Review 1 of 1

Reviewer writes:

5of 5 Stars

I know nothing about hip hop, am a 60 y/o Latino, but this girl is one of the rare artists of this genre that I LOVE & hers are the only two albums that i've ever bought. One of the few other hiphop tunes I liked was Mobb Deep's "Quiet Storm." But I have played music for 56 years and can appreciate Da Brat's (Shawntae Harris) right-on-time phrasing and rhymes as well as I can enjoy the 2d and 3d movements in Schumann's Piano Concerto. Also once could I play Franz Lizt's Piano Concerto in Eb major but i still funks and cut the guitar up! (kinda) Actually i'm older and do some Benson stuff (though TRY TO DO is more accurate).

I first saw Da Brat on Live at the Apollo years ago, doing the Funkdafied "hit." I don't even think she's that fine, and i think then she was only a teenager then anyway, but as she swayed, more or less hiding her shape in an oversized trenchcoat, and her face with the dark glasses she wore that nite. Didn't even move that good either. But the girl turnt it OUT. So I'm saying the girl isn't all, but, boy, as I listen to this album, and those rhymes and rat-a-tat-tat come busting out those rhymes, "elevatin'," "harder than MatheMATics," and finally, Funkdafied, that I was mesmerizes with her totally FON-key version of Between The Sheets music that's the backbone of Funkdafied.

F'all Y'all is great. The Rolling Stone website likens it to some Isleys song. Fire it Up is cool too. Dont like Da Shit Ya Cant F-- With too much.

If i was of the mindset, I'd smack some monster woofers in the trunk of my Camry, yes I said Camry, and tho I live in san fran, i'd roll thru LA (maybe even zippin on gin & juice if i had a designated driver, scoping the mommies & hotties if i weren't so old and so married), with my woofers kickin' "Mindblowin,'" and "May the Funk Be Witcha." Of course I'd wear ear plugs to protect the old ears but i'd could get with flow of the fat-sounding bass lines, those shaking air molecules, which is what sound be [ask a physicist], and through my body.

Some of the Funkdafied album songs, especially the end of Mindblowin' (& Gonna Give It To You) show off her funky, slightly syncopated, phrasing, that includes her breathing. I guess if this was 1969 and I was 48 years younger I'd say this album was DOPE as F---! I have to believe she was creating some of that *hit when she was in the studio, tweaking (now you KNOW I'm old school, from the days when "bump" meant a dance or something to smoke).

I later got Da Brat's "Unrestricted" album, and didn't like it quite so much. "We Ready" is my favorite, but her rap on the chorus here is rhythmically way too similar to that 60's Brothers Johnson song, "Strawberry Letter 23." "What's On Your Mind" has a nice Latin or Spanish guitar line and more palatable beat. But it seems like most of the Unrestricted tunes were double timed, and strident, and when the rap's weak, the plagiarized (not merely sampled) music, ditties, and melodies, so endemic in hip hop -- Da Brat is no exception -- come glaring through the bull*hit. These double-stepped tempos do not do her justice, her voice runs high, the "dramatic pause" effect found in slower rapping goes out the window.

To be fair to her as an artist, I won't judge her on just these two albums, but i'd say Buy Funkdafied but don't buy Unrestricted. I wish her luck as an artist but I think she may have faded (it saddens me) and evolved into somewhat of a sidekick for some of the other rappers. I read how her B-day party got a little off the hook crazy in Shy Town earlier this month. I'd have guessed her hard-headed ways were all-the-way Aries, but I guess Capricorns can wear that jacket too (now that I've insulted one sixth of humanity).

- Jim

Dec 20, 2005 19:27:10