Prophets Offer Rap Lessons

You can talk tough and still talk reason. That’s a lesson that the Watts Prophets have put forth for nearly 30 years, and maybe the recent hip-hop carnage will spur people to hear it, both inside and outside the urban war zones.

Those interested, though, will have to come to them--the three Prophets don’t make many concessions to current rap styles on their first album in 25 years. The second half, in fact, is entirely unaccompanied spoken word, including timely updates of their sermon-like classics “I Remember Watts” and “I’ll Stop Callin You Niggaz (When You Start Acting Like Black Men).”

Even the tracks that feature musical backing (provided by hip-hoppers DJ Quik and Us3 and veteran jazz pianist Horace Tapscott, among others) are delivered in a theatrical, bantering style that has more to do with ‘60s poetry workshops than ‘90s rap. Still, like their New York contemporaries the Last Poets, the Prophets make a strong claim on status as rap’s respected village elders.

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