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| The name of this group always strikes me as a little strange. But considering the struggles and strives of places like Tibet, the mentality of a rebel also runs in the spirit of these mountains. Now, in order to find the group of Chee Malabar and Rainman, you will not need any sherpas.
But you need to go to two cities to find their roots, as also shown on the cover of this record "Wince At The Sun". Which is also a ironic title this time of the year, where the sun is often hiding, and we would prefer to wince at the sun than to have to frown at the weather in general. |
| The word 'rebel' made it into one of these opening sentences. And the theme of 'rebelism' appears throughout the songs. Be it as it's discussed, or be it the ideology behind a more generally critical song like "Reaction"
where the chorus then exposes the two as 'activists'. But on "Rebel Music" (the single of 2002) the song does what the title promises. It opens with a spoken statement by Garvey Meade, before Chee and Rainman demand hip hop to be one 'rebel
music'. That leads 'em into talking on the struggle, finding that "someone once said America is a melting pot / the people at the bottom get burned / while the scum always seem to float to the top". |
| "Postcards From Paradise" takes a look outside, speaking on what you can see out there. This 'wish you were here' moment is accompanied by a cute (listen to it, this word is fitting) beat, that despite all it's cheesy
instrumentation is still getting to us. Moving beyond the surface observations, "Capital 'C'" then attacks the higher spheres of arrogance, when 911 is called a case of the 'chicken coming back to roost'. And you should know the occasion that has been said before, to a ruckus. |
| Not everything is on the conscious tip though. Like when other emcees are yelled at as 'e popping ravers' on "Live Drum", that's used to flex some lyrical muscle, before it again turns to a poetic exploration of serious issues. Or "Cool With Us" that
starts out with story telling elements, some dropping game, to then turn into a little support statement on how some not so nice actions can be 'cool with' the Himalayans. Sticking to the story telling format longer is the good song "The Wrath Of Lomas", that portrays people as much
as situation and is one of the songs you want to listen to. |
| On the beat tip, the Soulful MPs, ie. Kooz and Zeeby Zeeb, use extensive live instrumentation, that at times was filtered through the MPC afterwards. But not the drum on "Reaction" that is just sounding too live (apart
than that, the song's really nice though). Their strong musicality gets its own moment to shine on the exquisite "Intro". Then again gets the opportunity to impress on "Rebel's Last Dance", which is an uptempo (well, in
the hip hop world it is) instrumental offering, and actually one of the nicest beats on here. It's not just musical, it's still kept gritty, spiced up with the little sample here and there, and is pushed by a strong drive that leads the cut through the twists and turns. Excellent. What can't be said
about "The Passion" or "The Last Dragon" (which also sounds too much like something Chops would do), that's just not happening with the fake but clean instrumentation. And it's rather weak compared to "The Wrath Of
Lomas", which is again really good. And finally, the hook of "Wince At The Sun" is really nice, with the melody enhancing the whole, making this another dope song. |
| However, there are moments of 'eeh' on here, more on the beat than lyrics tip. Even though the two cats are not the best emcees on this planet. But this suffers from some of the original composed beats, just lacking that grit. Grit that would have fit the struggle rhetoric. With those
moments of 'eeh', there's however some moments of glistening rays of sunlight, that are essential to human survival. So don't 'wince' at the sun, open your arms and ears and let the sunshine in. Man, that just sounded too damn Hippy. But anyway… |
| review: tadah |
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