Fake For Real

When people mention Jay Dee, a.k.a. J Dilla, they often talk about injustice. Many regret that this beatmaker, one of the most revered among his peers, starting with The Neptunes' Pharrell Williams, never met the success, and that he died much too early, due to a serious health disease. This infatuation for him, however, was not fully deserved.

Japan, among others, is the paradise of hip-hop as we like it. When the Japanese don't release exciting rap albums, they do the same with records from others. Concerning indie hip-hop, for example, we had already noticed the remarkable work done by Hue Records. And though the CD in itself was not extraordinarily packaged, we can also praise the label Nature Bliss for having rereleased Knowself's unofficial first album.

More than a rapper, Saul Williams is a poet. The guy built his career at NY's Nuyorican Poets Cafe, published books and became exposed to a large audience when a movie where he featured, Slam, received an award at the Festival de Cannes. All of this is great, but slam and spoken word are significantly different from rap, and practitioners are not always successful when time comes to record their lyrics. Amethyst Rock Star, the first album Williams released by 2001, demonstrated this. Despite his fame and the support he received from Rick Rubin at this time, it had been a huge disappointment.