Mike Ladd “Welcome to the Afterfuture” (2000)
I had mixed feelings reading about this one in the book. Another
hip-hop album in a section of the list that has a few overlong albums in
that genre. On the other hand, reading of Ladd having lived in France,
India and the US, it seemed like that could add some point of difference to
his music.
Definitely loved this one! Opening track "5000 Miles West of the Future"
is all skittish beats and bass from outer space. “Airwave Hysteria”
gives a musical nod to Ladd’s Indian connection and features a clever
little modernised Elton John reference “Don’t shoot me, I’m just the piano programmer”.
The rest of the album is a whirling dervish of space-aged hip-hop.
Interesting beats meeting layers of strings and samples and big squelchy
bass. “Bladerunners” sounds like it’s sampling some old Bernard Hermann film score. Basically it’s a lot of good stuff.
The cherry on the top of this is that Ladd is a great lyricist. I
usually don’t pay much attention to lyrics, but he kept dropping great
lines that were clever, funny and with references pulled in from all
over the map. As it was I found myself taking it all in and walking
around with a grin on my face from listening.
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