By L.F., Snowboard Canada
Loud, angry and funky as a skunk's gym socks, Paris provides a voice hip-hop sorely needs. Yes, rap music should make you shake your booty like a Polaroid picture. But it should also make you think critically about the social climate in which you live. Militant times call for militant minds, and George Bush's War on Terror has spurred Paris to write his most focused LP since 1992's Sleeping With The Enemy, which featured "Bush Killa," a song snipered at Dubya's dad. The controversial cover art - which depicts a low-flying commercial airplane headed for collision with the White House - hints in no subtle terms the by-any-means-necessary avenue Paris stomps to drill his point across. Like Michael Moore minus the smirk, P-Dog launches a full-scale verbal assault on U.S. congress, crooked police forces, the media (a.k.a. "the propaganda matrix”), and hollow celebrity do-gooders. Supported by aggressive, self-styled G-funk, and cameos by Dead Prez, Kam and Public Enemy, Paris challenges his listeners to join him in the revolution. Backed by an "Atomic Dog" interpolation, the Black Panther promises to "still be the one to expose the Beast when it's still un-American to be for peace." The track's title? "Freedom.”