| Celebrating Walt Whitman in 1993, theoretician and activist Cornel West wrote of the former's "faith in democracy... not simply as a form of governance... but rather a dynamic means for the cultivation and encouragement of the potentialities and possibilities of individuals." The same can be said of West's own approach to hip-hop culture, as demonstrated on this follow-up to 2001's Sketches of My Culture. Threaded through its soul-funk, R&B, and hip-hop songs are a few trying spoken-word pieces, but these are levied with sufficient restraint so that the more musical numbers predominate. Throughout, West counters the drawbacks of his own lyrical delivery with the talents of his wide-ranging guests, including Prince ("Dear Mr. Man"), André 3000 of Outkast ("Chronomentrophobia"), KRS-One ("Mr. President"), Black Thought of the Roots ("America"), Talib Kweli ("Bushonomics"), Jill Scott ("What Time It Is"), and others. Clearly, West and his bevy of collaborators don't shy away from easy targets, but while West's books offer deeper and more compelling expressions of his radical thought and theory, his musical offerings provide welcoming inroads to his belief in hip-hop culture as a relevant, life-affirming field of play for resistance and hope in equal measure. --Jason Kirk |
