A thought came to me while I was listening to this – that there seems to be a greater optimism among the British black population compared to the black American population in the late Eighties. Perhaps because, although it’s by no means non-existent, institutional racism is less prevalent in the UK than the USA (see the Battle of Bamber Bridge for differences in UK and USA attitudes during WWII for example). Because this take on hip-hop is a much lighter fare than the anger of NWA, and reflects the rise of party culture as the UK moves out of the Eighties.
Feeling Free, for example, uses a hip-hop beat, but is a song about not letting life get you down or others define you -
“Yo, so if you ever havin' a problem
Don't run and hide, come out and face it head on
Because you're strong enough to win
And go on to pass through the test that life has to offer”
The big hits on here feature vocals by Caron Wheeler – Keep On Movin’ and Back To Life, tracks that still get airplay and represent the laid-back yet catchy sound of Soul II Soul. Another female vocalist features on two tracks that didn’t become hit singles but are both pretty solid – Feel Free and Happiness. This was Do’Reen, as she was known, sadly killed fleeing across a dual carriageway after being accused of shoplifting. Which is not so light and fluffy.
It’s not all purely hip-hop based. Holdin’ On is a kind of Afrobeat/Club mix and very catchy. African Dance (and the follow-on track, simply Dance) feature some acid-jazz style flute, and the idea of trance is laid down in the lyrics to Dance “Modern people tend to dance, with this music I'll put you in a trance”.
Regular readers of this blog may recall that I don’t normally get very excited about smooth music, but this kind of dance style, perhaps because of where it came in my life, has always been quite close to my heart.
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