Date: Wed, 28 May 2014 08:21:35 -0400
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/heardmentality/2014/05/the_natives_return_of_the_natives_released_today_on_porch_party_records.php
Albums we like
The Natives' 'Last Of The Natives' Released Today on Porch Party Records
By Sarah Bennett Tue., May 27 2014 at 12:25 PM
Categories: Albums we like
With a message planted in the conscious lyrics of late 1980s New York
hip-hop and beats stuck firmly in diverse-as-hell Long Beach, The Natives
is The International City's contemporary answer to groups like A Tribe
Called Quest and De La Soul.
Though The Natives' new album--Last of The Natives, out today on Porch
Party Records--doesn't even begin to touch the original Native Tongue
Posse's timeless knack for layered sampling (nor is there a chorus on the
whole thing), it still follows DNA strands through two generations of
musical evolution, giving Afrofuturism a lyrical update over splayed out
electronic beach beats that could only be rap fodder for SoCal kids.
Hip hop is my racquet, I treat it like a McEnroe/I beat the only black guy
up at the rapper show
Across nine original tracks (four songs on the album are actually audio
samples from movies that drop some heavy sociological thoughts into the
mix) the duo of DJ Gerrath McDaniels and MC Nativethoughts (aka Senay
Kenfe) create a new world order of conscious hip hop, one that eschews
constant jazz samples, overproduction and speed-demon flows for a more laid
back--Long Beach--approach to dissecting race, class and pop culture in our
modern world.
Last of the Natives is a long-time-coming extension of Kenfe's daily life,
which if you follow him on Facebook or attend his frequent local shows
(some at the Porch Party house), you'd know is a rare opportunity to think
about what it means to be black or white, poor or rich, from here or from
there in a West Coast world that purports to be post-everything.
In his daily photos, astute musings and posts, Kenfe (whose dad is from
Eritrea) doesn't try to provide answers to our society's shittier
realities, he just invites you to follow his lead as he explores the
bizarrities of L.A. public transit, drinks his daily Martinelli's apple
cider, tries to align his African heart with his Western mind, and comes up
with cheeky rhymes about Fukashima fish, Mrs. Doubtfire, Sean Kemp and
cholas "with dem penciled on eyebrows."
Black Wall Street, my style ain't a rental/I got my own insurance, got my
own dental
By playing shows with everyone from indie rock bands to mellow
singer-songwriters to the latest and greatest gangster freestylers, The
Natives have earned a steady and diverse following in both Long Beach and
L.A. Expect more from the LBC's own Native Tongue Posse. Open minds
necessary.
*Stream Last of the Natives here and order the vinyl **at
porchpartyrecords.bandcamp.com*<https://porchpartyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/last-of-the-natives>
http://porchpartyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/last-of-the-natives?from=embed
(image/jpeg attachment: natives.jpg)