From: sunofmusic@gmail.com   
      
   'Ask the question and you will learn the lesson' - for Tunisian-born rapper   
   and songwriter Amen Ben Koussa, these words are more than simply lyrics to a   
   song; they are words to actively and wholeheartedly live by. Listening to his   
   recent debut-album    
   Another Perspective, his apparent intention to constantly search for new and   
   creative ways to answer the questions posed is made abundantly clear. Luckily   
   for us, the album's appeal doesn't stop there; not only does it present an   
   opportunity for    
   contemplation in audible form, but it convincingly manages to do so whilst at   
   the same time maintaining its overall function as a very pleasurable listening   
   experience.   
      
   Of course, it is one thing to be able to rap well, but being able to truly say   
   something is another thing altogether. Perhaps one of the most rigorous tests   
   of lyrical quality is the question whether the words themselves continue to   
   effectively portray    
   their message once they have been stripped down to their bare essentials. It   
   is in this sense, perhaps, that the artistry involved in Another Perspective   
   becomes clearest of all; though it is evident that the artist is able to   
   skillfully use the medium    
   of rap to convey his message, it would seem like he may be just as   
   appropriately described as being a poet first and foremost. As such, his   
   lyrical worth -as is often the case- may well lie in the unique and unfamiliar   
   descriptions of various universal    
   themes and concepts. In Unfair Trials, for example, the listener is urged to   
   resist that all too familiar tendency towards adopting a narrow and embittered   
   outlook on life, and is stimulated to resist it by 'setting the view on   
   panorama' instead.    
   Interestingly, and in this case specifically, the album's recurring theme of   
   tackling various different perspectives is dealt with in both the literal and   
   figurative senses - two very different ways of approaching any given concept -   
   proving that Amen BK    
   has very much taken to heart the age-old wisdom of 'practicing what you   
   preach'.   
      
   Though the lyrics themselves might just as well have functioned as an   
   excellent spoken-word performance, they have without a doubt been further   
   enriched by the vast array of sounds present throughout the album. With an eye   
   on the wide plethora of    
   influences that have made their way into the project, including the use of   
   Flamenco, Jazz, Reggae, Rock, Opera, Classical, Blues and Soul-orientated   
   instrumentals, it would have been all too easy for the album to have   
   unintentionally become an unguided    
   missile of sorts. The attentive listener, however, is likely to conclude that   
   in fact, nothing seems to be farther from the truth; upon listening to the   
   album, it gradually becomes more and more clear that nowhere has this broad   
   pallet of influences been    
   incorporated simply for diversity's sake. Instead, the taken approach seems to   
   have been the only possible way of doing justice to the vast amount of   
   different topics and themes covered in its forty-five minutes of running time.   
   This beautifully    
   appropriate synergy between music and lyrics is perhaps nowhere more evident   
   than in 'El Baile De La Vida' (The Dance Of Life), which almost instantly   
   invokes the vivid Spanish imagery consistent with the influences that it so   
   strongly draws upon.   
      
   Much of the album's apparent cohesion may be attributed to the consistent   
   usage of a central, 'conscious' theme. Though it takes on various different   
   forms throughout -dealing with issues of social justice, politics and   
   spirituality to name a few- the    
   aforementioned theme nonetheless functions as the album's main reference   
   point. The way that these topics are approached, however, ensures that the   
   album is never caught lingering in its confrontation with injustice; by   
   putting a positive spin on many    
   strongly contested issues, it seemingly successfully promotes conscious   
   thinking without ever becoming cynical in its nature.   
      
   Another Perspective might thus be described as being somewhat of a two-headed   
   monster; a musical effort that is consistent in its method whilst maintaining   
   its diversity at the same time. The overarching feeling one takes away from   
   it, and perhaps from    
   Amen BK's work in general, is that we're dealing with a man who might well be   
   described as being an artist in every sense of the word; though his music is   
   suitably geared towards being a pleasurable listening experience, the vast   
   array of words and ideas    
   presented throughout feel more like baring witness to some kind of interior   
   monologue. In many ways, it is perhaps reminiscent of our own conflicting   
   understandings of the complex world around us. Almost without exception, the   
   mark of all great artists    
   has arguably always been their ability to communicate the questions and   
   conflicts imposed on them by their reflective nature, and consequently, their   
   inability to go through life without doing exactly that. Though it is perhaps   
   early days, Koussa's work    
   seems to exhibit many indicators of such a notion. Even though Another   
   Perspective quite convincingly demonstrates that there is no such thing as an   
   absolute truth, it would seem like madness to deny the musical and lyrical   
   potential on display here -    
   whichever way you choose to look at it.   
      
   Website: http://www.amenbk.com   
   Music: http://www.mediafire.com/listen/1r9eba0r3shhgk8/Amen_BK_F   
   at._Miguel_Fernandes_-_One_Sky_Above.mp3   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)