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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent inspiring music for the highly ambitious., November 8, 2005
Since I liked "Femme Like U" so much, I decided to try the whole album. Today 'La Good Life' has become one of my most enjoyable albums. This album has spoiled quite a good portion of my music collection. What I thought was great music in the past has now become mediocre and lifeless in the light of this fantastic collection of songs. At this point all I want to do is listen to K-maro day in and day out.
I'm not a usual listener of hip-hop but 'La Good Life' just hits the spot. In actuality, it's a well-done mix of hip-hop, R&B, rap, and disco. K-maro sings in the Montréal franglais (French and English mixed together) which sounds all the more different, and in my opinion, better than the typical English-only hip-hop/R&B heard here. It's amazing what a little French can do to sway non-hip-hop fans into devout listeners!
In this album, K-maro's personality comes to life. He comes across as this strong, confident, ambitious, level-headed, and business-oriented individual. He doesn't call this album "La Good Life" for nothing. He's worked his ass off to get to where he's at, he's doing what he likes, he's happy, he's young, he's healthy, he's laughing all the way to the bank, and he's not ashamed to tell you about it!
He's also quite fascinated with himself, very proud of himself, and did I mention extremely sure of his future enterprise K'Pone Inc.?
OK, so maybe the guy is just a tad narcissist. If you don't share the same vision, his honesty, nerve, and confidence might be mistaken for conceited. You may become annoyed by it in the beginning, but after a while his attitude on life will become rather amusing, and later on perhaps even contagious. After all, shouldn't we all adore ourselves? Shouldn't we all reach for the stars and be proud of our accomplishments?
It truly is an excellent album and I would like to have given it 5 stars but I have had some trouble with how he oftentimes will refer to himself as a "gangsta". Not too sure if he's had a chance to spend a day here in Bed-Stuy or Newark to fully understand what it means to be a gangsta, but quite frankly, the image is not very convincing. The manner in which the word is thrown undermines his market's intelligence and seems deliberate, perhaps even ignorant. It's always such a turn-off to see Canadian artists trying so hard to be "like the Americans". Perhaps I am reading into it a little much, but heck there's always room for improvement even in the most talented of artists.
With the image discrepencies aside, I still believe the album is worth the buy. It most surely will boost your energy as well as your confidence, and it will definitely make you very happy. Even if you don't understand a word of French, your ears are not immune to good sound. You will still end up singing or humming along to some infectious grooves. Grooves that will make you want to rise and dance to the fact that you are young, full of energy, full of dreams, and that this is your time.
Alors, monte le son si tu comprends bien le vibe!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
SURPRISE...IT'S ACTUALLY GOOD!, December 15, 2004
I'm normally not a fan of hip-hop (it's usually much too crass and vulgar for my taste), but when I heard a K'Maro song in a store in Montreal I was hooked! K'Maro's style is actually more toward R&B, though there are a couple of hip-hop tracks (notably "Femme Like U" which is the song that got me to buy this CD in the first place). Interestingly, the guy can sing so this is not just rap. Good voice, slightly raspy (sexy, even!), and he sings on key and can hit the notes! How many rappers can say that? Anyway, the surprise twist to all this is that K'Maro is fully bilingual and performs easily in either french or english, often within the same song! Very different and effective. And a bonus for those who might remember 80's pop music...the background vocals are by Nancy Martinez whose big hit was "For Tonight" back in the mid-80's. Overall, a very good and incredibly fun album. (And full lyrics are included so you can follow along and perhaps even try your hand at rapping in french!)
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great surprise, January 9, 2005
Usually I don't go for French rap, because I always thought that the language is too soft for that. K'maro is the first artist to my knowledge who makes French R&B and Rap-Music sound good. He already caught my attention with Femme like U when it was only on radio for promotion. Well done.
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by K-Maro 
