, that runs through their music like
a red thread. But in total, they developed a style that's
hard to describe in words, a 'lo-fi' hi-fi music engraved
in the culture of hip hop and jazz. Some people I know
needed a little time to appreciate it completely, but
once you do, you become an addict. Of natural ('s) pureness. |
| 2nd nature |
| The second full length
of All Natural came to us in 2001. And this offering hit
me as unexpected as their first, I knew nothing about
a new release at that time, but one day I just saw it.
Again at that record store. "2nd Nature" marks
a constant elevation. Lyrically it got even sharper, the
music shows great variation, although it appears to me
that this record is a little more looser than their debut,
which is more structured. |
| The sheer brilliance
of capital d is to be heard best in personal tunes like
"Godspeed". The beat provides the basis to look
into caps life: a view inside his religious beliefs, which
rumour has it will keep him from doing music for the public
in future. On this song the poetic lyrics match perfectly
with the jazz-flavoured music: |
"but if today were
my last day
have I helped out the world that I'm leaving?
and if this were my last breathe
could I postpone the breathing
but if I fail to inhale,
that would just speed up the outcome
so I gotta try to take each breath,
as if it were the last one". |
| And what to say about
"Elements Of Style" on this LP? It's definitely
one of the highlights of 2001. The combination of capital
D, Iomos Marad and Allstar sounds wonderful and inspirational.
|
| "Now, everybody
fast forward to the future" (50 years) |
| Only the brightest. If
we will not hear anything musically from capital D under
the name of All Natural, perhaps in the future we will
dig for his literally efforts. And there are loads of
other talented artists rooted in the family tree. Dug
Infinite, G(riot) ( -what about his solo record?), Mr.
Greenweedz, Iomos Marad, Daily Plannet - they all promise
to keep it deep rooted. |
| And a new soundtrack-collaboration
between capital D and the Molemen caught my attention
lately: it's entitled "Writer's Block" and the
team of the two seems to make them even stronger. The
chemistry between 'em is awe-inspiring, they conserve
moods the of their neighbourhoods and take them back to
life in the listener's ear - and you can't help but to
reminisce about your own life too. The production provides
the medium for the excellent storytelling - and the result
is nothing but wonderful. A deep rooted record. |
| An apostle in the end:
In case we take it for granted that All Natural will not
release any new stuff, we still have the music they gave
to us, straight up and down. And that's more than a whole
lot of other artists can give us in centuries. Their albums
reach out for the stars. And they do not fail. If you
slept 'til now, wake up. |
| Current
releases : |
Capital D & Molemen
"Writer's Block" soundtrack (all natural inc.)
All Natural - "Queens Get The Money" 12"
(all natural inc.)
Mr.Greenweedz - "Driven" 12'' (all natural inc.)
Iomos Marad - "L.I.F.E." 12'' (all natural inc.)
Daily Plannet - "We Like To Party" 12'' (all
natural inc.)
& re-releases of various All Natural 12'' (all natural
inc.) |
