Before
Ice-T
,
N.W.A.
, and the late
Eazy-E
made Los Angeles famous (or infamous) for
gangsta rap
in the late '80s, the city's
rap
community was best known for a high-tech, futuristic approach that owed a lot to
Afrika Bambaataa
's 1982 classic,
"Planet Rock."
In the early to mid-'80s, L.A.-based electro-hoppers like
the Egyptian Lover
the World Class Wreckin' Cru
(the group that
Dr. Dre
belonged to before
),
the Arabian Prince
, and
Uncle Jam's Army
didn't get much respect from East Coast hip-hoppers, who insisted that their music wasn't gritty enough. But those artists did enjoy a cult following in Southern California. Besides,
never claimed to be a hardcore rapper;
On the Nile
, his debut album of 1984, doesn't pretend to be a
Run-D.M.C.
L.L. Cool J
, or
Fat Boys
release any more than
Grover Washington, Jr.
claimed to be a
jazz
purist. The closest this LP comes to an
East Coast hip-hop
vibe is the single
"What Is a DJ If He Can't Scratch"
; all of the other tracks offer a synthesizer-driven blend of
dance
music, and
electro-funk
. Though
"Planet Rock"
is a strong influence on this release, it is hardly
's only influence -- his sound also owes a debt to Germany's seminal
Kraftwerk
(whose innovations greatly influenced
Prince
Man Parrish
Giorgio Moroder
, as well as Middle Eastern and North African music.
The Egyptian Lover
never had great rapping skills, but he was definitely an original and imaginative producer/writer -- and his risk-taking spirit serves him well on definitive, high-tech tunes like
"Egypt Egypt,"
"My House (On the Nile),"
and
"Girls."
isn't the only
Egyptian Lover
LP that is worth owning, but most fans insist that it is his most essential and consistent album -- and they're absolutely right. ~ Alex Henderson