When I was first told of G. Love & Special Sauce, I was worried. Very worried. "It's this white guy" a friend of mine told me "and he kinda raps." Visions of Vanilla Ice and Marky Mark danced in my head, and it was with great trepidation that I listened to the first single of their debut album, "Cold Beverage".
Thankfully, my worst fears weren't confirmed. G. Love *is* a "white guy" and he *does* "kinda rap," but instead of weaving his lyrics over the constant thud of bass and samples, he is backed by a drummer and bassist (G. Love himself plays guitar). This gives the music a bluesy feel that results in one of the most original acts to come around in some time.
Now, I must warn you, this album isn't for everyone. My mother hates it, and my future bride threatened to throw it out the window. But there is something wonderfully intoxicating about G. Love & Special Sauce that certainly warrants attention.
G. Love's "raps" (for lack of a better word) flow smoothly from his lips and the album has much more in common with John Lee Hooker than it does with Dr. Dre. Love's songs are well-written and deal with issues close to home for him. In fact, "home" is one of the key issues on this album, with "Tomorrow Nite" and "Comin' Home" both dealing with the age-old favorite topic of being on the road. Likewise, "Soda Pop" deals with G. Love's desire for...well, a soda pop.
And if some of these song topics sound mediocre, it sure beats the hell out of some white guy from suburban Dallas claiming to be a hard-core player from the streets. G. Love *is* from the streets, just not the streets of Compton. On Coast to Coast Motel, nobody gets shot, and nobody's "packin' a nine" which certainly makes it a refreshing change of pace from most rap albums. Unfortunately, it's that same lack of violence that will possibly keep this album from finding a large audience.
If the music industry insists on calling this a "rap album" (which is where I've found the debut located in most stores), then so be it. But more than anything else, this is a blues album. It's comforting to see the blues being played by a younger generation, because at the rate we're going, after the deaths of the legends, there aren't going to be many more left.
