Afu-Ra - Life Force Radio (May 21, 2002)

In the year 2000, rapper Afu-Ra, an apprentice of Jeru The Damaja who appeared on his The Sun Rises In The East and Wrath of The Math, released his solo debut Body Of The Life Force. While decidedly free of any Damaja-laced tirades, Afu managed to finagle production and cameo spots from the likes of DJ Premier, the Cocoa Brovaz, Gza/Genius, Masta Killa, DJ Muggs, and Da Beatminerz. It gained a small cult following, and Afu-ra was encouraged to swing for the fences a second time.

So when Koch Records announced Life Force Radio, Afu-Ra's follow-up, expectations rose exponentially. However, both its guest list and its production seemed to downgrade from the debut, and the concept of a radio station called "Life Force Radio", one which seems to play nothing but Afu-Ra's shit, was a pure example of what suspension of disbelief was all about.

Life Force Radio ended up not doing as well as the man's debut. Undeterred, Afu-Ra elected to continue to not work with Jeru The Damaja and, instead, stuck by his own weed carriers while they all attempted to figure out just who, exactly, was the carrier of said weed in that relationship.

1. ASUN / THE MESSAGE (FEAT ASUN THE BLACK SUN)
No comment.

2. SCAT MAN
I didn't like the beat, but I appreciated Afu-Ra's rhymes on here. He sounds about the same as he did on Body Of The Life Force, but that style still works when paired up with the right instrumental. I like the fact that the rhymes are fast and furious, but then the "hook" is sing-songy. But, yeah, not liking the beat kind of ruined shit for me.

3. STICK UP (FEAT BIG DADDY KANE)
Afu-Ra and Big Daddy Kane don't make for the most natural pairing, but they both sound alright over this dull Curt Cazal instrumental. I was left wishing that this collaboration took place over a more majestic beat. Unlike some of Kane's other recent cameos, though, this one didn't feature any bars that stood out, making this simply a serviceable song.

4. HIP HOP (FEAT RESPECT)
Easy Mo Bee's loud, crashing beat sounds like a perfect fit for M.O.P. However, that duo showed up at the studio on the wrong day, and ended up on an entirely different track, leaving Afu all by his lonesome. He doesn't sound bad on here at all, although the speed-rapping was a bit much, but we're all ignoring the bigger story: I just wrote about producer Easy Mo Bee on two consecutive days. How cool is that? Somebody give that guy a deal to release a CD of popular rappers rhyming to his distinctive beats: the genre could certainly use it.

5. CROSSFIRE (FEAT M.O.P.)
Billy Danze gets slightly political on here, threatening to invade Kuwait and shoot [Osama Bin Laden] in the face" for causing the collapse of the Twin Towers. He usually sounds animated anyway, but on here, he's fucking pissed off. Sadly, that ends up being the only truly memorable thing about this track.

6. OPEN (FEAT TEENA MARIE)
This was corny as hell. Afu's "uniquely argyle" wardrobe choices for Wednesday was a funny description, but I cannot believe that Afu-Ra's handlers were so concerned with getting the man a wider audience that they committed to a radio friendly single (one which never got any burn on the airwaves). And I was left feeling worse for Teena "Square Biz" Marie than I did when I found out that she signed with Cash Money Records. Groan.

7. LYRICAL MONSTER
Not the greatest Primo beat, but it sounds alright underneath Afu-Ra's spittle. Unlike Primo's work with Afu's mentor Jeru The Damaja, though, this sounds like DJ Premier made a beat for the highest bidder, instead of crafting the track with the artist's involvement: The Sun Rises In The East is as much a Primo masterpiece as it is Jeru's.

8. MISS YOU (FEAT ALANA DA FONSECA)
Meh.

9. PERVERTED MONKS (FEAT A-SUN, CA-SEE, & RESPECT)
Easy Mo Bee's beat was actually pretty damn good, and Afu fit it like a glove. Unfortunately, his weed carriers (who also make up most of Afu-Ra's crew, the Perverted Monks, who later managed to release one album) also appear on here, and each time the mic is passed, the transition is jarring.

10. GHETTO CITY STREETS (SKIT)
Even though there is singing featured on this skit, this still ended up being a spoken word interlude. Pass.

11. READJUSTMENT (FEAT Q)
Uses the same David Axelrod sample (from "Smile") that Pete Rock used on "Strange Fruit" and Lord FInesse rocked over "Actual Facts". However, while those two beatmasters made incredible beats off of six seconds of an Axelrod track, for some reason Easy Mo Bee can't do the same. I didn't really like this at all.

12. 1,2,3
Curt Cazal's beat is almost too old-school: it sounds like it's scoring the era of Prohibition. Afu's chorus is also really weird. ("Who loves you better: your mother, wife, or daughter?" The fuck?) Those were the main reasons I couldn't get into this song. Well, those, and the final verse, which just clinches it.

