I Have Heard the Future of Hip-Hop, and It Is SoS

.

.

For years now, I've maintained that rap, when done right, is potent street poetry with the power to affect social change. Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" convinced me of that idea more than 25 years ago. Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back remains on my list as one of the most important albums of the past 20 years for that same reason. And Jay-Z's "99 Problems" is so dead-on that it's central line has become a part of popular language.

.

But let's face it: rap-- indeed, hip-hop in general--has grown bloated and lazy of late, lolling about in dreams of bling and Cristal. Sure, there are exceptions--Kanye West and Rhymefest come to mind--but by and large, the genre has become an example of absolute power corrupting absolutely. The newer artists have bought into the MTV hype.

.

On their debut album As If We Existed, Sol.iLLaquists of Sound (or SoS, as I like to call them), take dead aim at these superficialities in a work that eloquently speaks to the soul. They haven't merely reinvigorated rap-- they've reinvented it. This is an album that utilizes the cliches of rap in only the most minimal style, turning them inside out and infusing them with elements combining free form jazz, urban blues, Parisien cafe stylings and more than a liberal dose of ultrafunk.

.

SoS are serious about their work. DiVINCi welds his MPC's with such virtuosity that it's almost impossible to discern where one sample ends and another begins, while Swamburger fires off his rhymes with machinegun intensity. Alexandrah's vocals swirl and hover between Lauryn Hill phrasings and chanteuse cabaret, punctuated by the poetry of Tonya Combs' background vocals. The resultant mixture resonates with an exuberance rooted in social conscience. This group isn't content to chronicle life in the ghetto-- they're determined to shake it at its roots, slap it around a bit and demand personal responsibility from its inhabitants.

.

"If sound is essentially a movement, ultimately the fate of the movement lies within me," Sos quietly proclaims in the album opener, "Pledge of Resonance." They make good on that pledge through the course of the 12 song work, focusing on themes that cut to the heart of issues such as racial profiling in advertising (Mark It Place"), apathy in cultural revolution ("Black Guy Peace") and the perils of individualism ("Choices".)

.

As If We Existed soars, weave and swirls, sampling genres at a breakneck pace, and reassembling them in a way that makes them feel both alien and oddly comfortable. This is music that sets a new standard for hip-hop, quietly indicting the negative aspects of the genre's current state, and offering a fluid alternative to those aspects. What emerges is an album infused with jazz grooves and gospel/political messages.

.

Sol.ILLaquists of Sound eloquently demonstrate the power inherent in rap as a cultural force. But what's most remarkable about them is they do it in such a smooth but textured way that their statements are almost subliminal in their delivery. The raps never assault the listener--they're wrapped carefully in silky vocals and cool instrumentation. The rhymes are entrenched in layers of samples so that you pick up bits and pieces of lyrics. The message is disjointed, to be sure, but still coherent enough to make its intention abundantly clear.

.

Think of As If We Existed as a manifesto for the next generation of hip-hop: a message of personal responsibility and social awareness.

.

And that's a message that bears repeated listening.