Paris and Public Enemy – New LPs
Paris and Public Enemy return with a new full length album each.
Paris is nation conscious artist who consistently makes hardcore hip hop. Focusing on civil rights with a Black Panther ideology. Public Enemy is more known and have also been consistent in releasing music that speaks to the conditions of non caucasian people in the world. I do not delve into opinions of politics, however I have followed these artists for a long time.
As you read this, understand this review comes through a caucasian, punk rock, outsider. I’m not an economist, political fanatic, and just to keep up with music is a challenge.
It feels like no matter what I may say it will be used against me. We do need changes, badly. Answers, I have no clear ones. I’m not going to talk politics. This is not a forum for debating politics. Music is the focus for these reviews and blog.
Paris – Safe Space Invader – Guerrilla Funk Records
Allow me to preface this review by saying Paris has fairly large back catalog. From circa 1993 Guerilla Funk until 2015’s ‘Pistol Politics’ albums I am not well versed. A few quick listens, not an in depth review. If you have an interest in this type of hip hop, I recommend visiting that era of Paris’s work. After a few listens I will be looking at those releases more closely.
The latest, Safe Space Invader is out and it is a high quality material as his debut ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ or ‘Sleeping With The Enemy’ which I have listened to more. Safe Space Invader opens with ‘Bang Bang’. This song is smooth, angry and has the west coast / bay area feel you may know from Paris already. Sleek and mean.
‘Why Reconcile?’ is a tense , yet slick track with serious low end growls. It shifts into a groove like march feel, and by the end it’s very P-Funk inspired.
It’s as if someone who studied Bernie Worrell lent some keyboard playing to the mix. Hand claps and bird sounds straight from Parliament’s ‘Aqua Boogie’.
Fluted out phrases with drum stomps (flute on this track and next). Very musical, very cool.
Next, track ‘Press On’ is like many of the other songs on this album, smooth but angry. ‘Press On’ features even more flute sounds than ‘ Why Reconcile’ which gives it that smooth 70’s feel. Any naysayers saying Paris can’t be musical can fuck off.
This is the most musical Paris LP I have heard to date.
Before this LP releases Paris has ‘Baby Man Hands’ and ‘Nobody Move’ as singles. ‘Nobody Move’ , musically , is a better song in my opinion. Here are a few reasons. The super low end bass. Not quite as low as the kind that Too Short may have used, but seems lower than a bass guitar. Aside from menacing , pulsing, low end, other scarface grooves that have the intensity of the first Paris LP ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’. DJ Scratching, a rare thing in the hip hop I hear lately.
Anyone who is using skillful scratching in 2020 I applaud.
A sample from the cult movie ” The Warriors”. A secondary counter bass line that plays well with the main pulse. I don’t know theory well enough but it may descend chromatically. Paris disses Kanye and man buns. Paris targets the power structure and Trump . I can go on and on about ‘Nobody Move’.
For an added visual effect, video link here. Not for the weak or MAGA types. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um1TySCK0Fc&list=RDUm1TySCK0Fc&index=1
Nobody Move is the best hip hop song I have heard in a long time.
To it’s credit ‘Baby Man Hands’ is a lyrical storm. The beat is an upbeat R and B dance beat. It’s urgent. There are vocal efforts and samples that are from Parliament Funkadelic. Hard to mess that up , I should say for someone like Paris who has been in music this long, his P – Funk references are on point. Solid three minutes even of funk and bagging on Trump.
On ‘Chain Reaction’ Ms. Monet lends guest vocals. This is the one of the most R and B flavored songs on Safe Space Invader yet it is of higher quality than 90 percent of tracks that try to meld hip hop and skillful, soulful singing together. Unsure if it was intentional but the background vocals remind me of Brothers Johnson “Strawberry Letter 23”. Bass guitar line fits like peas and carrots.
‘Return of the Vanguard’ has less layers and is drum and bass heavy. “Ancestors talk to em” could be mantra or militant march chant. It’s remarkable to me how dance – able this and many of the tracks are on Safe Space Invader. Conversely, this doesn’t mean that said beats take any of the blunt, menacing, force from the songs.
This is not like the mid 90’s hip hop in which R an B was merged. Paris merges this with killer beats, intensity, and his message. It blends successfully and well.