13. THINK BEFORE YOU... (FEAT JAHDAN)
Sounds like a poor man's version of Body Of The Life Force's "D&D Soundclash". Guest star Jahdan comes off as an alternate universe Busta Rhymes, one who prefers singing to rapping. Other than that, this song wasn't all that bad, but I'm missing Afu-Ra's debut more and more now.

14. AURAL FIXATION (FEAT THE HUMAN ORCHESTRA)
Hearing Afu-Ra rhyming over the accompaniment of a human beatbox sounds like the essence of true hip hop. In reality, it was probably cheaper to get someone to make the music with their mouth than it would be to hire musicians: someone had to somehow pay for both The Rza and Big Daddy Kane to appear on the same album, after all.

15. DANGEROUS LANGUAGE (FEAT RZA (AS BOBBY DIGITAL))
I'm sure Afu was also disappointed that his guest star didn't also handle the beat. However, fellow Wu-Element True Master does a great job with it, and the two men sound as if they had been rhyming together for years. Even though The Rza is in full-on Bobby Digital bullshit hip hop superhero mode, his verse is less cryptic than usual, making this song that much more enjoyable.

16. SACRED WARS (FEAT DON PARMAZHANE & THE BLOB)
I'll be honest: when I first heard this track, I thought it was a gag: the rhymes of the guests are so far off the mark that I thought this was a skit. Alas, I was wrong: Don Parmazhane is a rapper who also appeared on Guru's Baldhead Slick & Da Click album. So he seems to be well liked in the Gang Starr Foundation. As such, everybody was dead serious on here.

17. BLVD. (FEAT GURU)
Afu actually uses the phrase "she sells seashells by the seashore". No, seriously, he really does. His lyrics do get better, but that corny misstep ruins the song for me. Well, that, and the experimental, mostlky bland DJ Premier beat. Well, those, and the fact that Guru only appears on the hook. At least I can finally shut this Life Force Radio off.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Life Force Radio only works if you buy into the concept if an entire of Afu-Ra tracks playing back-to-back on an actual station, which is a feat that the man is simply not capable of. This album is wildly inconsistent, with Afu's street tales and quasi-religious mathematic psychobabble alternating with...songs for the ladies? The hell? The production has also taken a step backward from Body Of The Life Force, leaving many of Afu's lyrics buried in horrific instrumentals. The man just cannot carry an entire album by himself. Well, maybe he could, if he got DJ Premier to produce the whole sucker, but even Primo's beats on here sound bargain-basement. A disappointment.

BUY OR BURN? Burn this if you must. Afu-Ra has followed his mentor into the fire of horrible production values, and there may or may not be any sort of an escape to hope for.

BEST TRACKS: "Dangerous Language"; "Lyrical Monster"

-Max

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Afu-Fa - Body Of The Life Force

Afu-Ra - Body Of The Life Force (October 10, 2000)

Afu-Ra, born with the terribly ordinary name of Aaron Phillip, is a young New York rapper best known for his interests in martial arts, chess, and his rhyme affiliation with the Gangstarr Foundation, specifically with fellow mental staminalist Jeru the Damaja. In fact, Afu made his (I suppose you could call it) mainstream debut on Jeru's classic first album The Sun Rises In The East, and became best known as "the guy that sounds like a younger version of Jeru".

Originally signed to Gee Street records, which was also the home to seminal hip hop favorites Gravediggaz and, um, Stereo MC's ("Connected" is still a good song, for those keeping count), Afu-Ra found his home at indie graveyard Koch Records, the label where artists go when they want the artistic freedom to release whatever they want without the cumbersome desire to actually sell fucking records, so it should make sense when I tell you that Afu-Ra sold seventy billion copies of his debut, Body Of The Life Force. What do you mean, that last sentence didn't make sense?

Body Of The Life Force is known today as an underground classic, with its intelligent rhymes, mostly revolving around how much better and smarter Afu-Ra is when compared to you, and the beats, provided by DJ Premier and other beatmakers handpicked by Primo himself. In fact, Primo's fingerprints are all over this debut, and when you remember that Primo produced Jeru's first two albums from start to finish, it'll cause your heart to die just a tiny bit. Jeru the Damaja also doesn't make anything even remotely resembling a guest appearance on Body Of The Life Force, but that probably has less to do with any fallout with his protege and everything to do with his "I Hate Primo" campaign and fan club that he was hell-bent on running at the time.

Whatever.

1. INTRO [THE BODY OF THE LIFE FORCE] (FEAT ASUN THE BLACK SUN)
Spoken word rap album intros...can't trust it!

2. SOUL ASSASSINATION
A very bland DJ Muggs offering, on which he tries out his worst DJ Premier impersonation, but Afu comes out the gate as a seemingly fully-realized emcee, which is rare in this business.

