Paris
Sonic Jihad (Guerilla Funk) In this age of the lowest common denominator, dissenting opinions have all but disappeared from the rap game. No longer are we apt to hear a KRS-One teaching an alternative history lesson, let alone an Ice Cube lambasting a mayor and his police force. According to Paris, this has happened by design. Corporate pirates have made it a point to handsomely reward tomfoolery, ensuring that relevant discourse never develops within their inescapable maze of seized media networks. Countering such fascist conspiracy with the same sort of risqué content and courage that got Paris in trouble with the first Bush administration, Sonic Jihad is a jolting wake-up call for those still cognizant enough to read between the lines of repression. As “What Would You Do?” characterizes the 9/11 catastrophe as an inside job used to coerce us into giving up our civil liberties, “Evil” pinpoints distinct facets of institutional racism such as under-funded schools and the disproportionate enforcement of drug laws. Emphatic in his stance against injustice, Paris recruits the lyrical aid of Public Enemy, Dead Prez, Capleton, and Kam in order to “hold court in the streets ’til these pigs comply.” With classic G-funk sensibilities guiding its head-on course, Sonic Jihad encapsulates an entire decade of firebrand rap. On “Field Nigga Boogie,” Paris comes across as fresh and provocative as he did in 1990 with the release of his breakthrough The Devil Made Me Do It. This is an album that has no business slipping through the cracks, even a cursory look at its cover art should be enough to yield controversy.
This article appears in Tom ‘Leatherface’ Delay.