Chuck D: Louder Than a Bomb
The fact is given little play in the liner notes, but the Chuck D-chosen compilationLouder Than a Bombcelebrates a hip-hop moment whose time seems anything but now. Of the 16 original tracks collected here, the most recent (Common Sense's "I Used to Love H.E.R.") was released in 1994.Bomb's celebration of the political side of rap also includes songs aimed at dated targets such as the Gulf War (Paris's "Bush Killa"). The set's myriad voices, however, often speak to concerns that unfortunately remain relevant, as onIce-T's anti-censorship "Freedom of Speech," theJungle Brothers's excoriation of African American infighting based on skin tone ("Black Is Black"), andRun-D.M.C.'s all-purpose "Proud to Be Black." (A more currently salientIce Cubechoice, though, might have been the chilling, hilarious Driving While Black tale "U Ain't Gonna Take My Life.")Doug E. Fresh's hectoring antichoice missive, "Abortion," is offensive in all the wrong ways, butLouder Than a Bombis generally a smart selection of angry, thoughtful cuts.--Rickey Wright