3. DEFEAT
The first of five DJ Premier beats fails to impress.

4. BIG ACTS, LITTLE ACTS (FEAT GZA/GENIUS)
As a Wu-Tang stan, you can imagine that this was the first song I skipped to after ripping the plastic off. Not a bad song at all, although I prefer the DJ Premier remix to this True Master instrumental on general principle alone.

5. QUOTATIONS
Still don't like acapella interludes. Next!

6. D&D SOUNDCLASH (FEAT COCOA BROVAZ & JAHDAN)
A surprisingly great collaborative effort between the Boot Camp Clik and whatever the hell Primo's crew calls themselves. (It's not still the Gangstarr Foundation, is it?) The beat itself is good enough to make you wonder why radio doesn't play more good shit like this.

7. MIC STANCE
While this song is better than "Defeat", Primo's stabs into the higher register will hurt your ears after a brief listen.

8. CALIENTE (FEAT RASHEEDAH)
I can't imagine either Gee Street or Koch Records really looking for that hit radio single to push Body Of The Life Force, so the inclusion of this hot garbage puzzles me to this day. Afu, what the fuck?

9. ALL THAT (FEAT HANNIBAL STAX & KRUMBSNATCHA)
For a posse cut, pretty damn boring. Only Krumbsnatcha, who plays a successful rapper only in his mind's eye, comes off as if he's actively trying to earn his guest spot fee, which I'm sure was a couple of Big Macs, a dime bag, and a 24-ounce Diet Pepsi, lukewarm.

10. HEADQCUARTERZ (SKIT) (FEAT HEADQCUARTERZ)
This short interlude punctuated by the late guest rapper marks the halfway point of the listening experience.

11. SELF MASTERY
Over some incredibly subdued Primo production, Afu-Ra, sounding less low-key and more like he's about to have a narcoleptic fit, rips shit up.

12. VISIONS
An instrumental break. I just can't get enough of them, probably because these so-called "musicians" can't be bothered to showcase actual fucking music on their albums.

13. MORTAL KOMBAT (FEAT MASTA KILLA)
You can imagine that this was the second song I skipped to. I actually prefer this beat to the song featuring Gary Grice. In his own way, Masta Killa walks away with the song, mainly because he's not the most obvious Wu artist to call upon if you're in need of a guest spot. (Side note: Masta Killa also ripped shit up on his guest spot on Public Enemy's "Resurrection", off of the He Got Game soundtrack. Anyone remember that song?)

14. WARFARE (FEAT M.O.P.)
This isn't much of a beat for M.O.P. to provide their trademarked shouting over. As such, not great.

15. EQUALITY (FEAT KY-MANI MARLEY)
Meh.

16. MONOTONY
It would be that Primo's final contribution is the one that I like the most. Damn him!

17. BRING IT RIGHT
The song is pretty fucking weak. The Big L tribute, tacked on at the end, handles itself a bit better.

18. WHIRLWIND THRU CITIES
The first single, and the barometer for Jeru the Damaja fans who were expecting more of the same from his protege. This track is pleasant enough, and still holds its own today.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Body Of The Life Force is nowhere near the level of Jeru's The Sun Rises In The East; hell, it's not even close to his inferior-yet-still-banging follow-up Wrath Of The Math. It is, however, entertaining; the beats are all pretty good, unless I made it a point to point out the monotony in the above review (oddly, "Monotony" has one of the best beats here), and the guests are all bland enough as to not overshadow the main attraction. This album is damn near eight years old as of this writing, so I'm not going to lie: a lot of the final product sounds incredibly dated, and Afu's voice may grate on your nerves after a while. You should just accept this for what it is: an entertaining CD that isn't going to change your life anytime soon.

BUY OR BURN? I recommend a purchase, especially since you could probably find it for three dollars. You could do a lot worse. If given a choice, though, you should veer towards Jeru's first two discs instead. This, of course, is assuming that the choice is between Body Of The Life Force and Jeru's two albums; if you have the choice, you should definitely choose Afu-Ra and not that Young Jeezy disc you know you've had your eye on.

BEST TRACKS: ""D&D Soundclash"; "Monotony"; "Whirlwind Thru Cities"; "Mortal Kombat"

B-SIDE TO DOWNLOAD: "Trilogy of Terror", featuring Guru and Hannibal Stax. Released as the B-side of "Whirlwind Thru Cities", this non-album track (also featured on Gee Street's compilation The Year Of The Backslap, which also featured some random Rza and Tragedy Khadafi tracks) is well worth the effort it'll take you to hunt it down, which is to say, you'll find it in two seconds. Starting...........now.

-Max