Salaam
Positive Black Soul
Mango through Polygram
Reviewed by Iggy Kim
With airplay, Positive Black Soul's global debut album could be a chart-topping mainstream hit. With such melodies as the sugary and reggae-esque "Je Ne Sais Pas" (I Don't Know) even suburban grandparents could easily bop along on a sunny Sunday afternoon in the garden. Definitely a summer dance hit, too.
But Salaam is neither mindless nor schmaltz. Hailing from Senegal, PBS plays a hip blend of all that hip hop has matured into in this decade: sagacious rap, sophisticated melody arrangement, a smooth splicing of those ubiquitous samples, an easy versatility of vocal styles. Into this cool amalgam, home-grown Senegalese drumming and vocals settle effortlessly and without self-consciousness.
PBS reflects the soul of an Africa where independence on paper means nothing while the economic tyranny of the North spins the playing field upside down and hurtles parts of the South off altogether. This is the voice of, not post-colonial, but neo-colonial Africa in the New World Disorder.
Brimming with youth disaffection, African pride and nationalism, Salaam is proclaimed in French, English and Wolof. It opens with "Def Lo Xam" (Do What You Know), a hip hop assertion of identity and pride: "Don't undermine what I am/ Don't think you're better than me/ Sort out what you say/ And not what people say."
"Respect the Nubians" throws some cutting rap at those Africans overdosing on post-colonial trips, jumping the ship: "Suckers are talking about the motherland/ Just like they love her, get the hell out of it/ 'Cos I can see that's only sell-out shit/ Saying they're proud to be this and that/ But if you call them African/ They certainly have a heart attack."
The most haunting track is "Le Borreau Est Noir" (The Executioner is Black). It is PBS's defining statement on the bitterness of the neo-colonial order: "Democracy, democracy, what a terrific con/ The irony is, in Africa, we're in some sort of transition/ The same dominating the same, the dominated are dominated." It's an order full of hypocrisy: "I object to the directive, 'Buy Senegalese'/ ... You're not patriotic OK, some will harp on/ But I'm not any less than those ministers wearing chevignon/ They eat French food, their wives don the latest English fashion/ While I dash about to make ends meet Senegalese style."
But the angry young soulmasters' understanding of what's needed falls short when they call: "An African president for a new generation/ A hard dictator who'll clean up the mess/ Democracy's not for us, we're not mature, I guess." They give only passing approval to a previous generation of more conscious African radicals: "Sankara I liked him, 'twas sad/ Annihilated like all those blokes who saw the truth, too bad."
Coming from an ideologically disenfranchised generation, PBS wields hip hop in place of politics. "President D'Afrique" (President of Africa) is a cheeky anthem to pan-African nationalism, with a decree imposing "rap democracy" under a PBS presidency across the continent. Beneath the cheek is solemn tribute to South Africa's democratic gains, with a sample of President Mandela's inauguration speech opening the track.
Salaam is more compelling with every listen. French and Wolof are definitely made for soothing hip hop poetry. Senegal's traditional fast melodic vocals, globally popularised by Youssou N'Dour, provide an added verve to a thoroughly infectious mix.