Nation of Islam pride and antic humor.
Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age, its labored title a giveaway, is, of all things, clunky, retrograde, monotonous. Even Flavor Flav sounds spent. Attacking outmoded blue-eyed devil culture ("Hitler Day") may be bracing, but PE played the same trick more radically when they dissed Elvis. The metal-guitar and crunch-percussion thing ("Bedlam 13:13") is also tough, but the strategy's tired. Beset by scene stealers to the West (Dre and crew) and on their own home turf (Wu-Tang Clan, Nas), PE fight back with mere petulance. But it's mainly in light of their own grand, dangerous history that Public Enemy's present sounds so bleak.
Formerly with Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Michael Franti leads Spearhead toward one of rap's possible futures. A Gil Scott-Heron acolyte, he mixes upbeat politics and R&B-reggae-blues fusion. Spearhead lean slightly toward jazz (this year's easy move), but their warm rhythm and Franti's supple voice keep things fresh. Lacking even an eighth of PE's heyday power, this crew still boasts a telling advantage: It knows what time it is. (RS 698/699)
PAUL CORIO
After fronting groups like the Beatnigs and Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Bay Area mainstay Michael Franti found his biggest commercial success with this, the first Spearhead record released in '94. Flexing intelligent, conscious wordplay over exotic beats (think Arrested Development or the Fugees),
Home is hip-hop that makes you think.
