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Album Review: Tajai - Power Movement (Hieroglyphics / Red Urban)
Writer: Sanjiv Ahluwalia
I received this CD with high expectations. This is an album from one quarter of the
Souls of Mischief, a hip hop group which rode the crest of the wave of
the innovative, early Nineties West Coast hip hop movement (The
Pharcyde, Freestyle Fellowship, Del tha Funkee Homosapien etc.) and who
carried the pioneering baton from the East Coast's Native Tongues (De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest,
Jungle Brothers).
In addition to this Tajai furthered his reputation by being part
of the leftfield hip hop group, Hieroglyphics. This
album, however, falls woefully short of those previous high standards.
Repetitive beats, a monotone delivery (it may work for Guru but
it doesn't here), mundane lyrics, and a distinct lack of variety make for a
lackluster collection.
It's not a bad album as such, just a distinctly average one. Despite
repeated listens (more than this reviewer has ever given to reviewing
any other album - I so wanted to like this album) it just doesn't work
for me. Brief pleasure is gained with The Dum Dum which has a
nice turn in oriental strings, and the title track, which comes across
like a smoother version of Wu Tang with a pacey free flow of vocals,
dramatic samples and crunching, simplistic beats. Now why couldn't the
rest of the album be like this?
RELATED LINKS:
More info - on Tajai's PR company's site
Hieroglyphics - Tajai's label
Buy Tajai's Power Movement at Amazon UK
(CD /
Vinyl) |
US (CD /
Vinyl)
PUBLISHED: 3 July 2004
RELEASE DATE: 27 April 2004 (US), 10 May 2004 (UK)
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::: RELATED LINKS
More info - on Tajai's PR company's site
Hieroglyphics - Tajai's label
Buy Tajai's Power Movement at Amazon
UK
(CD /
Vinyl)
US (CD /
Vinyl)
More Reviews
|
