Truth Versus News Incorporated [ 2024 January 07 ]

2024

audio review : Done By The Forces Of Nature ( song ) … Jungle Brothers

“Tickle tickle, trickle trickle; you can’t buy Nature with a nickel,” Afrika insists before stopping what is supposed to be his second verse for an impromptu saxophone break. That’s one of several quirky bits that help make this song; the title track of the second Jungle Brothers album; the gem it is. “I’ll walk a mile for a funky beat,” Mike G says and this one; a fusion of hip-hop and jazz; certainly is.

my rating : 4 of 5

1989

audio review : Ghetto Music [ The Blueprint Of Hip-Hop ] ( album ) … Boogie Down Productions

audio review : Ghetto Music [ The Blueprint Of Hip-Hop ] ( album ) ... Boogie Down Productions

KRS-One is The Teacher and, as the title of this album suggests, his classes focus, almost exclusively, on two main subjects. Rapping about rap is appropriate enough. The genre is inherently lyrical. It’s his obsession with race, specifically “the black race”, that gets tiresome. Not that this isn’t good (Ghetto) Music because it is. The beats are “slamming” and the aforementioned rhymes are far from wack.

my rating : 4 of 5

1989

video review : Killers Of The Flower Moon

video review : Killers Of The Flower Moon

Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon is, coming after The Irishman, somewhat of a disappointment. There is suspense, at least for those unfamiliar with David Grann’s book about The Osage Murders, but it comes scantily as is often the case with stories based on real-life events. The acting, led by Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, is generally superb, along with the cinematography. It’s the convoluted plot that could use a shot in the belly.

Headrights money is an underlining theme here, but if you’re not paying attention, you could easily get lost on the reservation. Plot-turning revelations happen in a flash. It’s hard, for example, to keep count of how many people are Killed with little fanfare. This is, in that sense, another Scorsese gangster flick. Being set in mostly 1920s Oklahoma; a time and place where a homely pie-faced Lily Gladstone could pass as “beautiful”; is what distinguishes it.

my rating : 3 of 5

2023