‘Turned the Key’ features more G funk grooves and a guest T – K.A.S.H. (guest from 2015’s ‘Pistol Politics’ record). Sounds like it could be channelling Dr. Dre’s The Chronic sounds. (Lil Ghetto Boy and others)
‘Walk Like a Panther’ sounds muscular and strong like how a panther moves. Spoken word and cascading downward bass and synth open this song. At this point in Safe Space Invader, Paris has not lyrically faltered, he doesn’t the whole time.
Paris really brings it on this one. In under three minutes, regardless if you spoke English , you know this guy’s not fucking around on the mic, he means business.
‘Somethin’ ‘Bout the West Coast’ closes down Safe Space Invader. The scratchin and “ain’t nobody looking out for us, but us ” a strong opening. There are plucky strings and a guitar feedback drone giving some background noise. Although this is a strong piece by itself, I would have closed Safe Space Invader out with a more explosive or abrupt finale. This doesn’t take away from the LP that much at all, just my preference. Paris is so smooth and intense throughout, I would have closed with a ‘Bang Bang’ style song or ‘Return Of The Vanguard’. In fact that may be my only critique of Safe Space Invader.
I don’t usually rate with numbers, but this time I’d say this is a 91 / 100
Public Enemy – What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down? – Def Jam Recordings
Yours truly is a big Public Enemy fan. I know about two thirds of their catalog fairly well (maybe more). John was skeptical at first. Reckoning it could go either way.
However, unless you only like rap with dudes with funny rainbow haircuts and face tattoos, this new LP will have something for you.
I believe this is the sixteenth Public Enemy album and its back on Def Jam. It has the classic Def Jam feel. Despite the factors I mention below, this disc won me over. Let’s look at some specific songs.
‘When The Grid Goes Down’ ft. George Clinton and ‘Grid’ ft. Cypress Hill and George Clinton open this record. Pretty tight shit. Funky and sounding exactly like how these artists have always sounded. However it doesn’t come off predictable. It feels authentically Cypress Hill, George Clinton, etc. George Clinton presides over the intro and ‘Grid’ like a minister. Hearing him reference “Uncle Jam’s army ” is a nod to the Funkadelic fans and hella cool. ‘Grid’ and ‘When The Grid Goes Down’ contain so much classic tributes to funk and Public Enemy it’s hard to count, my favorite is a verse from “Miuzi Weighs A Ton” from the first full length P.E. ‘ Yo! Bum Rush The Show’
After the two openers is the first single released called ‘State Of The Union (STFU)’ I reviewed this track when it released this summer. Link – https://meatsheetfanzine.com/public-enemy-state-of-the-union-stfu/
‘Merica Mirror’ featuring Pop Diesel is quick 8 second interlude. There are a series of these interludes that remind of the classic hip hop artists like DeLa Soul, older P.E. , GangStarr ‘ Daily Operation LP , etc. as they used them in a similar way
Setting you right up for classic P.E. with ‘Public Enemy Number Won’ ft. Mike D, Ad-Rock (giving you a spoken word intro). Also features Run-DMC . Again , pretty solid (if you are down with classic hip hop and Def Jam). I don’t know what the youth might think and I don’t care. DJ Lord causes serious turntable destruction on this track. Aside from the Beastie Boys, DJ Lord steals the spotlight on this outro. It’s fast and would be great to get your blood flowing while listening to this.
The people on this records are hip hop pioneers and I find their efforts very commendable.
‘Crossroads Burning’ (Interlude) ft. James Bomb makes a quick commentary on several types of media. No spoilers, check it out for yourselves. The interludes are great little slices and segue way from one song to the next.
Movin on , ‘Fight The Power: Remix 2020’ ft. Nas, Rapsody, Black Thought, Jahi, YG, Questlove has some key moments, read about it here https://meatsheetfanzine.com/pumpkin-lips-public-enemy-new-singles/
‘Beat Them All’ is a very musical track. You get a ‘Rock the Bells’ types of blasts, DJ Lord doin work on the turntable, and some tasty guitar licks.
Anthemic vocal delivery. Once again they flip the song into another mini bridge with sampled horns. Sounds like the classic P.E. stuff.
‘Go At It’ ft. Jahi is a hard hitting, smooth , crisped up jam. Smooth but badass, If you love the classic P.E. aesthetic you’ll dig this. The background ‘flanging’ in and out gives ‘Go At It’ an extra layer.
This is an unsung highlight of the record for sure. The production, the rhythm, it’s like Lex Luger, a total package.
