22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Solaar Makes Hip-Hop Sound "Obsolete", January 23, 2001
This review is from: Prose Combat (Audio CD)
This album can be appreciated on many levels. Students or native speakers of French will enjoy the humour and political commentary found in the lyrics, fans of jazz-rap will enjoy the synergy between the two genres found in the beats and fans of good hip-hop will simply enjoy listening to Claude "MC Solaar" M'Barali's flow.
The lyrics of the album deal with some of the same topics that an American hip-hop album would deal with, however, they seem to go deeper into the topic. The first cut "Obsolete" features Solaar rapping about how times have changed in his former homeland of Senegal, while "Superstarr" sees him musing on a friend who achieved superstar status while not having any skills. There are also some quite confrontational tracks "Concubine D'lehemoglobine" deals with the oppresive nature of war and "La Fin Justifie Les Moyens" is an exploration of the idea that the end justifies the means.
The beats are roughly the same as any other jazz-rap record, samples from 50s jazz albums and so on, but they appear much more laid back when coupled with the French language. "Concubine", for example, features the sound of the ocean for the opening 30 seconds before Solaar comes in very calmly with the opening words.
Solaar's flow is really what carries this album in my opinion. He has a clipped, precise delivery which can go on for up to 30 seconds acapella without sounding forced. Depending on the subject matter of the track, he can be both calm and laid back or confrontational - sometimes the delivery would appear on first listen to be the wrong one for the subject matter, later listens will reveal this to be a very clever effect.
Standout tracks would probably have to be "Obsolete", "La Fin", "Prose Combat", "Superstarr" and "Temps Mort" however the entire album is superb. Of particular note is track 9 which is a freestyle featuring a who's who of French rap.
The freestyle, as with the rest of the album, works on two levels. It can be appreciated purely for the considerable abilities of the MCs involved - especially when dealing with the French language. It can also be taken as suggestions of "if you enjoyed this album, here are some others you should try". The freestyle features such stars as Menelik, Soon E MC, Les Sages Poetes De La Rue and many others, all of whom are worth checking out solo (most of their albums can be found here as well).
There is no real reason why not to buy this album, whether you speak French, learn it, enoy the culture or just appreciate good hip-hop with fresh ideas and great skills - you will enjoy this one.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best French Rap CD ever recorded, June 4, 2005
This review is from: Prose Combat (Audio CD)
This is probably the best french rap disc ever recorded. The disc originally came out in 1994 which was probably one of the peak years for worldwide rap prodiction in terms of quality. This is the best album MC Solaar has ever recorded. If you like Dubmatique, French Affair, or numerous other groups in the past and present Quebec mainstream, you will love this one. Obsolete and Relations Humaines are especially good. This is one of the few CD's I've ever purchased in which every song on the disc is quality. I would recommend it to anyone. Even if you are not fluent in French you will be enhanced by the rythms.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
mc solaar, mc sogreat, March 6, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Prose Combat (Audio CD)
disregard the 1 star ratings as they are probably 1 star folk. heard this superb album the first time back in the good ole days of 1994 and still love it. all tracks good, some tracks are great. i still wonder why such talent can't make a spot on the charts here.
john in ny
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