Joyful Rebellion

Artist	k-os
Format	CD
Genre	Rap
Label Name	Astralwerks
Producer	Kevin Edmonds, k-os, Greg O'Shea
Release Date	2004 09 21
Song List	1: Emcee Murdah (3:31) 2: Crucial (3:25) 3: Man I Used to Be (5:04) 4: Crabbuckit (3:48) 5: B-Boy Stance (4:00) 6: Commandante (3:45) 7: The Love Song (4:18) 8: Hallelujah (4:17) 9: Clap Ur Handz (1:20) 10: Dirty Water (4:14) 11: One Hood (Jissy Homicide) (3:29) 12: Parercutz (15:27)
Style.Categories	Underground Rap, Alternative Rap

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Anyone familiar with the frazzled beats and rhymes of K-Os' 2003 debut should have expected an even more ambitious next step. Fittingly, Joyful Rebellion adds further colors to the Toronto-based artist's palette of both rapping and singing, and emphasizes musical flourishes that were only sketches on Exit. He begins the album as a man given the manual with which to save hip-hop. Is it from God? Angels? Aliens? Unclear. But K-Os' philosophy allows for the force to be both one and three -- a brand new trinity -- as long as that mandate serves to enrich the minds of the world and its MCs. Heady stuff. But it's brought with engaging passion from K-Os, and his hybridized musical backgrounds point the rap form in intriguing directions. "Emcee Murdah" laments artistic stagnation and crass commercialization over acoustic guitars and a chorus break straight out of Arthur Lee and Love; the wiry reggae of "Crucial" examines similar themes, and suggests that contemporary hip-hop's populist plateau has separated from its once-vibrant root system. One of K-Os' most interesting positions on Rebellion is how conscious he is of keeping hip-hop pure even as he experiments. The clattering snare loop of "B-Boy Stance" is straight out of New York City at the dawn of the 1980s. But there's restlessness even as K-Os embraces hip-hop's birthing elements. "It's so hard to remain authentic," he muses over the cut-up intro, which makes his B-boy stance as much comforting haven as it is throwback. Likewise, his collaboration with en vogue Canadian indie songwriter Sam Roberts is qualified. "[I] don't want it to be the 'rock song'," he says in the liners for "Dirty Water." Maybe it is -- Roberts' warm electric guitar wraps around the jumpy electronic percussion, and the vocals cross fluidly between singing and rapping. But K-Os' hand-wringing isn't necessary, as "Water" is one of Rebellion's most succinct moments. Other highlights on the record include the pulsing, hoo-hooing nod to vintage Michael Jackson (the unfortunately titled "Man I Used to Be") and the crackling beats and swirling strings of "Love Song" ("Chaotical ambiotical fluid/The rap druid that's fluid..."). K-Os doesn't necessarily pursue Rebellion's themes far enough. But give him a break -- it's only the cat's second album. His genre meshes and organic raps do keep the conversation about hip-hop's revitalization open, and that's what's really crucial. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide