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New Orleans has been the backdrop for many dynamic cultural collisions over the years, and the latest is the innovative mix of hip-hop and blues captured on Now Or Never by the 21 C-B-Boyz (21st Century Blues Boyz). The debut CD of the group, a duo consisting of rapper MYSELF and blues guitarist and vocalist Kipori ³Baby Wolf² Woods, was produced by Grammy winner and O Brother Where Art Thou star Chris Thomas King, a pioneer of hip-hop blues and owner of 21st Century Blues Records.
Like fellow ³Dirty South² artists Outkast and Nappy Roots, the 21 C-B-Boyz ignore hip-hop¹s traditional division between rapping and soulful vocalizing, and they broaden the Deep South palette by introducing the sounds of Woods¹ Delta slide guitar. Many of the songs on Now Or Never feature Woods and MYSELF trading verses, the former with bluesy vocals and the latter with soulful raps.
This approach is highlighted on the radio-friendly ³Celestial Body,² ³Rumors,² and ³My Pain, Your Pleasure,² mid-tempo songs that evoke the Œ70s R&B of Curtis Mayfield. King, a writer or co-writer of eight of the eleven songs, plays on the majority of the tracks, and shares the vocals on two songs. The opener ³She¹s A Dogcatcher,² featuring Mystical associate DJ Spin, highlights all three vocalists and builds on sample-like blues riffs on the guitar and harmonica.
King also trades off with Woods on one of the CD¹s four traditional blues numbers, the stripped-down acoustic duet ³Roc Yo Daddy.² MYSELF¹s talent for biting political commentary is highlighted on ³41 Bullets,² a critique of police brutality that evokes politically engaged artists such as J.B. Lenoir and Billie Holiday, and ³Mr. Dollar Bill,² which explores the futility of worshipping ³dead presidents.² The latter features delicate, Brownie McGhee-like acoustic finger-picking from Woods, whose guitar is at fore of the most traditional track, and only cover, Son House¹s haunting ³Death Letter Blues.² Here Woods delivers the traditional refrain, while MYSELF¹s raps are expansions of the original lyrics, resulting in a seductive blend of the old and the new that was hardly imaginable a decade ago.
MYSELF and Woods both have deep roots in the Crescent City¹s eclectic music community, and although they have shared stages at informal jams and open mike nights, it took the insight of King to bring them together. Their initial live performances, including shows at Norway¹s Notodden Blues Festival, have been critically acclaimed, and they recently signed a management deal with John Hahn, who orchestrated the dramatic rise to fame of blues diva Shemekia Copeland.
Kipori Woods was raised by his grandfather, ³Luscious² Lloyd Lambert, the bassist and bandleader for Guitar Slim of ³Things I Used To Do² fame, who imparted to Woods a strong sense of heritage and the value of showmanship. Woods studied music under jazz patriarch Ellis Marsalis, and received further mentoring from funk-blues master Walter ³Wolfman² Washington ‹hence his nickname, ³Baby Wolf.² In the late Œ80s and early Œ90s Woods led the band Kipori Funk, which blended jazz, funk, and blues with hip-hop beats, and later recorded two traditional blues CDs of mostly original compositions. MYSELF is in the politically conscious hip-hop tradition and regards as his greatest influences elders such as Amiri Baraka, Gil Scott-Heron, and the Last Poets. A leading voice in the New Orleans spoken word scene, MYSELF began writing poetry at age 12, and creates his original compositions by drawing on reggae and R&B. During an extended stay in Brooklyn he recorded a CD, Rebel Souljah, which featured guests the Last Poets, and has toured with The Roots, Common, Black Star, and Dead Prez.
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