Review: Fresh Breath Committee

“I ain’t a storyteller, more like a master teacher.” That line from the Fresh Breath Committee’s self-titled LP could be true. The classic Hip-Hop CD is so good; it takes you back in time to when Popular music in general was more substantial and expressive. Says Fresh Breath MC/singer/producer Flawless: “The whole album is just a metaphor for reviving what real Hip-Hop should be. Raw essence with conscious lyrics and a soulful vibe.” If you aren’t knocked out immediately, the tracks certainly grow on you. Either way there is a sense of history here, as though the group – which consists of Flawless, MC/singer Purpose, MCs Fo Chief, Kontrast and Catch Lungs, singer Crystal, producer Hi Res and DJ SkipRipkin – grew up listening to Motown and as artists learned to integrate the best of a sort of Motown-inspired sound while mixing in original beats, boom-bap flavoring, and powerful original styling. Their fresh approach makes Hip-Hop as a genre seem more significant, more artistic and more valuable as a contribution to music.

FBC does have a connection with the past -- one MC, Catch Lungs, mentions in a promo video what his young mother listened to when he was growing up (masters such as Dr. Dre) -- and at some junctures influences are plainly felt. One song has an undeniable Fugees-esque quality. But the past isn’t the only element from where they draw their strength. One critical component is the luxuriant voice of singer Crystal, who adds such lush, integral vocals that I see her as being more than just a huge score for the crew. They simply would not have put out the same caliber CD without her presence (she’s got a nearly perfect R&B voice and is the sort who sings in a campus a cappella group in her spare time). Not that the flow isn’t fierce, too, and two other singers, both men, do hold their own, including Flawless, whose voice is amazing on several standout tracks. Lyrically they don’t shy away from taking on more interesting themes than the standard bitches, hoes and 40s -- that gets my vote every time. It’s just that they need to thank their lucky cosmos that Crystal hasn’t yet been snatched up by Big Music.


Twitter.com/FreshBreathCo
MySpace.com/FreshBreathCommittee

Review: J. Blitz, Flashes of Greatness

Guy gets relocated, innocent, pawn-like, from his one true home of New Orleans. Guy is a rapper. We, the listeners, know that our dear Everyman rapper was not just by force of hurricane displaced from his one true home; we know of the debacle that is the human side of Hurricane Katrina. We know the tragedy, the travesty, and -- WOW -- here’s a talented rapper right from the source.

So ... what exactly would you want or even expect him to rap about? J. Blitz, this undeniable, enormous talent, focuses most of his energy on the tired side of Hip-Hop, breaking new ground only in that I’m unfamiliar with another song * about women noticing and dwelling upon the speaker’s shoe size -- excited to talk to him because, you know, they think there is a correlation between having huge feet and being well endowed. (A woman squeals with delight: “Damn, you’ve got some big-ass feet!”)

It isn’t that I expected a young man to tackle FEMA head-on, the Bush administration or the still painful way in which Hurricane Katrina illustrated where we’re really at with race in this country, but tell me in 14 tracks this guy who has an innate ability with rhyme and flow, and who has a nice, strong voice reminiscent of a Will Smith yet is more urban and worldly, couldn’t try just a little bit harder to make like he’s got a mind to change the world? After all on his website it says: “Growing up in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, J. Blitz experienced … crime, violence, drugs, corrupt politics, and social injustice.” That, we’re told, was “contrasted by a strong Pro-Black, socially conscious community, and exposure to culture, soul, and diversity.” And then: “All of which is reflected in his music.” (Sigh: He says very specifically in one song that he is not out to change the world.)

On a CD where he alludes to having read Malcolm X, he merely skates next to a darker, more intellectualized rap that not only would distinguish him, but also that many folks are actually hungry for. Please. Dive right in to those messy, urban, political themes – I don’t care if you say you’re going to overthrow the government. I’d rather hear that than a list of celebrity names and pop culture references. J. Blitz may be afraid to take on the heavy responsibility that comes with real world themes; After all, Michael Jordan, one-time hero to ghetto youth of Blitz’s generation, told the world it was up to Nike, not Michael Jordan, to do the right thing when it came to Nike shoes being made in Indonesian sweatshops. Blitz does give us the distinct impression (“You got a better chance of being saved by FEMA” he warns in “Niggaz from the South Can’t Rap”) that he could have thoughts of challenging the status quo and that this CD could have been a masterpiece had he chosen to go down that road instead of testing a single toe.

The CD isn’t a total loss, and it is precisely those tracks -- such as the standouts “Niggaz from the South,” “Home,” a soulful ode to his real home (that Denver could never measure up to, the song implies), and “Drink Too Much” (“I think that I drink too much but I drink ‘cause I think too much”) -- that hint this is just a stop along the way to something (potentially) great -- great and devastating. Let’s hope J. Blitz gets back to the studio when he realizes not only did he get fucked out of his native New Orleans, but life is short and Denver’s full of a million talented Hip-Hop artists rapping about nothing much at all.

* I’m not saying it isn’t funny and a great song in its own right, just that it would have been better had it been a light element on a mostly serious, fight-the-power-style tour de force.

Sounds like: A Will Smith who is more urban and worldly

JBlitzMusic.com