Dessa is a poet come to rap through the practice of slam. She authored a book, Spiral Bound, and she also teaches music. In a nutshell, she is exactly what to expect, if you want to promote a respectable kind of hip-hop and to distance yourself from the clichés of gangsta rap. However, the only woman in Doomtree shouldn't put off the others, those refusing to use ethical criteria when assessing records. Margret Wander is not only a rapper for grannies. As a matter of fact, her albums are generally strong, starting with the first, A Badly Broken Code.
This is undeniably a neat and tidy form of hip-hop. Dessa has a literary take on her lyrics, which are rich with metaphors. Her themes - childhood reminiscences and brotherly love on "Children’s Work", relationship issues on "Mineshaft II" and "Go Home", and indefectible friendship on "Crew" – are closer to the mature and intimist posture of the singers-songwriters from the 70's, than to the outrages of rap music. Dessa's kind of rap music, actually, is not really rap music. Her background is still visible: this is more slam poetry, or spoken word, than playful wordplays with the beats. She sings, too, and quite often. She does it a cappella on "Poor Atlas", as she does with her other band, the 100% female one: the Boy Sopranos.
Last but not least, her music – she produces herself, or with the help of Doomtree affiliates like MK Larada, Lazerbeak, Cecil Otter, or Paper Tiger – is open to "real" instruments, played as such, or sampled. And it is quite diverse. It goes from some jazzy sounds and a R&B hook on "Dixon’s Girl", to an electric guitar on the damn good "Mineshaft II" or, later on, to the Easter-European overtones of "Matches to Paper Dolls", the straighter rap music of "Seamstress", or the Hawaiian guitar of "Crew". There is also "The Chaconne", a haunted song in the style of Antony and the Johnsons, supported by Matthew Santos, who also worked with Lupe Fiasco.
These tracks are eclectic, but they are remarkable. They contribute to the undeniable quality of this record from Dessa Darling. A record that, for once, can be shared with the self-righteous.
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