New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Yung Punch Official Website) Within West African tradition, the griot is responsible for carrying the lineage and history of their people through storytelling and songs. They are part of a rich legacy that you must be born into; not just anyone can become a griot. Those who are born into the trade are taught the songs and stories that have been passed down from generation to generation, ensuring that the art's integrity and a village's history will be maintained. A fiery debate has surfaced time and again for decades as to whether or not the hip-hop emcee serves as a modern-day griot. Yung Punch describes himself as an 'entertainer, storyteller, motivator, griot' on his latest release, Brooklyn's Griot. Representing the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, NY, his efforts are reflective of the perpetual struggle between speaking about matters of urgency and catering to what will move units.
'Fly Away' finds Yung dropping come-on lines at the feet of his object of desire over piano triplets, keyboard bursts and crisp handclaps. With vocalist Mary C. providing the R&B hook, it could be a heavy rotation no-brainer. Almost all ten album cuts feature a different producer for each song, but that doesn't necessarily effect the continuity of this release. Richflyer takes the easy way out behind the boards for 'I Know You,' borrowing liberally from Chaka Khan's 'I Know You, I Live You.' There's no way that Yung could lose with this one; he's rhyming over the ample production originally provided for Ms. Khan. You can sense that he knows the formula will work as he blurts out, 'My mama gonna like this song!' right before he kicks the second verse. He gets in a memorable one-liner or two on 'Primetime' ('I'll make a movie out yo' ass, don't start to actin'') before Cheeze McNeeze butchers the affair with vocals senselessly drenched in Auto-Tune. It serves no other purpose than to remind the listener that the tool cannot turn a bad singer into a good one.
The obligatory champagne-in-the-club track appears in the form of 'Bottle's Up,' a minimal track in terms of its percussive elements. Once Yung's done raising a glass, a rock motif takes over on 'Thing For You' as a hard guitar riff steers the rhythm track. KoolKidKe steals the show on this song, but only by playing the gold digger role. It's on 'More Than Rap' that the title of 'griot' begins to have some validity. Over a drum kick that sounds more like a thunderclap, Yung breaks down the need for rappers to be their own entrepreneurs in today's music industry. It's advice that sounds as if it comes from learning lessons the hard way, so to share that information is certainly admirable.
The words of wisdom found on 'More Than Rap' leads into the bleak subject matter of 'Darfur.' Producer T. Jefferson paints a stark musical portrait of desolation as Yung discusses the genocide with those only concerned about their own block. 'All they hear is sex, drugs, money, and what more, but what about the rest of our world? So I'm like, 'Darfur!' And they like, 'What for?'' The connections made between the Darfur crisis and stateside economic strife as well as an overabundance of Black males in prison aren't always the most direct ones, but it represents a moment of global concern on an album that largely focuses on getting rather than giving. Regretfully, that moment only lasts five minutes, whereupon the listener is subjected to the sexual exploits revealed in 'Orgasm.'
Where Brooklyn's Griot is concerned, some will say that Yung Punch doesn't live up to the title. However, it could be concluded that he is exactly the type of griot that the American rap music industry will produce: one with a story to tell and advice to share with the people, but who ultimately reserves the right to fulfill their own needs first.
Reviewed by: Jason Randall Smith
Rating: 5 stars (out of 5)
