Mojoe,
classic.ghetto.soul



Label: Music World Entertainment

(4 out of 5)

In 1979 rap rose from New York's hip-hop block parties to international attention with the Sugarhill Gang's novelty hit "Rapper's Delight." Most listeners thought it a passing trend, and despite its vast influence on pop and rock ever since, many still do — go figure.

With their accomplished debut, classic.ghetto.soul, San Antonio rappers Mojoe offer us a peek into rap's future. The duo of Charles "Easy Lee" Peters and Treson "Tre" Scipio, who first attracted national attention at Austin's SXSW festival, proudly talk up their Texas roots, and their elastic Third Coast sound screams — or, more accurately, slurs — sun-soaked southern hip-hop. In front of a funky, jazzy, sweaty, and soulful live band that recalls, without copying, the Isely Brothers, Al Green, Frankie Beverly and Maze, and even Minnie Ripperton, Mojoe feels like a budding creative juggernaut.

To discuss standouts from classic.ghetto.soul would detract from the way it flows organically from the opening notes of the "Intro," with its Earth, Wind & Fire patterned vocals and lighter-than-air guitar work, through tracks like the affirmative "Gold Tooth Diva," the action-oriented "The Blues," the Beat-jazzy "A Cool Poem," the touching, nostalgic "Sweetwater," and the old-school "Last Words."

classic.ghetto.soul deserves to stand or fall as an integrated whole. Quite simply it does much more than stand: it soars, held aloft by exemplary lyrics and a stunning musical backdrop that bodes well for the future of rap as it heads toward its fourth decade as a mainstream art form.

Reviewed by Adam Black
September 7, 2006