Friday music blogging: Lyrics Born
Socially conscious bugout hip-hop funk
Posted by David Roberts at 9:32 PM on 09 May 2008
Lyrics Born is part of the Bay area Quannum crew, and like his confreres he has a dazzling vocabulary and amazing verbal skills. Unlike them, he has strayed farther and farther from straight hip-hop, touring with a live funk band and experimenting with a wide variety of far-out sounds. These days, his tracks sound more like Gnarls Barkley or Andre 3000 than something you might hear on rap radio.
His new album, Everywhere at Once, will be released on Monday, and it's great. This -- "Do U Buy It?" -- isn't the best song on the album, but it caught my ear because it's a protest song, or at least a song about current sociopolitical issues. Indeed, the first verse is about global warming, and I think it's fair to say that Lyrics Born is something of an alarmist, if perhaps not quite versed in the science.
It's an interesting effort though. I'm noticing more and more of these popping up. There's a real upswell of interest in politics and social matters among popular artists. I wouldn't call it the '60s or anything, but pop culture in general does seem to be lifting its head and noticing the larger world.
Have you heard a politically engaged song lately in pop culture? Share in comments.
|
|
- Search Gristmill using Grist's improved search.
Stay updated with the Gristmill RSS feed.
-
-
-
-
- lacey on Republicans to try some Newt tactics
- sunflower on First as tragedy, then as farce?
- savee419 on Unpopular Science
- Wolverine on I'll Have the Marsupial of the Day
- KenG on Notable quotable
- Tom Philpott on An agricultural Waterloo
- Ron Steenblik on An agricultural Waterloo
- Jason D Scorse on An agricultural Waterloo
- Jason D Scorse on Globalization death watch, part II
- vakibs on An agricultural Waterloo
- Jason D Scorse on An economist's eye view
- vakibs on Globalization death watch, part II
- archigeek on Republicans to try some Newt tactics
- Jon Rynn on An agricultural Waterloo
- archigeek on EPA: Corn ethanol is awesome!
- Allen T on EPA: Corn ethanol is awesome!
- archigeek on Johnson stands up for himself
- vakibs on An agricultural Waterloo
- Ron Steenblik on An economist's eye view
- jabailo on The shameful, polluted Olympics
