ZapTown

Afrika Bambaataa
Dark Matter Moving At The Speed of Light
2004 – Tommy Boy

Origin: New York City
Style: Hip Hop

When James Brown recorded songs like “I’m Real” and the uber-pop patriotic “Livin’ In America,” the icon of super-soul sex machine shrunk down to a Top 40 garbage disposal. “Livin’ In America” bodes about as much instant gratification as Matthew Broderick lip syncing to The Beatles’ “Twist and Shout” on a parade float in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off while Chicagoans quickly transformed into a massive dance troupe and turned the Magnificent Mile into a choreographed reality. It was that point when James Brown and Eddie Murphy became synonymous and the sweat was no longer true grit.

And just like Afrika Bambaataa’s Dark Matter, this collection of songs is not, in essence, Bambaataa. The “Godfather of Soul” did not know how to quit. And with Bambaataa’s resurfacing, the “Godfather of Hip Hop” is falling into the same trap.

I’m not sure if this was as much a comeback as it was a reactionary response to the state of Hip Hop in 2004, which was a mixture of party anthems and explicatory ghettoisms, or if it was just a last ditch attempt at keeping his head out of the water. With Hyrdraulic Funk being released in 2000 (no relation to P Funk’s album of the same title), it seemed like the ‘90s wore a hole in Bambaataa’s career, as the Hip Hop School of Positivity (A Tribe Called Quest, Arrested Development, De La Soul) was coming to an end. The Godfather of Hip Hop was becoming like his inspiration. Unfortunately for Bambaataa, none of these songs ever broke out, except maybe “Metal,” a song that turns Gary Numan into the modern day Bing Crosby/Bowie as Bambaataa sings around Numan’s song. It’s a scene all too familiar, going back to transforming Kraftwerk into “Planet Rock.” The second time is not charm.

It’s a shame. “Got That Vibe” is a great opener for the band, shooting samples of electrical currents through the air waves that brings everyone together the Bambaataa way – positive universalism. But how many times can you say “Throw your ass on the floor” before it falls flat.

After that, the album switches from P Funk-style anthems to electro beats that try its hardest to mix feel-good breakbeats with anti-gang and drug messages. How effective it is may depend on the devout follower versus casual observer. If “Planet Rock” did not capture someone to be a fan, Dark Matter will not. When Bambaataa collaborated with the electronic group Leftfield to make “Afrika Shocks,” it’s not surprising that songs like “Soul Makossa” sounds the way it does, and veers completely away from the sound that Afrika Bambaataa practically invented.

And by the end, it seems like the band just gives up and let’s the DJ take over, defeating the message of a song like “No Dope Fiends On The Floor.”

Put your hands in tha aieeeeaairrrre! Yeah, we get the picture. Someone needs to tell them that party ended years ago.

Cross-Reference: James Brown, George Clinton, Leftfield