[ Post a Response | Cool Grrrls - Message Board ]
Posted by Mannieb on 6/28/2007, 2:23 pm One of the more bizarre occurrences in recent times has been the warping of such warm and fuzzy concepts as the family and love. Family values means that a man doesn't just tell his own family what to do, but you too, especially with what happens in your private life. Love means love me and love my nation, my crew, or else it's on. Rose Beach, whose blend of folk music tale spinning, hip hop energy and pop sensibility she labels "fusion pop," stands to set things to right on her CD Family Love by showing love in it's true light, as a force that is our life line. The world view that pumps through her music comes from her family and her native culture and is one where pain, abuse and oppression are countered by kindness and integrity and positive use of the force. What is the Canadian Aboriginal world view that your mother espoused and how does it come out in or influence your music? Rose Beach: What can you do after culture and identity are stolen from you? My grandmother, my great-grandmother and their generation suffered atrocities. My mother experienced racism. Their experiences made me want the dream (of achievement) all the more. I sometimes wish we had a future where these terrible events didn't occur and we were all happy. That would be nice, but I think that we are where we are supposed to be. The native youth are strong survivors and we are proud of our ancestry and our ancestors' legacy. Always positivity through negativity, which is the message of my CD, "Family Love." "He smiled his kind smile / He asked if I could walk a mile in the shoes of poverty / Then waste my talent slovenly / What I want to say ... I didn't want to say goodbye to you / When I left the farm little fresh faced girl." The music is a powerful contrast to the lyrics and gives the song a dark-edged intensity that fits the modern urban grind. Ms. Beach sings in a sultry, yet strident, voice over an 808-sounding beat, a thick texture of guitar and synthesizer and punctuated by Indian tabla drums. What could be a safe, pleasant acoustic guitar number is turned into a late night altered state revelation. Family Love is full of these juxtapositions of dark, sometimes grim, yet uplifting, lyrics and tense, phat grooves. The stand out cut "Window Pain" has Rose's soft sung and whisper-rapped vocals riding over a nice beat with pop hooks worthy of The Matrix production team or The Neptunes, especially in the vocal chorus and plaintive keyboard riffs. Here she shines a poetic light on hustling and life's disappointments, while acknowledging family love as a life line of unwavering support and positivity despite sad circumstances. "I never thought I'd end up like this ... / Who knew that I'd be dancing in the window, but they say, girl, your body is your in, though / Clutch that tip, f*$%in' shake them hips, your ass is mine if I pay that dime / But, I won't sit on this train and cry ... My niece is a beautiful young one, my brother is a talented someone / And we've still got a great life to live, we've got more than this sad window pain to give." There are few tunes outside of bob Dylan's songbook that deal with working poor, let alone sex workers, issues. And how rare is it today, with the sad absence of Biggie and Tupac, to have music that's hard hitting for the jeep and dance floor, but has a keep-your-head-up message that is not a bromide of cornball sentimentality? This song alone is worth getting the CD for, but the rest of the music is equally good, with no bonus out-take tracks, skits or other filler. The creation of pop music with depth and connection to real life, shows someone who has something to say and is not just after fame and yet, like anyone else, Ms. Beach and her crew like to have fun and celebrate life, as in the song "By My Side." A girl's gotta have fun on her own, right? That's what the message of the song "Stay" is. But here the fun is in having a romp with Rose in a sexy bad-girl mode, the kind of girl that's hot, self-assured and defiantly, confidently so. She whisper-sings in your ear: "I want it my way, tough luck / My condition, my terms, my wishes, my desire / And don't you dare fight it, 'cause I don't bite / Wait, yes I will, gonna get my thrill." The song and lyrics, as throughout the CD, are perfectly matched to the beat, here a Jay-Z style beat of deep Middle Eastern drum and sitar sounds. Somebody scream! Though refreshingly devoid of me-first braggadocio and materialist fantasy, the cut "Remember My Name" finds Ms. Beach giving herself some well-deserved props, and hopes for a richer future. And for a good reason, too: "I crave a day when they scream my name to the stage at the top of their lungs / I crave a day when the people I love ain't poor, they will be provided for." A notable contribution comes from O.v, a rapper from Montreal and a former classmate of Ms. Beach's; he busts a rhyme in English and French. For Rose Beach even success is geared toward love, friends and family. These are also celebrated on the ode to friendship "The Gift," which features harmonica playing by her mother, Arlette, and her good friend Gaye Delorme on guitar. Ms. Beach's sister Belle Chanson makes an appearance on the CD. "Basically, any time I needed any musician, they either went to the school, or had a buddy that I could pay for some session work." Another friend, singer Brandy Johnston, provided back up vocals on several cuts and most notably on the club-hit-in-waiting "By My Side." Both cuts have a hip hop sensibility that is radio friendly and would get mad respect on the streets of my Bushwick/East Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. The hip hop or fusion pop influences don't overshadow the melodic and well-structured song writing. This comes from her love of reggae, music which nearly always has a tune, and other forms of root-based popular music. This comes through on the lilting song "Crossroads," a plaintive, roots-tinged cut with a sweet sing-along chorus. Ms. Beach's melody (wrapped around lyrics about a long distance lover in Japan), flows in and out of airy pop and hip hop soul. And in and out of English and Japanese. There is also another hardcore, flowing rap that tastefully complements the rest of the song (not some ham-fisted cameo designed to appeal to some demographic), this time from Edge, an MC from Vancouver, BC. Underneath it, though, like most of the CD is the jumpy, twenty-first century groove pioneered by Timbaland and Missy Eliot, among others. For more information and to get the bangin' Family Love CD, go to www.rosebeachmusic.com or www.myspace.com/rosebeach
207.38.176.77
For an artist so woman-centric, the CD opener "Testament" is perhaps the best song I've heard about leaving one's own and a father's relentless love. 
Message Thread:
« Back to thread