While his music shows a fair amount of variation, most of Capleton's material is planted firmly in Jamaican soil.
He constantly lapses into Rastafarian chants, invoking and praising King Selassie, the emperor of Ethiopia who is seen by Rastafarians as their savior. And he devotes an entire song to asking Jah (the Rastafi abbreviation of "Jehovah") to "work it out."
Unfortunately, Capleton's attempts to branch out from his spiritual meandering leave much to be desired. His social commentary in tracks such as "Mashing Up the Earth" is a barrage of confusing metaphors speaking out against just about everything.
His attempts at love songs are even more awkward -- Capleton's raw voice, while well-suited to spitting out reggae chants, just can't pull off the crooning vocals of "In Your Eyes."
But he's willing to try. And while the results might not be blazin', they're still hot enough to give you a pretty bad sunburn.
By Graham Parker
4th Avenue Jones
No Plan B
Four Stars
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At last week's West Coast Hip-Hop Summit, Minister Louis Farrakhan maintained that rap would not reach its full potential until artists started doing what was "right" and not just what was "popular."
With its album No Plan B, 4th Avenue Jones has delivered an excellent example of that.
The group is upbeat and is a true band, which is a rarity in hip hop. Like the Philadelphia outfit The Roots, the Jones' features a number of live musicians, including a bassist, a drummer and a violinist. The instrumentation is tight throughout, making each song that much more warm and soulful.
The music complements the vocalists nicely. Whereas female singers are sometimes used as gimmicks on other rap albums, Tena Jones' strong singing and rapping is integral to the success of No Plan B. The two male rappers, Ahmad and Jabu, effectively work as a tag team with insightful lyrics and smooth flow.
Rhyming about topics ranging from being a musician on the road in "Travellin' Man," to staying cool during hard times in "Fantasy is Reality," they don't hesitate to point to their faith as a source of strength.
Due to its Christian bent, some might consider No Plan B to be lacking in edge. After all, it's free of profanity. It has also thrown out any grisly stories of street shootings or gory details of sexual conquests.
This lack of traditional rap material does not mean the album is generic "Hip-Hop Lite." 4th Avenue Jones keeps it real and doesn't ignore the harsh truths of life on the street. The group just chooses not to glorify it, instead rapping and singing about how to overcome it. While the group does make music with a message, its members do well to stay away from being too preachy or pretentious.
The results are powerful songs performed with a real sense of humility and earnestness. Closing out the album, "My World," offers the group members' optimistic visions of a world in which marriages survive and children thrive.
In the end, 4th Avenue Jones has made great music with an equally powerful message. With No Plan B, this rap band seems to have created an album that is both "right" and "popular."
By Elliott Dube
Lou Mosley
Finally
Three Stars
Must every up-and-coming R&B artist be such a hopeless romantic?
On Finally, Lou Mosley sings to a mellow blend of slow, synthesized beats that are imitative of Marvin Gaye. These grooving R&B tunes are occasionally enhanced by stark piano chords.
Mosley's voice, smooth and melodic, is an appropriate accompaniment to his for-the-ladies lyrics, reminiscent of artists like Usher. Female backup vocals layer the music and soften up select tracks.
While the work on Finally undoubtedly sounds polished and complete, the album is ultimately brought down by its utter lack of variation. The first few tracks delve into quicker beats and might even have the listener singing along, like in the danceable, upbeat track "It's Your Love." Here, fast violin playing makes for added rhythm and a romantic undertone.
But it doesn't take long for the monotony of the music to settle in, as the downbeat tracks seem to mesh together into one never-ending song.
Perhaps the remainder of the album seems to drag on because there are no inventive lyrics to compensate for the mellowness of the beats.
Mosley devotes the album, save one track, to his feelings toward a nameless woman. These emotions develop from raw sexual desire (the interesting part of the album) to sweet, monogamous love (the part where it gets really boring).
Not to cast an irreverent light on Mosley's undying love or anything, but after 10 consecutive tracks such as "Can We Share Love," "Wanna Give You All My Love" and "All I Wanna Do," the listener is left slightly nauseated and in dire need of something different.
Mosley makes a near save with "Me and You," a track close to the end of the LP in which he picks up the pace just enough to provoke a tad of head-bopping from the listener.
But the final track is a prolonged radio edit version of the first track, "Slow Dance," which finally brings Finally to a close that is ideal for the dimly lit dance floor full of lovers.
By Caroline Lindsey
