iSound

Rai 2Ban ‘Who Am I?’2004 (2Ban)
This Ugandan-born UK-based refugee is many Albums deep into a career that’s very underground, although it deserves a wider appreciation.
Particularly for those tired of rap’s ghetto-centric rhymes, this chap has African-centric socio-tipped rhymes. The beats are sparse but work. There’s variety, like the female cooing, and piano flourishes on the ‘Non-Sequito’, and ‘Trade 2001’.
His issues cover pre-colonial, colonial and neo-colonialism, and the mind state of black people, and white imperialism upon the black psyche. Occasionally, a laugh or a line he says, echoes of 2Pac.
On the thought-provoking ‘Western Thinking’, the potency of that track can not be overlooked.
He probably calls upon his hallowing experience in writing ‘Child Soldier’. Worth discovering via 2ban.co.uk.
......................................................................Gargamel magazine (‘The international word in reggae and urban music’)