Ursula Rucker
“Silver or Lead”
(K7 Records)
For spoken word, this album is thorough in its representation of actuality. At times Ursula comes through with clarity through shocking, pointed, hateful and harsh lyrics, with good reason, she is able to express the shittiest aspects of our society within her music. It’s like rotten food, like sour milk and like funk… like you just swallowed a glob of the funkiest funk ever, those are the factors she attacks, the problems she tries to make us face. This is not only difficult, but also a very unique ability, I actually feel sick in the pit of my stomach in reaction to the truthfulness of her lyrics.
There is a persistent feeling of contentment that is found only within the awareness that Rucker deems to possess. The tone, word choice, presentation, everything lends itself to heightening the power behind the overall synthesis of these different aspects. At times, there is an overwhelmingly feminine bias and and hardcore ‘I hate the world’ attitude and emotion that is right in your face. I interpret this as the artist doing an effective portrayal of the forceful emotions behind each character or each situation… what that person would be experiencing and the qualities of their personal energy at that time. The music complimenting her lyrics is supplied by King Britt, The Roots and others, and holds the same intuitive capabilities that the artist thrives on.
