I probably wouldn't have a John Reuben album on my list, because (to me) they're too patchy. BUT he has produced some top singles over the last years.
OK so it probably seems unlikely that there would be rap in my list...but that 1995 album, previously referred to, started chipping away at my certainty that rap wasn't really music. And then I heard a single on a sample CD which I thought was great. The single was Do Not by John Reuben, so I got the album as an introduction to a music company. John Reuben is a Jewish Christian rapper from Ohio - and he is sometimes brilliant and often funny.
Anyway, this post probably should have been Do Not, but I've gone with the more accessible, Nuisance (2005) - which is not available on Lastfm, so here's the video. It's also cheerful!
One thing about him is the way he takes a 180 degree direction from a lot of rap, which is often self-centred on the artist. Instead, there's a lot of humility and fun in Reuben's stuff.
But please also try Do Not; and if you need a bit of encouragement, try No Regrets and Hindsight (sorry, can't find a track for this on the net).
7 comments:
Well, I have to say that one came out of left-field....but welcome nonetheless. Rap for me has never really worked (other than Black Eyed Peas 'Where is the love?') but this makes the genre worth re-evaluating.
fyi, The Proclaimers declaimed against the whole rap-culture on a track on their latest album, Life With You (the track is called Here It Comes Again).
I used to despise it; and then an English Lit teacher friend said to me that he realised rap was the nearest musical culture to preaching: it's aim (in the good stuff) is to relate a huge quantity of information (in pop music terms).
I also started reading poetry, and discovered how incredibly hard it is to put concise thoughts into appealing form - and that therefore a lot of rap is not an excuse to make a record by someone who can't sing, but is really very clever.
Plus 1995 and then John Reuben...
Just to add another name to the 'making rap more attractive' list: Natasha Bedingfield. Worth checking out (not strictly rap per se but borrows much).
errr....is this the usual reason you point out lady singers to me?
Well, what cheek!
And what lovely lips, too......
Thanks. And I like the way your head shines.
I shall not dignify that comment with a response.
Oh, I've responded.
Rats.
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