BeatNonStop A Weblog by Chris Macias Bee pop music critic Music geek (n. myü-zik 'gEk) 1: A person who proudly wore KISS commemorative pajamas in third grade. 2: A person who owns multiple copies of the same album, still buys vinyl and has a room dedicated to 2,000 or so CDs and records. 3. A person who wrote a five-part series about traveling with a local band in their stinky van - and loved every minute of it. 4: Chris Macias, the Bee's pop music critic, serving Sacramento's music scene since 1999.

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September 28, 2007

Righteous track

"Sunday Single" gets down with one of the best hip-hop songs that’s come this way. It’s a track called “What’s a Man” by the local rap group Righteous Movement. The instrumental loop and beat thump with a warm but mournful feel, while the rappers muse on thoughts of masculinity. Think of it as rap’s answer to “Real Men” by Joe Jackson.

RIGHTEOUS MOVEMENT
Song: "What’s a Man"
Style: Conscious hip-hop with an edge
Members: Tais, Pheek, Skurge, S.O.L., DJ Tofu
Influences: “You’ve got to start with the foundations,” says Tais. “KRS-One, Rakim’s a heavy one for us, De La Soul. But we’re even influenced by the new school crews like Little Brother. Our sound, it’s a little bit of old and new school. A lot of people think hip-hop is dead, but there’s cats like us that are still doing it and staying true to the elements.”
Story behind the song: “We got the beat and it has so much emotion to it,” says Tais. “During that time I was just thinking about all the elements that society deems about being a man. There’s positive men out in the world and don’t get proper representation - ‘You can’t cook, you’re unemotional, you’re dogs.’ On this one everyone dug deep to pull this one out.”

Click on the button below to hear "What’s a Man"

On the Web: www.therighteousmovement.com

Posted by cmacias at 3:13 PM | Comments |