THE FAMILY - Forty-First Parallel

Best Sound

Fifteen tracks with few concessions to easy listening, two Mcs with good technique and intention, a capable DJ who also handles the productions, and a price tag that is exciting to say the least. This is the picture of a long-awaited record that we had already foreshadowed through some of the most beautiful participations of the past year ( Dj Enzo's album and that of Chief and Associates). An imaginary journey traveling along an ideal geographical straight line, the forty-first parallel precisely, which connects Naples to New York; a journey that “retraces” the roads so dear to American Hip Hop not depriving them of their “original” matrix but giving them a new soul and renewed interest. Thickness, therefore to be sold, a global dimension that while clinging with all its nails to the “much-named, and sometimes unknown, Neapolitan tradition manages to overcome every barrier, nullify every goegraphic boundary while remaining enclosed in a “simple” core as  Is that of every Family. Love, peace, unity and brotherhood at the base of every family as at the base of a culture: Hip Hop. So don't be frightened by such extreme use of Neapolitan dialect and some, hopefully ironic, invective of the protagonists, Polo and Sha-One, know that the CD's internal booklet contains all the lyrics “translated” into Italian. The nonetheless overwhelming “flow” of the two mc's will captivate you from the very beginning and with careful listening you will easily understand...be tempted. Beginning with “Mast,” a “classic” introductory track “...we split money and earnings/we fled to the countryside with guards on our heels for four designs...” through “La Famiglia” and “C.N.E.F.” (the latter you may have already heard on some Network) until you get to two “superior” pieces like “Odyssey” and “Hunger”; you will find different atmospheres, some never too cumbersome singing, good “scrappy” parts but above all two really smart Mc's often able to amaze you. Personally I wasn't very convinced by some productions, in my opinion a bit too ’glossy“ (I had the impression there were a lot of played parts); I prefer when the whole thing has a rougher and more ignorant sound even if I have to admit that a song like ”Odyssey“ turns out perfect maybe also for its ”peculiarity“. As the holidays are approaching and as I recommend giving Music as a gift...all good things come to few words.

By Vez
December 1998