MGF Reviews X-Clan – Return From Mecca

Reviews


X-Clan – Return From Mecca
Suburban Noize (release date: 10/31/2006)
Rap

During the short-lived African-American renaissance of the late ’80s and early ’90s, X-Clan was arguably the loudest, most relevant voice amongst the myriad of pro-Black rap acts at the time. 1990’s To The East Blackwards and 1992’s Xodus are time capsules unto themselves to an era that now seems so long ago.

The group disbanded in 1993 (they maintain it was merely a “sabbatical”) with their end coinciding with the inevitable demise of this generation’s last true “Black Pride” period.

In the interim, X-Clan’s members released a few anonymous solo albums, but mostly were left to watch from the sidelines as the genre they once embraced and help nurture, was pillaged and pulled apart by corporate America’s dirty hands. More tragically, X-Clan’s sonic essence was silenced forever when founding member, Professor X passed away from spinal meningitis earlier this year.

Return From Mecca brings together Brother J, Ultraman Ra Hanna, ACL, DJ FatJack, Kumu M. Haynes and Master China to continue the X-Clan legacy. And, a quick intro at the album’s beginning brings the listener up to speed on just who will be taking them on this ride.

It’s a very fine line between conveying a message and overstaying your welcome with a preachy sledgehammer, but, for the most part, X-Clan succeeds in speaking their mind without the soapbox.

“Why You Doin That” takes Black culture to task and places the mirror squarely in front of African-Americans, asking why our kids learn ringtones before the alphabet. “Self Destruct” continues on a similar theme and is even more pointed. While one of the album’s strongest tracks is “Prison”, which takes a look at the sobering statistics of Blacks in prison and goes so far as to offer up real solutions to a real problem.

That old school X-Clan spirit is captured on “Weapon X”, while KRS-One just kills it on the album’s best effort, “Speak the Truth”. He empties his clip on everyone from California’s Governator to the media to the organizers of all the “Hip Hop Summits” popping up in urban America.

Not everything hits the target, though.

“Atonement” seems stuck in first gear, with the makings of a very tight track just underneath the surface. “Funky for You” is hampered by a hook that is repetitive, rudimentary and out-of-place. And, “Space People” scores its only points with an always welcome reference to General Zod.

Return From Mecca won’t ring in another Afrocentric period in pop culture, but it proves that “substance” can still roll with “style””¦even if you can’t go home again.

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