This ambitious and thought-provoking project turns to early black-and-white, religious, and secular traditions for antecedents to modern
rap
styles. Drawing from the commercial recordings of the 1920s and '30s,
The Roots of Rap
provides a broad sampling of rural voices straddling the lines of speech and song against the rhythms of piano, banjo, and guitar. The roots of
, this collection argues, existed in early black
work songs
and in the Southern pulpit; in the performances of singing street evangelists; and in black vocal traditions such as the "dozens." Early forms of
emerged in the
vaudeville
routines of minstrel and medicine shows, arising also in the
country
humor and
talking blues
of many rural white performers. To illustrate its thesis, the album draws from some of the greatest performers of the period, including
Blind Willie Johnson
,
Seven Foot Dilly
Butterbeans and Susie
, and
Memphis Minnie
, whose extraordinarily funky
"Frankie Jean"
closes the set. Like the best of
Yazoo
's projects, this effort is carefully and intelligently constructed, as well as consistently entertaining. ~ Burgin Mathews