Comin' straight out of Azania (That's' South Africa' to the settlers) come Prophets of Da City with a devastating mix of old-skool meets new-school rhythyms and enough tongue-twisting rhymes to keep your head in a spin until 1996.
Live, the Prophets are something else, with rapper/DJ Ready D, and his cohorts Ishmael and Ramone battling for stage space with 3 break-dancers and poppers who are an integral part of the band and the closest most post-Public-Enemy rap fans will have got to the adrenaline rush of '84, where the hip-hop culture first began to make real waves in the mainstream.
Prophets of Da City have been far removed from the rest of the world until now and are distinctly on their own tip, assimilating traditional Azanian sounds (the first person to mention Paul Simon gets smacked!) and the distinctive South African accent into their favourite elemnts of US hip-hop.
Their scope is impressive, taking in a little of everything from the past 15 years of hip-hop, although if you had to narrow it down to one major influence it would be the militant abrasive funk/soul of P.E's It Takes a Nation of Millions.... The fact that the band have lived all their lives through South African apartheid (which makes the African- American experience look a little slight in comparison) suggets the Prophets should have enough ire to make most US hip-hop acts sound like House of Pain, but not so. There's an air of celebration about the Prophets - nowhere better summed up than in "Neva Again"'s opening line of "EXCELLENT! FINALLY A BLACK PRESIDENT!" - that's infectious and invigorating.
Songs? You'll be checking out the likes of "Wild Stylz" where the 3 rappers go through as many styles and flows as you can imagine in 4 minutes without ever losing the song, with Ramone in particular demonstrating an erratic, staccato flow that would shame 95% of American rappers. Partners in crime Ishmael and Ready D have equally distinctive styles with Ishmael switching between a pure Stevie Wonder soar and a gruff ragga flow and Ready D tearing it up in a more traditional, though no less impressive, gangsta style.
The only real problem with Universal Souljaz is that with such a wide ranging scope over the 18 tracks offered some can't help but miss the mark. Still, better to fall a little flat by over-reaching enthusiasm than by sitting on your backside too scared to try. If I was *really* nit-picking I'd mention the fact that a little lack of definition in the vocal production makes some of the more complicated rhyming a little unclear. But then Ramone is obviously on another planet, so we can clearly forgive them.
America should be listening to the likes of "Universal Souljaz" with its off-kilter drums, the traditional South African flavour of "Bushtekniks" and "DJ Explode Vs Hit Pop", and the welcome return of frantic turntable skills on the 100% electro "Planet Cape Town" and alternately rejoicing and getting just a little worried.
