Customer Reviews

Dirty South Hip-Hop Blues

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought this cd on the strength of a number of very postive reviews and i am very disappointed. the combination of deep blues and hip-hop holds an incredible promise, both musics of strongly rhythmic, repetitive structures, one focusing on the minimal sounds of voice and guitar, the other on the timbres of bass and drums...they seem to be made to be combined, but here is not the success of the bricolage.
King should be commended for playing, singing, producing, and mixing nearly every note here. his motivation is right on, but his ear lies elsewhere.
The best hip-hop, musically, has an almost insane attention to detail. the crack of a snare, the sound of kick, the sixteenth note repeat of a break. King's beats never rise above the standard presets of a drum machine, without variation. in another context, this could be considered old-school, but with King's highly ambitious vision, it sounds amateurish. His rhymes are okay, while not groundbreaking, are at least well-stated. His guitar is nice, often quite nice, the best part of any track (see "Ghetto Child...").
But the Biggest crimes here are the tracks that are not rapped but sung; his lyrics are so convuluted and cliche that even his voice, as emotive as it is, can't save the track. "Gonna take a miracle" (which would appear to be about 9/11, given the interlude that preceeds it) complete with fake, wooshing, easy-listening strings, and lyrics that sound like they are straight off an "uplifting statement-a-day" calendar is nearly unlistenable.
King has a brilliant idea at work, and he may yet create a groundbreaking musical statement with his muse, but this isn't it.

Many of the negative reviews on here are by a reviewer who admits that he liked the music, but didn't like what King supposedly said in an interview. Do I have to like everything that somebody says to appreciate their art. Hell no! I don't like everything that the members of Public Enemy have said. Some of it has been absolute crap. I still enjoy much of their music. It's OK for me not agree with everything that somebody says. I haven't read every Chris Thomas King interview, but I've read a great many of them. The man is insightful at times, but I don't agree with everything he says. I don't agree with everything that anybody says. So what? He probably wouldn't agree with everything I say. Do we all have to agree on everything? No. Should CD reviews be reviews of CDs? I think they should. That's why they are CD reviews. It doesn't mean you agree with every possible view that an artist might have. Do I truly think that Dirty South Hip Hop Blues is a phenomenal CD? YES! Dirty South Hip Hop Blues is a five star CD.

I must agree with the Seth Mulliken's review below. I also purchased the CD thinking that the combination of blues and hip-hop beats held so much potential that there was no way this album could fail. Unfortunately, I was proved wrong. The only plus on the disc is Chris' guitar work, which is quite impressive. However, the tired rhymes and less-than innovative beats more than make up for it, truly deeming much of the CD unlistenable. Frankly, I am thinking of a way to exchange it and get something a bit more easy on the ears.

Dirty South Hip-Hop Blues is an amazing CD from star to finish. Don't let the negative critics fool you. This IS a Blues recording. There are other forms of music on this disc too, as the title makes clear, but there's also great Blues on this disc. King sings with passion and heart. I've enjoyed all of his albums, but this is the best.

CTK HOLDS NO PUNCHES! HE TELLS IT LIKE IT IS. THIS ISN'T A 'SAFE' CD. IT'S POWERFUL! THE GUY WHO SAID THAT CTK SHOULD TOUR WITH GANGSTAS AND CRACK DEALERS MUST NOT HAVE LISTENED TO THE CD. CTK IS CRITICAL OF THE CRACK AND GANGSTA SCENE. JUST GOES TO SHOW THAT THE NAYSAYERS DON'T HAVE A CLUE.

DIRTY SOUTH HIP HOP BLUES IS POWERFUL. I GIVE IT FIVE STARS.

Sorry to be so negative out there...I truly love the blues and I love hip hop. I was excited to see this album and decided to give it a listen. Unfortunately, it takes the blandest aspects of these musical styles and brings them together into something that doesn't quite make it for me. The music loses it's soul and becomes a bunch empty drum machine beats. I think Mr. King is a very talented blues musician and should stick to his genre.

Some of the negative reviews on here are concerned that this Blues/HipHop CD has racial overtones (nothing worse for some than black music that's racial), others are concerned with the bricolage eating itself (hate when that happens), I was just concerned with getting a thought provoking, moving and highly listenable CD. I did. This is it.

This album begins with slavery as the starting point of the African American experience and the birth of the Blues, and the CD features a fusion of Blues and Hip Hop which demonstrates the connection between the past and present day African American experience. Chris Thomas King could have just pandered to his straight Blues audience, but the man has vision and guts. This is the bravest and most insightful album Ive heard in years.

i think this is an excellent fusion of blues and hip hop. he did an excellent job with this. songs like "cloning overture" kind of "bring you IN" while songs like "yo kiss" and "ghetto child" pat you down. if you're already a chris thomas king fan, and you don't have this one, you're in for a excellent surprise! (even if you have 21st century blues from da hood)

Already being a big Chris Thomas King fan, I went out and bought this album out of principle. I really thought this would be the one that he pulled everything together, but unfortunately, it just didn't quite work out. The man has so much potential to bring blues and hip-hop together and introduce it to the world, but he falls just short every time of having a commercially viable record.
Although I really respect how he covers all the bases himself (recording, producing, performing, etc.), I believe that his problem lies in not collaborating with a good producer. This record has alot of good ideas, they are just not sorted out like they would be by a talented producer.
And for the first time while listening to any of CTK's music, I also felt alienated by the political, social, and racial overtones he has integrated into his songs.