Shaheedullah and Stereotypes

Some extremely likable pieces of love

My cousin, a Tower Records employee in Maryland USA handed me the promo copy of this LP over a month ago. I was quite happy. As I got home and inspected the album art, I became even happier- because Ali Shaheed Muhammad was making a conscious statement with the albums luscious artwork and inside sleeve photography. He was unashamedly proclaiming that which he never could whilst being the 'quiet man' of A Tribe Called Quest- his faith. So, setting it up as an 'Islamic album' of sorts, from a producer with absolutely tonnes of credibility, I obviously started getting some goose-bumps as to what this might sound like... I mean seriously, look at the track record- Mos Def, Divine Styler, Everlast? These are all Muslim-musicians from the hip-hop school who have made albums that gained across-the-board critical acclaim (from people who matter as well as those who don't!) More than that though, and especially in the case of Divine Styler, these rappers, conceptually at least, are making some of the most exciting music in the industry. Music that attempts to make a specific connection to the unseen elements of the earth, a total rejection of materialism, and a true value placed in spirituality.

Having said all of that, this particular album is not necessarily groundbreaking or seriously breathe-taking in many aspects. I love it, but it isn't. The sound is remarkably similar to that of ATCQ's last album 'The Love Movement' in that it's clean, contains some nice live instruments, perhaps a little (well-disguised) samples in there too and with the main emphasis on the rhythm, the groove, the ride. Ali Shaheed Muhammad's music doesn't excite as much as it soothes and affirms the listener. The lyrics on this album don't provoke as much as they please and praise (please the listener, praise the Creator).

Using a fairly simple recipe of MC's and female vocals, the secret of his musical ingredient lies within Shaheed's subtle and masterful mixing ability when it comes to the levels and quality of sound. The vocals, instruments and anything else you'll hear, whilst very live-sounding, come across as highly compressed, very produced, but unlike much obviously 'produced' material; this is never in danger of losing its soul. The opposite is true in fact, on cuts like 'Honey Child' the simple synth orchestrations travel so deep, so hypnotically into your mind that they create that most valuable of things in music- space. It's rare in music, and practically unheard of in hip-hop. A sort of freedom within the music (only gathered through this sort of repetition of a theme, much like Sufi-chants or other Islamic forms of music) that gives the listener a jump-off point where s/he can think, access a deeper level of their own minds. It doesn't sound too flattering does it? It sounds as if I'm saying "this music doesn't hold your attention well-enough, so you're going to think about other things when you listen to it..." But that's not what I'm saying at all, what I'm talking about here is a sort of maturity within the music that quite literally frees the listeners mind from the constraints of the music itself.

That's something only people with a deep knowledge of music can do, and Ali Shaheed has a track-record through the years that proves his love and knowledge of music are pretty much unquestionable. Let's not forget something here, this (still young) man is responsible for some of the greatest moments in what will one day be look upon as "the earlier years of hip-hop" from his time with A Tribe Called Quest. So if this album is not always as sharp or cutting edge as it would like to be lyrically, it more than makes up for that with an abundance of quality tracks (17 in all, with little filler) like the heavenly 'Tight' the ghostly 'All Right (Aight)' and the mid-90's soul-vibe of 'Part Of The Night' to name but three (and I mean it, this album has a whole lot of goodness on it). All in all, a lovely collection of sounds that may just be a little too overwhelming to hold together as a cohesive album, but which still manage to calm, soothe and affirm all good people out there who love positive and uplifting music. It's the sort of hip-hop that you can be confident with, it will deliver what it sets out to because of that truly masterful touch present on all aspects of the production. This piece, these pieces of soul come unquestionably recommended.

Ali Shaheed Muhammad's official website