‘Don’t Look At The Sky’ (Interlude) ft. Mark Jenkins. Again , no spoilers here, but Mark Jenkins drops knowledge that the masses are still struggling with. Respect to the short, but direct interlude.
‘Rest In Beats’ ft. The Impossebulls is one of two tracks that deal with death and losing your friends which is inevitable, yet it is no less painful. Chuck D starts this song and then about 2 :40 in it becomes a different song musically. It shifts to a slower funk tribute. There is more good guitar work on this song (and album) than the latest Smashing Pumpkins tracks (see below) The Impossebulls shine in funk glory.
Also ‘R.I.P. Blackat’ is an ode to a fallen friend. Tracks about those who passed are always hard for me to take.
Even though Flavor Flav is known for his comedic deliveries, this time, he is staring at a wall missing his friend who helped him out of a tight spot or two. Damn.
Forgive my lack of good words. These tribute tracks are hard for me to write about. The listener, aka me, more easily feels them rather than write any accurate words that come close to the feeling I got from them.
I don’t even want to review the track. If you have empathy and anyone has helped you when you were down, then this track may resonate.
Moving along, these cuts have been re released but as a whole still hit. You can find these on “Nothing Is Quick In the Desert” LP also.
‘Smash The Crowd’, (features Ice T and PMD) is another anthem. Ice T and PMD really bring the noise. PMD’s background is almost as smooth as the sounds you may hear sprinkled on Pete Rock and CL’s ‘Mecca and the Soul Brother’. PMD still has the lyrical chops. Ice T is just as badass as he sounded on O.G. Original Gangster. (the apex of Ice T’s albums IMO)
Smash the Crowd? Jazzy and funky samples galore.
‘If You Can’t Join Em Beat Em’ should be called “Beat Them All (reprise) as they reference each other lyrically. It’s over fast and takes you into ‘Go At It’. Sorry for jumping all over like a Tarantino flashback. Trying to highlight the brand new tracks vs. new -ish ones.
‘Yesterday Man’ , and ‘Toxic’ are also on “Nothing Is Quick In the Desert” LP . ‘Toxic’ has slower tempo classic funk beat. Perfect for human beatboxing. Chuck D reminds me of his work on ‘Shut Em Down’ from LP’s ago. “Classic like dope on plastic”. Lyrics for days, weeks, etc. ‘Yesterday Man’ ft. Daddy-O (yes, Stetsasonic and the one Chuck D references on ‘Night Of The Living Baseheads’) The guitar work on this is impressive, it’s technical and still P.E. The call and response ” What happened?” lyric would be great for crowd interaction. Flav has a vocoder sound on his voice. Transformers and disco fans might dig it.
I wish that more of the songs were not on other releases or remixes. Conversely I don’t think this hurts the LP ‘s feeling or message. Some have said the best P.E. in a decade or so. It just may be, but I’d like some more time with it to revisit the last few P.E.’ records. “What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down?” is a solid 85/100.
Paris and Public Enemy pull off some extremely hype material, complete with their politically charged spins.
Bonus Reviews.
P.E. and Smashing Pumpkins are releasing singles at the same time. You can read about two previous Pumpkins songs linked above a few lines up. A brief word on Smashing Pumpkins. They release two more songs from their upcoming album, ‘Cyr’.
I love this band but these latest songs sound like a well produced, but totally unoriginal electronic band with Billy Corgan singing.
If you took Adore era material and had some composer tweak the arrangements and then add a hook by one of those people whose job is to write pop songs for entertainers, you have the latest Smashing Pumpkins. I cannot hear any of the other members performing. No clear guitars can be heard. The drumming is robotic. Here is some audio so you can judge for yourself https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-yos6keKvQ
The song ‘Wrath’ is devoid of rage. It’s more like “Drab “
“Confessions of A Dopamine Addict” is just a synthed out mess that leaves me befuddled. To its credit, they do have some really great female backing vocals. In conclusion, Billy Corgan has my love and respect for many reasons. Career longevity, guitar skills. He is not afraid to try different things musically. The last four tracks from the new album Cyr album though… I can’t find any reasons to listen to them more. “The Colour Of Love” is mediocre but the strongest of the four. Reason is I can hear Jimmy Chamberlin drumming more than the other songs. There is a chance that the new ‘Cyr’ record will have some songs that rise above this synth cloned drivel, but my expectations are low. Final score? Paris and Public Enemy 1 point, Pumpkins Zero for Four. As always thanks for reading.