Remember when rap nd i
evolution ry doppelganger hip
hop were univers lly reviled
m ical berrations and labelled
" ovelty Fad" by the prof -
ion I biters of pop? Well, th t
w they ay, yesterd y. We
now know the pre nee of rap to
be not only nation I but
worldwide in cope; its influence
re ulting in vital recordings
emanating from such non-tradi
tional hi p hop zones as France,
J pan and Brazil.
derpinning, herald d th d wn of
th cid Jazz Age nd presaged
BLO' future directio .
The first tan lizing glimpse of
this future was BLO's debut long
player My Afro's On Fire.
Relea ed in 1990, My
Afro's ... mu ic 1 working were
chaotically funky its title.
Melodically relent le , rhythmi
cally dense and cheekily preco
cious in its conception, MAOF's
themes ranged from violence in
the dance ("Stop TheNegativity'1
With the completion of
their latest full-length disc,
The One/Jess of II Minds in
Unison, Brothers Like
Outlaw have indeed
reached the next plateau.
Enter OJ K-Gee and Me Bello
B {two homiees from Ladbroke'
serfa, respec vely; 001 tive
ry known as Brothers Like
Outlaw. BLO have pursued the
perfect beats on their own terms
since 1988. After countless
hours of woodsheding in parties
and one record store too many,
the duo encountered legendary
pirat�, radio/club DJ extraor
dinaire and kindred spirit Richie
Rich.
Richie caught their vibe and
brought them into the Gee
StJ:eet/lsland fold. Initially, BLO
realized their musical theorems
via singles, the most forward of
'the period being '89's "Original
,Dope" with its jazey, loping
bassline and spikey, hip hop
.
to giving themselves props
("Cashing Large Checks'� to un-·
• I o.d oot, 1
{"Party". More than a debut, My
Afro'4 On Pire wa the bridge
K-Gee and Bello needed to reach
the higher ground.
WITH THE completion of
their latest full-length disc, The
Oneness of II Minds in Unison,
Brother Like Outlaw have indeed
reached the next plateau. On this
album, K-Gee and Bello B have
spanned the gulf that 'separates
hardcore .from party-core, cul
tural consciousness from artifice,
'live' from sampled. The trax on
Oneness ... accurately depict t e
world as seen through the eyes,
ears and soul of two youth on the
eternal tightrope wal.k between
manchild bravado and way dul
thood.
Oneness .. .is record chock
full of pithy riddims and common
sense; a conscious, intelligent
manifesto that revels in its foot
stomping bumptiousnes.
Whether dealing with the pitfall
of crime and violence ("Trapped
Into Darkness," "Real McCoy,"
"Words of Danger'� or the weet
flypaper of life ("Party Time,"
"Kickin ' Jazz," "De J a Vu'1;
Bello drops phat rhymes that ride
the wild surf of K-Gee's tidal
wave of sounds.
One other thing that One
ness ... has in its favor is the seam
less blending of electromagnetic
beats with the in-studio
manipulations of their live band.
The progression is fully realized
on the trax "Camouflage" and
"Good Vibrations." The former
tune is a sucker MC-Diss fuelled
by a bumping Wes Montgomery
esque guitar riff that underscores
Bello's "who got the jazz" refrain
while the latter is a gentle, rolling
shuffle through BLO's past by
this self-proclaimed "hip hop
fanatic causina much static" that
It is with these two trax espe
cially that K-Gee and Bello B
meet the future of hi p hop dead on
and achieve that sublime balance
between live and memorex; that
harmonic partnership of turnable
sources and 'real' musicians that
completes the circle from ancient
to the future and back again.
With the triumphs of The One
ness of /I Minds In Unison,
Brothers Like Outlaw have
opened a new window into the
multi-room mansion that is hip
hop. Take a long, deep look ...
OIl'
' ..
, After a decade of diverse, and
often startling invention from the
British dj's and tappers who
determine the momentum of
London's fast forward, club cul
ture, it seems that 'soul is back
season: And the buzz is that
Island's DON-e is at that van
guard of this explosion of talent.
So says the U.K,'s tastemaker
press, who have been singing
DON-e's praises ever since he
was introduced as a solo act last
year, (discovered by the Gee
Street label). Now this sensation
al young artist is about to make
waves stateside with his domestic
debut album release Unbreak
able.
"We're part of a different vibe
that says, New York," proclaims
the 21-year-old DON-e. liAs a
young British Black man with
roots in the West Indies, I can
hear a whole different kind of
soul emerging over here-a more
rugged soul. You can hear traces
of reggae in there. It's rougher
like a reggae-soul or a ragga-funk
or whatever you want to call it."
For DON-e, musicianship in
all form came early, beginning at
age five when his father made
him a guitar for his birthday. By
age 11, he had moved on to
drums, playing for a local group
that included two bus conductors
on bass and guitar, specializing in
Beatie's covers with DON-e cast
in role of Ringo Starr. A steel
band apprenticeship followed,
which enabled him to tour exten
sively throughout Britain.
France, and Italy.
"1 FIR T scriou break
came with the formation of Com.
pared To What in the, mid
cightie , a pop-rock group who
played extensively on London's,
live circuit. Several other pop
configurations followed until
DON-d und him clfon his own,
ready to put to u e a prolific
backlog of on s he had written.
Out of this material comes Un
breakabl ,a perfect showcase for
DON-e's multi-instrumental vir
tuosity (DON-e knocks out bass,
drums, and keyboard tracks him-
elt) and killer voice.
The album s dozen songs
cover a broad range of influences
and emotional inflection. The
first single, "Love Makes The
, World Go Round," was a top 20
single in the U.K., and it's a
warm, full bodied soul groove
reminiscent of classic Stevie
Wonder. Songs like the moody
"Emancipate"-"about the
problems of chilling when you're
in a relationship"-or the mellow
and multi-textured "Peace In The
Word" highlight the strength and
maturity of a rising talent.
There are also echoes here of
the music DON-e grew up listen
ing to, from Earth, Wind & Fire
, to Sly And The Family Stone.
I ndeed, the propulsive techno- ,
funk of "Stop What Yau're
Doing" (a social song about drug
abuse), is, in DON-e's own
words, a contemporary "Sly
Stone groove" that has all the
loose freeform funk power of the
master himself. From a whole
other base, comes the celebratory
DON-E, 82