Rating:
Genre:
World
Release Date: 10/15/2002
Good records work; great records have an organic unity. By their nature, tributes can rarely be more than good records, but somehow
Red Hot + Riot manages to transcend that. In part it's because it moves into uncharted territory, mixing African and African-American artists in ways that haven't happened before, all in tribute to the late
Fela Kuti (an apt subject for an AIDS fundraiser, since he died of the disease). And so there's rapping over
Afro-beat grooves (a refreshing change from lame
hip-hop beats),
jazz, and
R&B, African musicians playing
Afro-beat, and a whole lot more, plus some of the most conscious words you'll hear in many a year.
Mix Master Mike mashes up some
Fela cuts for the interludes, which makes for perfect breaks, especially the opener, which leads into the powerful
"Kalakuta Show" from two members of
Blackalicious. It's a record of highlights, such as the groove jam on
"Water Get No Enemy," with
D'Angelo,
Macy Gray,
Nile Rodgers, and jazzer
Roy Hargrove (who blows up a storm everywhere he appears on the disc) along with
Femi Kuti, or the scathing
"Shuffering and Shmiling," featuring
Femi's band,
Positive Force, behind
Dead Prez and
Talib Kweli, with Brazilian star
Jorge Ben adding rhythm guitar and some sublime scat singing.
Djali Madi Tounkara and
Common team up for a lovely
"Years of Tears and Sorrow," before Senegalese star
Cheikh Lô unleashes a fearsome
"Shankara/Lady," a song he played as a teen, adding talking drum and a thick sound. On
"Gentleman," Me'Shell NdegéOcello and saxophonist
Ron Blake work with
Yerba Buena to create a piece that sounds like the song
Talking Heads really wanted to do with
"Life During Wartime." The mood slows toward the end of the album after
"No Agreement," where
Fela alumnus
Tony Allen powers through the song, leading
Baaba Maal,
Ray Lema, and African rappers
Positive Black Soul. It leads into two non-
Fela songs,
Kelis on
"So Be It," which is pure
Fela in feel if not execution, and a dreamy, dubby mix of
Sade's
"By Your Side" -- a fair inclusion since, like
Fela, she's from Nigeria. It all ends with
"Trouble Sleep," really
Fela's only non-
Afro-beat song, with
Baaba Maal and
Taj Mahal singing over
Kaouding Cissoko's lulling kora, to close a record that's the perfect tribute to
Fela's revolutionary spirit.
~Chris Nickson, All Music Guide
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