Declaime
Fonk
In a way, Declaime has done something special. He has reached a level where listeners who are relatively familiar with him and his music either love him or hate him – and this is quite understandable. Part of Declaime’s purpose as a musician is to challenge the status quo. In other words, what you hear on a Declaime (or Dudley Perkins) album is not what you will hear anywhere else. And it’s this degree of innovation that leads him to both his highs and his lows.
Thankfully, Declaime’s latest full-length, Fonk, is full of much more of the former – that is, high points. Finding an utterly funkalicious balance of hip-hop, neo-soul, broken beat, and deep grooves, Declaime, with help from Georgia Anne Muldrow, crafts an album that is every bit as extraterrestrial as it is insightful. The opening song, “Declaime MC,” sets the tone for the entire album as Declaime and Muldrow scorn those who take for granted their time on earth and encourage positive living.
Sure, this sentiment of righteous living is admirable and often not advocated loudly enough in music these days, but those who know Declaime know that he’s already said this message just about every way possible. And there lies the one major flaw of the album. Declaime relies just a bit too much on his optimism, so after a few tracks of similar material he can become a bit preachy and redundant. That said, not every track on Fonk follows the same subject material.
There’s the electro-glitch-funk of “Warrior” that has Declaime rapping about outerspacey dance moves. It’s this sort of free-associative lyrical fun that truly propels this album into the outer reaches of the atmosphere, which is where it is aimed. “Gangsta” is another excellent example of the type of lyrical dexterity of which Declaime is capable.
The oddball lyrics are certainly entertaining, but they are by no means the sole reason for Fonk’s success. In fact, the driving force behind Fonk is its production. There is a definite left-coast lean in which Declaime honors the tradition of G-Funk while using broken beat, jazz, and a hodgepodge of various other funky instruments to advance his sound well into the future. By challenging the traditional aesthetics of music, Declaime has won fans and lost others, but he has always retained a high level of artistry and creativity. Hopefully with Fonk, Declaime will be moving more fans onto his side; he certainly deserves it.
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