I’ve mentioned a few times that I work at a cool hang in Hollywood called Space 1520. About a week ago, while I was walking around my store and listening to the Kanye West VH1 Storytellers performance, the idea ran through my mind of doing some sort of musical collaboration with my mother. Random thought, but pondered nonetheless. I had grown up listening to my mother and sister sing all the time, and by the time I was 16 my mom was an accomplished visual artist, poet, published author and playwright among other things. I pondered on what sort of style our album would be. Maybe a cross between Sweet Honey and The Rock and The Roots, Etta James meets Kanye West, or maybe something more in touch with out Southern roots, like the blues. The idea lasted all of three minutes and sixty seconds, but was one that stuck.
Fast forward to this past Sunday. I am cruising my weekly listings of upcoming shows and what do I see- an Amoeba in-store featuring Eligh and Jo Wilkinson to promote their brand new mother-son collaboration project. A bitter sweet smile slid across my face. Happy that I had found a show to review (Amoeba has the best in-stores and their FREE!) yet sad that the idea had already been in such quick rotation. It was a show I couldn’t miss and on Tuesday there I was front and center waiting to critique the action.
The well titled project, On Sacred Ground, features Eligh of California Hip-Hop collective Living Legends along with his mother, folk singer and passionate activist Jo Wilkinson. The two have come together to mesh their genres and generations- and judging by their show and the music on their Myspace (which I am playing over and over again right now) the timing couldn’t be better. At Amoeba, faced in front of family members and fans, the duo unveiled a sound that carried the best of both worlds, a down to earth hip-hop intuitive meeting the folk inspired ensemble which penetrated the mainly hip-hop audience.
Mama Jo held a warm spirit to the stage and to the melodic production of her son.
A personal favorite of mine was the song Poet Man, which she explained to the audience was inspired by a Living Legends fan who came up to her and thanked her for giving birth to Eligh, or the Poet Man as the fan referred to him. At times, the songs feel like Johnny Cash collaboration, something that Rick Reuben would have his hand in. The album features known MC’s Pigeon John, Slug of Atmosphere, and of course Eligh’s partner in crime, The Grouch. Most of the tunes carry a very positive partnership amidst the lyrics, with heavy tones of guidance and strength. Eligh even talks openly about smoking weed and girls, which means- seeing as he’s been rhyming for well over a decade- his subject matter won’t come to many, especially his mother, as a surprise.
A kid being an open book amongst their parents is such a rare thing, and my hope is that projects like these can break down those barriers and encourage more communication between generations. The chemistry and honesty between Eligh and Jo is inspiring to watch and see, and their jokes between each other make for a great show. This surely isn’t the Hip-Hop your mom thought you were listening too, but it sure could be the hip-hop you and your mom listen to together.
As Jo is standing on stage and wraps up their last song, she thanks the audience for embracing her into the hip-hop world. Eligh replies with a thank you mom for embarrassing the shit out of me and of course she responds with, “That’s what moms are for.”
A. Landon
www.loudvine.com
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