“Return of the Body Politik” (Consolidated, Downset, Public Enemy, 1994)

Consolidated’s Business of Punishment (London Records)
Downset’s downset. (Mercury Records)
Public Enemy’s Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age (Def Jam)

Has it really been a mere twenty years or so since socio-political commentary was an integral part of rock music? Growing out of the protest songs of the early sixties, mainstream rockers picked up the lyrical mantle handed them by their folk-song singing brethren, utilizing their talents to lyrically attack every subject from racism and poverty to women’s rights. Somewhere along the way, though, as rock became a business, poetic commentary faded from the charts, sliding subterranean, only to surface every now and then in the angry words of hardcore punks or raging metalheads.

Rap music can be thanked for bringing a new awareness of social consciousness to popular music. The commercial success of artists like Public Enemy, Ice Cube and Ice T has served to open the doors to some dangerous thought processes being captured on disc. In this new Victorian era where garden-variety liberalism is impotent and the mainstream media is nothing more than a corporate whore for conservative philosophy, the radical left is finding its heroes among the artists of the underground.

Consolidated are one of those truly alternative, radical musical outfits. A Bay-area trio with a rapidly-growing cult following that is threatening to boil over into the mainstream, the band’s latest release, Business of Punishment, may well be the catalyst that pushes Consolidated past the 212-degree mark. These guys could never be accused of ambiguity; indeed, they proudly wear their sincerely-held beliefs on their proverbial sleeves. The band is radical to an extreme, pushing an activist party-line that is pro-feminist, pro-vegetarian, pro-choice, pro-animal rights...you know, the kind of godless commies that would give Rush Limbaugh nightmares. They’re a sorely needed artistic antidote, however, to the sort of right-wing mindset that preaches life while practicing death.

Business of Punishment treads much of the same lyrical ground as previous Consolidated albums, albeit with a bit more wisdom and experience under their belts. Over an instrumental background that incorporates elements of rap, punk, hardcore techno, and even a bit of soul along with random samples, found vocals and audience commentary, Consolidated deliver brutal rhymes that place a progressive spin on the issues of the day. “Born of A Woman” presents an insightful look at women’s roles in society while “Butyric Acid” tackles folks like Operation Rescue with its unrelenting chorus of “if you don’t want an abortion don’t get one.” 

“Dog + Pony Show” skewers the recording industry even while damning the “alternative” elitism that exists in music while the brilliant “Today Is My Birthday” takes a sad look at AIDS. There are fifteen thought-provoking cuts in all on Business of Punishment, every one guaranteed to slam dunk your frontal lobes, disturb your status quo and shake up the very core of your beliefs. Musical activism is alive and well and its name is Consolidated.

Downset are the new kids on this block, but they’re fully-grown and fully-loaded. This West Coast posse kicked out an impressive EP on Metal Blade a year or so back, even having the cajones to cover Public Enemy’s “By the Time I Get To Arizona.” They’re back, larger than ever, with their self-titled debut and believe me, it’s one mean mutha....

Like a nightmarish vision of Winston Smith, the cover of downset. features a painting of John Q. Citizen all trussed up, gagged with the flag while the constitution burns in the background. No greater truth in labeling has ever been plastered on an album jacket. Downset hail from the police state that is L.A. and that’s the turf they explore lyrically on this powerful collection of songs. 

Musically, they’re somewhere slightly to the left of Body Count, with Rey Anthony Oropeza’s rhymes backed by the twin monster guitars of Rogelio Lozano and Ares, thrashing with abandon, slinging molten riffs while the message is one of freedom and brotherhood in the face of oppression. From women’s fear of rape to the powder keg that is most of L.A., from racism to economic injustice that fosters poverty, Downset explore the socio-political edge of lyrical themes with the language of the street but with a wisdom and insight that defies their relatively young ages.

That Public Enemy should resurface with a new album that is at once both fresh and familiar should surprise no one. That Chuck D. still has an important message to relate, something important to say, should also come as no surprise. These greybeards of rap still have a lot of life left in them, and they’ve got a trick or two to show the young ‘uns.

Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age is Public Enemy’s most adventurous effort to date, a conceptual album set in one of many possible futures. Racism has become institutionalized and a bigot sits in the White House. The environment is in shambles, the Black community is a soulless plantation and violence, natural disasters and hate threaten man’s very existence.

Review originally published by R.A.D! zine, November 1994

Archive Review: Various Artists - Def Jam Music Group Ten Year Anniversary box set (1995)

Living in suburban Nashville during the early ‘80s, my first exposure to rap music was what I read in Spin magazine, who were early champions of rappers like Schooley D and Kurtis Blow. At the time, I was more interested in the growing indie rock scene across the country, the hardcore punk sounding loud in Southern California and in the Music City’s first bands to be inspired by the changes occurring in rock. Rap music was, at the time, a largely urban phenomena, but at the urging of Spin, I sought out and grabbed 12” releases from folks like Run DMC and Grandmaster Flash.

By the time my short stint in the military had ended, mid-decade, rap was beginning to make waves in even the timid capital of country music and I was a big fan. “Big City” friends made during basic training turned me onto a whole slew of artists. About this same time, 1985 or so, Rick Rubin, along with local N.Y.C. music promoter Russell Simmons, formed Def Jam Records in order to promote their favorite rappers. A handful of successful single releases led to a distribution deal with Columbia Records. What has happened in the ten years since is a major part of rap and rock history.

Def Jam’s first national release was from James Todd Smith, a personable seventeen year old rapper with the street name LL Cool J. Hailing from Run DMC’s hometown of Hollis, Queens, Smith was part of Simmons’ Rush Productions stable of artists. LL Cool J’s “I Can’t Live Without My Radio” was an enormous success, the first major rap song to break through to a mainstream audience and the foundation upon which Def Jam’s success would be built, the label becoming a major music industry player and one of a handful of indie labels to bring rap to the mainstream masses.

The Def Jam Music Group Ten Year Anniversary collection chronicles the label’s history, culling material from throughout their decade of hits. The artists represented on the disc have helped shape rap into the commercial and critical force that it is today, stretching the genre’s musical boundaries, influencing subsequent generations of rappers and retaining rap’s popularity in the face of the ever-changing nature of popular music. The collection draws heavily from the works of its most popular and successful artists, LL Cool J, Public Enemy, and the Beastie Boys, stretching 28 cuts from the trio across the 59-song, four CD collection. Other performers featured include Slick Rick, 3rd Bass, Onyx, EPMD, and Method Man, among others.

Some powerful moments from the history of rap are gathered together on the Def Jam Music Group Ten Year Anniversary set. LL Cool J’s hits “I Can’t Live Without My Radio,” “Mama Said Knock You Out,” and “Rock the Bells” are joined with influential, ground-breaking cuts like Public Enemy’s “Welcome To the Terrordome,” “Bring Tha Noize” (with Anthrax), and “Fight the Power.” The Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right To Party,” along with its accompanying video, made the trio MTV favorites and successfully crossed hip-hop lyrics and style with punk attitude and a heavy metal soundtrack. More than just a mere rap label, Def Jam has also spawned hits from more soulful, R & B oriented artists like Montell Jordan, Warren G. and Oran “Juice” Jones, all of whom are also represented here.

With almost five dozen songs and over four hours of classic music (including a handful of bonus tracks recorded in 1995 exclusively for this collection), Def Jam Music Group Ten Year Anniversary is a marvelous document of the label’s history, and quite deserving of space on the shelf of any music lover or fan of rap. (While you’re out buying this set, you may want to drop by a bookstore and seek out a copy of Havelock Nelson and Michael A. Gonzales’ Bring The Noise, an integral guide to rap and hip-hop music that covers many of the Def Jam artists in depth). (Def Jam Records, released November 21st, 1995)

Review originally published by R.A.D! Review and Discussion of Rock ‘n’ Roll zine