Music Reviews
Artist:
HezekiahTitle:
I Predict A RiotLabel:
Rawkus - Soulspazm
While Kanye and Fiddy battle over the future of commercial Hip Hop Philadelphia rapper-producer Hezekiah releases a welcome, if fitful, alternative to the self proclaimed superstars with his second album 'I Predict A Riot'. Following the critically acclaimed 2005 debut 'Hurry up and Wait', and claiming influences as diverse country music, Quincy Jones, Otis Redding and Bo Diddley, plus an obvious love of 70s funk and soul, Hezekiah is an artist who revels in being different. With lines like 'if you don't got a prison record you can't sell a record', it's clear he isn't one who follows the hip hop crowd.
‘I Predict A Riot’ is released through the now resurrected Rawkus label, once home to Mos Def, a man with whom Hezekiah has toured and shares a political consciousness. That conscious is most evident on tracks like the James Brown tribute 'Ghetto People', 'Bombs Over Here' and 'If One Falls' - the latter coming with rhymes like 'from the streets to the Middle East we all fighting the President'.
While laudable in it's intentions and often successful in execution 'I Predict a Riot' relies too heavily on the influence of 70s soul; after eighteen tracks the laid back tempo cries out for variety. The diversity of styles expected from an artist with such a variety of influences are too often fitful, confined to the jazz flute solo of 'The Definition of a Bitch', the gospel sounds of 'Freak', the blues ending of 'Gotta Love It', and the 'Afro' interlude. Such glimpses of experimentation are frustrating as they point to the album this could have been; this is a promising and likeable album but one that fails to match the sum of its considerable parts. The inclusion of Philly stalwarts Bilal, Jaguar Wright, and Freeway liven up the otherwise dull tracks, 'Looking Up', 'Let's Get Involved', and 'I See Yaw', fail to make a real difference to the album as whole.
Words By : Jack Kent and Joe Kent
