What's Strange about a Fruit Project?

Soul Clap - Strange Fruit Project
Special f/ Thesis - Strange Fruit Project
from The Healing on Om:Hip Hop (2006).

It is always a little embarrassing to wax sentimental in print, but writing for Ear Fuzz is really a great thing. I feel honored to put thoughts and sounds up with my collaborators here and to get the occasional feedback from the readers. I bring up all this gushing for two reasons: uno) Junior mentioned the possibility of finding another scribe or two out there with shared loves and dos) wonderfully enough just the musings here have convinced a few music folks to give me music.

Which, brings me to Strange Fruit Project a trio (Myone, Myth, and Symbolyc 1) from Texas whose album The Healing is coming out next week on Spilt Milk/Om:Hip Hop (the new and clearly titled hip hop imprint for Om records). It is sort of unbelievable that someone would be kind enough to give me/you a CD, but that's what the fine folks at Om did and only asked that I not post any songs other than the two featured here (which are also available elsewhere on the web, so it all makes sense). There is a very nice and thorough interview with the group on Popmatters.

In said interview SFP are pretty clear about their desires, namely that they have a deep desire to make hip hop and they're unhappy with what is available in that medium, especially on the radio. That is a noble desire, but honestly isn't that the motive of any artist: they have something to say that they feel isn't being said appropriately by anyone else. That just about sums up how I feel about this album too: SFP is clearly coming from their hearts with a noble idea of intelligent, musical, introspective, and (dreaded label) conscious hip hop, but for all their good intentions not very much differentiates them from their many like-minded members in the intelligent hip hop community. This comes across as damning with faint praise, but saying a group makes a good album with all the best intentions and a positive, enjoyable vibe obviously isn't a bad thing. This is far far better than another crack rap, synth-heavy, slang-inventing single with 12 filler tracks...but I'd be surprised (and so would the SFP fellas) if you hear this on the radio which is one of those mysteries that will just continue to surprise me.

The two tracks here illustrate my point quite well, Soul Clap and Special are two of the better tracks on the consistent album with Soul Clap definitely featuring the best beat courtesy of Jake One. Both feature lyrics that should uplift anyone strugling with the daily grind while still providing a nice smile when coupled with lemonade on a hot day. It both helps and hurts that the crew sound like early Outkast. 9th Wonder produced Special and you always know what you get with a 9th Wonder - true school flavor and a mildly bouncey beat with some nice melody textures...it sounds really good, but it sounds like every other 9th Wonder production. And I keep coming back to it, for The Healing it is all good, but it is never knock-you-on-your-ass great and doesn't bring you something you haven't heard before.

Just some quick notes that this album also features a track by one of my favorite producers (Vitamin D who produced the Ms. Jackson-esque Pinball, which isn't his best work) and a guest vocal spot by one of my favorite rappers, Bavu Blakes. Little Brother, Erykah Baud, Illmind, and some others also lend their talents as guests.