R&B albums rarely combine the multiple musical legacies of one given city and catch the zeitgeist of its time as masterfully as PPPโs sophomore disc, Abundance (Ubiquity). As the title suggests, producer Waajeed and multi-instrumentalist Saadiqโthe groupโs two brainiacsโpack so much historical reference, so much modern perspective, so much deft musicality, so much lyrical ingenuity, and so much vivacity that Abundance is full of artistic riches.
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Hailing from Detroit, it comes as no surprise that PPP (formerly Platinum Pied Pipers) bolsters much of Abundance with the epochal sounds of Motown, which celebrates its golden anniversary this year. But Motown, particularly its โ60s halcyon years, has informed a motherlode of recent albums, notably Amy Winehouseโs 2006โs breakout disc, Back to Black (Island), Solange Knowlesโ nifty Sol-Angel and the Hadley Street Dreams (Music World/Geffen, 2008) and Raphael Saadiqโs fawning The Way I See It. Referencing Motown now seems purely trendy if not passรฉ.
Although syncopated handclaps, snazzy snare-drum intros and soulful doo-wop harmonies rouse songs like โGo Go Go,โ โCountless Excusesโ and โRocket Science,โ Abundance channels more of Norman Whitfieldโs urgent soul psychadelica that he wrote for the Undisputed Truth and Edwin Starr rather than Holland-Dozier-Hollandโs sweet innocence that other current Motown-inspired discs bite.
PPP also prevents Abundance from being middling Motown pastiche by drawing upon a fuller spectrum of Detroitโs musical legacy. Songs, like the body-jacking โSmoking Mirrors,โ the scalding โLuv Affairโ and the forceful โAngel,โ reconcile Motor Cityโs Motown, P-Funk, garage rock and electronica, all at once, and still are palatable for hip-hop heads. More impressive, however, is how PPP executes its ambitions minus the irony-at-gunpoint gauche that mars so much hipster culture.
This is where genuine song craft, animated by strong vocal performances, comes in. On Abundance, PPP recruits four new powerful singers: Karma Stewart, Jamila Reagan, Coultrain and Neco Reddโall destined for greatness. Coultrain, in particular, wins the MVP award for contributing the lionโs share of witty lyrics and hooky melodies.
The vocalists repay in kind. Stewart infuses just the right amount of Saturday night sass and Sunday morning gospel fervor on the punchy lead single โOn a Cloud,โ while Reagan effectively brings out the lovesick apprehension in โGo Go Go.โ Redd plays a convincing call girl on the cabaret-driven โAmerican Pimp,โ while Coultrain projects the free-spirited friskiness of a playa on โPigeonhole.โ ย
Abundance deals mostly with romance, detailing the games people play and revealing how everyone plays the fool. Coultrain reveals the ambiguities of a love affair on the spiteful โRocket Scienceโ on which he and Stewart sing: โI canโt win/When you found a way to fight it every step of the way/Afraid to be afraid/it gets far more than complicated/Touchรฉ.โโ He addresses suspicion on the thunderous ballad โAinโt No Ifs or Maybesโ opening with โShe says she only wears open toes for me/Well if so then sheโs a thief/cuz Iโve caught the faint scent of cologne/money comes and money goes/and when itโs gone sheโs out the door.โ Bliss occurs, too, as on the idyllic โSanctuary,โ on which Coultrain questions the stability of a romance with the lines: โHow do you know when to kiss your freedoms goodbye?/And be certain it be for the last time,โ amid a cloud of swooning strings and suspended cymbals.
Love may be the overarching theme of Abundance, but on several songs, PPP sneaks in a subtext dealing with self-identity, self-reinvention and self-determination. โHow far are you willing to go/To work to look and breathe like somebody else,โ PPP asks on the galvanizing New Wave romp โSmoke & Mirrorsโ as they critique fashion slaves with โHow will you ever get to see your growth?/When you bought your style right off of the shelf.โ Coultrain articulates the complexities of constant reinvention, especially as he opens โPigeonholeโ with โNow letโs see/ who shall I be?โ before warning his paramour that he can be โshallow as a dry wellโ or โnoble as a statue.โ
PPP tackles those aforementioned themes best on the title track. Against a caffeinated boogie-woogie piano riff, Coultrain croons: โDonโt know who I am/Donโt think I ever didโ to a wary lover as he explains that he once was trapped by definitions imposed upon him. Soon he delivers the boastful chorus: โSee youโre a slave to tradition if you donโt wanna have it all/If revolution ainโt your picture, then youโll cease to exist at all.โ Here, PPP gives us โDancing in the Streets,โ the Motown classic that epitomized excitement of the mid-โ60s.
The ebullience of โAbundanceโ recalls the fervor of late-night Nov. 4, 2008, when Barack Obama became this countryโs first black president. The lyrics, while not overtly political, evoke the self-determination of Obamaโs ascension and perhaps his sentiments to black naysayers, who earlier in his campaign doubted that he could reach his ultimate political goal. Both the songโs lyrics and energy evoke the optimism of many black Americans reevaluating and transforming themselves, fighting long-held stereotypes and striving for, as Coultrain sings, a newfound โslice of abundance.โ
John Murph is a regular contributor to The Root.
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