The Bridge [PA]

Performer: Grandmaster Flash
Artist: Jumz; Kel Spencer; Q-Tip; Lyn Carter; Red Cafe; Snoop Dogg; MC Supernatural; DJ Demo; DJ Kool; Almighty Thor; Lordikim Allah; Mann Child; KRS-One; Hedonis Da Amazon; Princess Superstar; Byata; Mr. Cheeks; Big Daddy Kane
Distributor: n/a

Notes: Hip-hop pioneer and Bronx legend Grandmaster Flash makes a triumphant return, enlisting an impressive group of old-school artists and up-and-comers on his first full-length album in over 20 years. THE BRIDGE sees Flash celebrating hip-hop's roots as well as its progress over 19 hot tracks. The result is distinctively jiggy and dancefloor-friendly-- epitomized by tracks like "Swagger" and "Grown & Sexy"-- but that should come as no surprise to longtime fans. The man has always been jiggy; his name is Flash after all. THE BRIDGE's guestlist includes Grandmaster Caz, KRS-One, Snoop Dogg, Q-Tip, DJ Kool, Busta Rhymes, Big Daddy Kane, and Japanese rappers Kase. O, Afasi, Maccho, and Abass. The Bridge was released 20 years after Grandmaster Flash's last studio album and just two years after the DJ and his Furious Five became the first hip-hop/rap group inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The album is hardly weighed down by either of these milestones and the man himself acts not as a DJ but a ring leader dividing his time between songwriting, production, programming, and playing the keys. By keeping those legendary hands off the wheels of steel, Flash has already disappointed the golden age hip-hop purist, and with lightweight party numbers like "Swagger" or "Grown & Sexy" on the track list, he seems bound to drive away those expecting proper reverence. While there are some historical references and many of the rhymes are smart, the main way Flash supports the album's title is by injecting the golden age's block party attitude into the modern sound. Q-Tip sounds like he's having a ball on the worry free "Shine All Day" which offers "Roses are red/Starbursts are orange/You're my two scoops/Topped with the almonds" as if it was De La Soul on a first date. With vocoders, congas, and bells, "Tribute to the Breakdancer" conjures fond memories of the wild style days and on "When I Get There" the legendary Big Daddy Kane is as pimp as ever, promising "Up in the bedroom is the final destination/After that we're probably talking spinal restoration." The album's lyrical highlight and anchoring moment lies in "What If" where KRS-One imagines a world without hip-hop is also a world where James Brown and Funkadelic are forgotten. Besides the scratching, what's notably missing is a track as ambitious as "The Message" or "White Lines," plus some of the later numbers just don't hang with the rest of the album thematically, especially the steamy worldbeat cut "Oh Man." Still, the surprisingly slick and never embarrassing Bridge is a success overall and Flash's return is welcome even if it isn't a return to form. ~ David Jeffries

Mojo (Publisher) (p.108) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t helps reposition Joseph Saddler at the heart of the hip hop revolution he co-authored....The Supernatural-helmed 'Tribute To The Breakdancer' will keep the most ardent old-schooler happy." Clash (magazine) (p.100) - "[A]n exquisitely produced and sublimely executed mainstream hip-hop record that will no doubt prove to be yet another successful chapter..." Record Collector (magazine) (p.94) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "THE BRIDGE works as a flowing, cohesive whole, which is a delight from start to finish, taking in old school homages such as 'Can I Take You Higher,' orchestral street workouts, DJ tracks...and modern pop-hop..."

Quite possibly the most influential and innovative figure in rap music, Grandmaster Flash pioneered the turntable techniques that eventually became standard in the rapidly growing genre. Born Joseph Saddler, Flash grew up in the Bronx and, along with Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa, became an integral part of the late-1970s/early-'80s New York City rap community. His deft turntable stylings were so entrancing to his club audiences that he had to enlist the help of others to shift the focus away from him, and this group formed the Furious Five, one of the first MC crews. He also helped pioneer the socially conscious aspect of rap with 1981's pop crossover hit "The Message."

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