Nu Blaxploitation
1998 studio album by Don Byron
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Production
The album was recorded in December 1997 and January 1998.[7] The poet Sadiq Bey performed on many of the tracks.[8] Biz Markie contributed rap verses to "Schizo Man".[5] Reggie Washington played bass; Uri Caine played piano.[9] "Blinky" is about the abuse of Abner Louima by the NYPD.[10] "If 6 Was 9" is a cover of the Jimi Hendrix song; it contains a passage from the Turtles' "Happy Together".[11][12] Byron covered a couple of Mandrill songs; the band was one of Byron's childhood favorites.[13] "Dodi" references Dodi Fayed, while "Furman" refers to racist LAPD cop Mark Fuhrman, known from the trial of OJ Simpson.[14][15] "Domino Theories" was inspired by the work of political scientist Andrew Hacker.[7]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [16] |
| Robert Christgau |  [17] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [18] |
| Los Angeles Daily News | [15] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD | [7] |
Time called the album "overtly political funk and rap" full of "dark, fertile electric grooves."[19] The Chicago Reader deemed it "an incisive collection of loose-limbed funk, acerbic spoken word."[10] Stereo Review considered Nu Blaxploitation "a mix of old-school groove, social protest, and surrealistic asides—just the kind of ambitious sprawl you'd expect from someone who dedicates his album to both Latin/funk purveyors Mandrill and classical composer Arnold Schoenberg (among others)."[20]
Jazziz wrote that the album "unfolds like a series of existential concerns set to a backbeat—a churlish, unapologetic bit of brilliance that vamps, grooves, strolls, and riffs on several levels at once."[21] Newsday labeled it "a one-of-a-kind testimony on what it's like to be a caring, daring African-American intellectual-bohemian at the tail end of the 20th Century."[22] The Washington Post stated that "Byron has writer Sadiq tiresomely spell out his points with words that recall the sophomoric scribblings of punk poet Henry Rollins."[23]
AllMusic praised the "somber, chamber jazz arrangements and a bevy of funky, swinging charts."[16]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Alien" | |
| 2. | "Domino Theories – Part I" | |
| 3. | "Blinky" | |
| 4. | "Mango Meat" | |
| 5. | "Interview" | |
| 6. | "Schizo Man" | |
| 7. | "Dodi" | |
| 8. | "I'm Stuck" | |
| 9. | "I Cannot Commit" | |
| 10. | "Fencewalk" | |
| 11. | "Hagalo" | |
| 12. | "Domino Theories – Part II" | |
| 13. | "If 6 Was 9" | |
| 14. | "Furman" |