Senseless Criticism: Kicking Ass At the Speed of Light

Planet Rock. Frantic Situation. Renegades of Funk. Looking for the Perfect Beat. Unity. Jazzy Sensation.

If you don't recognize any of those songs, then you're either busy slapping your own ass to Toby Keith or boogieing to Yanni. Time for a history lesson. It's all the purvey of one man, the father at the same time of modern American (or British for that matter, since Kraftwerk was German) techno. Afrika Bambaataa was his name, and electrofunk was his game. The peak of Afrika's career was in the 80s, specifically with his group the Soulsonic Force. That's who he recorded "Planet Rock" (the classic version) and "Renegades of Funk" with. As Run DMC, Beastie Boys, and LL Cool J changed the basic direction of old school hip hop on its mainstream face, and then later everyone got gangsta and all hard (bulletproof vestin' and holdin' a glock, it was the season for bleedin') Afrika largely disappeared from the scene. While his proteges from the ranks of the Zulu Nation rose, Afrika largely hid himself. Then, the larger techno and electronica in general gained ascendance, the more he was celebrated and his hits covered. One of the best tributes recently comes in Talib Kweli's "We Got the Beat," which rips off/tributes both "Looking for the Perfect Beat" and "Planet Rock." A lot of practicioners of the current craze in electronica, "Electro", are also basically producing a more complex version of Afrika's original electrofunk hip hop style.

So Afrika must have gotten tired of the shadows. His newest opus hit the shelves on October 26th, 2004. It's called Dark Matter: Moving At the Speed of Light and it's truly worth of Afrika's name. It's difficult to explain this album simply in terms of Afrika's history since it's largely a techno album with some hip hop elements, and the status of most electronic music is lamentable got too many subgenres to discuss without someone getting upset. But there's something beautiful about this album. Not only is it not missing a beat, and has Afrika at the peak of his game playing in a style that's familiar, it's llike 80s Bambaataa armed with modern technology and some of the most awesome production possible. The overall sound is so thick and noisy with amazing beats, clicks, african chants, sitars, world percussion, electrodrum assaults, and the occasionally insane speed rap from the many guest stars on this album that it's hard to even catch your breath. Weighing in at 72 minutes, it's also a hefty chunk of music in toto.

While the album has its LARGE SHARE OF FILLER (70 minutes you're practically guaranteed that, with "Pick Up on This" and "No Dope Fiends on the Floor" as unfortunate examples), it's got some songs on it that are just plain perfect. From the opening salvo of "Got That Vibe," with its speed rapping from King Kamonzi and sitar slinging tempo blur, this album is obviously special. From that it cools down to Gary Numan covering his own song with a special guest bluster by MC Chatterbox. If that wasn't wild enough to throw hip hop, new wave, and techno into one insane blender, there's more like that to come. The title track, "Dark Matter", keeps up with just as much speed and an addictive chorus and is personally my favorite with its swirling synth horns and expanding synth leads. The funny thing is the amount of producers Bambaataa flips and then destroys at their own game. Lil' Jon gets beat and shown for the Afrika-plagiarizer he is when Afrika effortlessly pulls up "Just a Smoke" and "Shake n Pop Roll" to old-schoolize the whole Crunk movement. Along with that there's the dark funk provided by "Take You Back" and "Almighty Rah" full with slab bass lines and some wah effects.

Perhaps the greatest standout is Afrika's ease at standing away from the controls. A careful reading of the liner notes reveals there are quite a few tracks he wrote but did not produce, and at time sung over beats made by others. Dark Matter comes out then as more than Bambaataa updated, but Bambaataa also joining with his contemporary electro-descendants while retaining all of trademark sounds. If anything, Afrika gets a little too addicted to shout outs, chants, and tribal drums, but everyone deserves some of their indulgences. For anyone that likes techno, hip hop, or even likes funk this album should suit you. 5th wryly commented "It's good. A little too much sitar for my taste, but really good."