Newer Songs No Match for ‘Hurricane’

Boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter may have handled his unjust murder conviction and incarceration with grace, but not Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy. Their 1975 song “Hurricane” today still resonates as a great piece of protest art, not just because of the rage with which Dylan spat out the sizzling epic narrative, but also because it was about something specific. That sharp, clear focus overshadows the vaguer new songs written for or “inspired by” the current bio-film.

The album-opening rap assemblage of the Roots, Common, Mos Def and others gives it a shot, translating elements of the story into contemporary hip-hop oration. But ultimately it shares only the title and two-chord pattern with the Dylan song and lacks its lyrical and musical momentum.

However, the gospel flavoring of Melky Sedeck’s “Still I Rise” and Clark Anderson’s “So Amazing” effectively reflect Carter’s inspirational dignity, complemented on the album by classic R&B; tracks from Ray Charles, Etta James and Ruth Brown. Meshell Ndegeocello’s “Isolation” and K-Ci & JoJo’s “One More Mountain (Free Again)” surround Gil Scott-Heron’s fiery 1974 proto-rap “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” with, respectively, discontent and determination. But they, like contributions from Black Star, Kelly Price & Aaron Hall and the Jazzyfatnastees, rely on generalizations and fail to connect with the power of Carter’s actual case.

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