ACL Music Fest 2014 Friday Reviews
By Thomas Fawcett, Fri., Oct. 3, 2014
Ana Tijoux
Vengo (Nacional)Vengo doesn't bust a single as indelible as "1977," title track off the 2008 album that put Ana Tijoux on the musical map from NYC to France, where she was born while her family lived in political exile from Chile. Nevertheless, the political MC's fourth long-player flashes the old-school boom bap of Golden Era hip-hop, deftly blending indigenous Andean roots and the revolutionary folk of Sixties nueva canción. KRS-One meets Inti-Illimani meets Victor Jara. Tijoux explores those ancestral roots on the opening title track, shoots verbal bullets at the patriarchy on "Antipatriarca," and tackles colonialism alongside Palestinian rapper Shadia Mansour on "Somos Sur." Throughout it all, Tijoux raps the atlas, addressing issues of global injustice, while remaining deeply spiritual and personal, most evident on "Emilia," a love song to her second offspring. Rapper, singer, mother, griot – Ana Tijoux does the land of poets proud. (4:15pm, Sculpture stage)
