This concept album which came out in 2001 is a sophisticated combination of slick soul enmeshed within a storyline of regional politics and injustice in urban America.
Franti is a singer who’s been around the block a few times, experimenting with different bands as one might walk a sucession of well-bred dogs. The music here fleshes out the spaces between a skeleton of reports and interviews which relay a tale of government elections and the execution of a death row prisoner. But despite seeming initially like a concoction of right-on political sentiments, the pieces of this puzzle are credible enough to make for compelling listening.
That said, this radio show’s “tunes” easily stand apart from their context. Just about every prevailing sound in contemporary R’n‘B, and then some, is almost perfectly carried off. Even the occasional hip-hop platitude fails to disrupt an enthusing flow of effervescent beats and soulful grooves. The vocals have been fired from an incredible kiln containing Barry White, Lionel Ritchie, Jurassic 5 and Macy Gray. The political message, which does grate on repeated listenings, are really an optional extra: a polemic has never sounded so good. D.Rose
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