Customer Reviews

Sketches of My Culture

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

Lord but this is an embarrassing production. Leonard Nimoy albums manifest more soul than this excruciating vanity project. At its best, the "music" here soars to the level of an uplifting jingle in a pharmaceutical ad. The spoken word content consists of a steady drone of Cornel's nebulous after-school-special pieties, leavened with the odd statistic. I'm giving copies away as stocking stuffers this Christmas to my academic friends.

On page 87 of The Cornel West Reader, Dr. West explains that he and W.E.B. Dubois "are birds of a very different feather." How so? Well, it seems that West is "much closer (and proudly so) to the funk of a James Brown or George Clinton, the soul of a Curtis Mayfield, Richard Pryor or Aretha Franklin than [Dubois)."

This would seem to be an unseemly way of talking about oneself. Surely it is a task to be left to someone other than Cornel West to remark upon his resemblance to James Brown and Aretha Franklin. (This is comparable in its shamelessness to Camille Paglia's habit of blathering about how brilliant she is. That's simply not for you to say, dear. If you demonstrate the trait, then the world will notice. )

A thought experiment: Suppose some white academic offered a parallel explanation of the differences between himself and Richard Hofstader (R.I.P.) "I am much closer to the blistering surf guitar pyrotechnics of Dick Dale, the ethereal harmonies of Brian Wilson, and the rhythmic thunder of Led Zeppelin drummer John 'Bonzo' Bonham than Hofstader." I dare say that the author of such a statement would be written off as a flake, and rightly so.

Anyway, West has been flogging these absurd comparisons of himself to musicians for years now. So here we finally have a chance to evaluate directly the validity of his claims to James Brown-like super-soulfulness .

Well, Dr. West, I knew James Brown. James Brown was a friend of mine. And you, sir, are no James Brown.

This is an utterly inexplicable thing. It will provoke disbelief. Confound your friends with it.

The prof has listened to Sly & the Family Stone and Prince, but he can't sing and he can't rap either.
If you're into political raps, go for Gil Scott Heron.

This cd is a fragrant, steaming pile of .... For one thing, the production is weak, e.g. the hakuna matata-inspired "journey." The lyrics are embarrassingly inane for a Harvard professor. "soothez our bruises," "they and us will never forget," "drum major for justice," (re MLK). If you want a well-done black nationalist/damn the man release, buy "Party Music" by the Coup (on 75Ark). At least they can rap and the tracks are solid. Cornel West needs to stick to whatever Harvard pays him to do.

I've been to a few of his lectures, and I truly cannot dismiss the fact that Cornell is one of the most dynamic speakers I've ever seen, and met in my lifetime. Out of the great respect that I have for the man; I wish this CD would just go away! It's like your drunk uncle showing up to your high school party and embarrassing you by showing your friends some of the "moves" they used to do back in the day.

When I initially heard previews of the CD I liked some songs and disliked the sound of others. When I heard Cornel talk (3 hours) on CSpan recently before his surgery, he spoke at length about this CD and its aim - an attempt to use music and the word in a variety of forms to help reach and educate young people about their past while inspiring them to continue the struggle. He adamently proclaimed that it wasn't "rap" cd - but mainly spoken word poetry behind a rich variety forms from the music he talks about. The purpose of the CD? To connect with the younger generation and pass on the history. I shared some of the CD with my students in class (at-risk urban middle school)and they really liked it. Why? Because through the music (good and bad) they got the message and had much to say about it. In this sense I think it succeeds - and that was the point. This CD defies catagorization - educational, maybe? West was a keynote participant in the first Hip-Hop Summit - The Political Influence held last June 2001. Here he spoke of the importance of each generation understanding its past and where it came from - especially within music. This CD seems to encapsulate his message during that summit. As for achieving its purpose - this CD gets 5 stars.

It took me the longest time to figure out what this recording reminded me off, but it finally came to me. Back in high school a buddy of mine had this old lp from like the 1950s entitled "Poitier Meets Plato." It was Sidney Poitier giving dramatic readings of passages from Plato's Republic to backing tracks of hokey beatnik bongo jazz, real beret-and-goatee-groovy-daddy-o kind of stuff. The mega-solemnity of the spoken part and the cheesiness of the musical part made for a hysterically funny combination. It made us laugh to the point of physical pain. This record has something of the same thing going on, but it's nowhere near as much fun. I'd give big money to get my hands on the Poitier/Plato album again.

Cornel West's books are largely unreadable--which is O.K. because they are also irrelevant. The problem with that observation is the people who think he's a "great mind" don't read him--which is also O.K. because couldn't understand him if they tried.

The beauty of this abominable mess of a CD is that it allows the huddled masses the opportunity to HEAR this foppish clown with their own ears.

Buy it for the camp value alone.

Don't get this CD because you like hip-hop, or heard that some of the tracks are catchy, because you'll be disappointed. This CD is not as much entertainment as it is social and historical commentary. West has put together an extraordinary musical exploration of what it means to be black in America. He is not content to merely report, however - he is opinionated and blunt, much like bonafide rap stars, only this one happens to teach at Princeton University. (The CD was recorded while he was teaching at Harvard.)

I highly recommend this CD. "Sketches of My Culture" is a wonderful and accessible introduction to one of America's finest scholars.