Crutch #1: .....everything she does sounds the same.....

Friday 10/20 I went to See Me'Shell at a small club here in LA. The show opened up with a Brazilian man playing an accoustic song and singing in Portuguese. It was a very nice way to start the show

He finishes the song and walks over to a set of Timbales, large drum, congas and cymbals. He starts methodically pounding the drum.....and the band walks on one by one. Me'Shell came on with a hooded sweatshirt with a picture of Bush on the back with the caption "Satan" underneath

Instantly it was ON! First of all, anyone who claims that everything this woman does sounds the same needs to get a new set of ears. That statement is ridiculous on its face. Well haters, you have just lost crutch #1. This shit was SO BANGIN! In the last several months, I heard rumors of her new direction as afro punk and I can't say that I even know what that is, but Me'Shell threw down in the way that I have always known she could and in a way that people who discount her would never expect. It was rock, it was punk, it was funk, it was simply badass!

If even 30% of the energy of this performance translates onto the album, yall best to fasten your seatbelts cuz this shit was a ride I can imagine that many people there had no idea of the direction of her new album because all night long I kept hearing .....What?! ..... What?! ..... What?! ..... What?! ..... What?! But basically the whole crowd was like this

Being a fan of hers from the very beginning, and seeing her live 5 times, I could tell she had this in her. And now she has found the musicians which will enable her to express the side Me'Shell critics thought her incapable of. From everything I could tell lyrically, she is as challenging on spiritual and political matters as she has ever been, which leads me to .....



Crutch #2.....She's a bitter and angry racist and needs to lose the chip on her shoulder....

OK, anybody who says this clearly has never listened to her lyrics and if they say they have they have not heard her. One of the reasons I have always been attracted to her is her willingness to go there. She is not afraid to question and to challenge and honestly I have grown in many ways from the ideas and points brought forth in her lyrics. She has caused me to question and challenge myself. Not many artists do that. My favorite album by her is Peace Beyond passion and on Amazon.com I saw such a criticism about her being a racist and preaching hate and I have seen this kind of comment about her here on the org.

I got to thinkin about that and ..... the obvious hit me right in the face. Here is a perfect example of why people are wrong, misguided, uninformed and misunderstand her as engaging in racism:

Dead Nigga Blvd


You sell your soul
Like you sell a piece of ass....

Slave to the dead white leaders on paper
And welfare cases
Rapists and hoes
All reinforced your TV show
Exotic and beautiful videos

Yeah
A jail's a sanctuary for the walking dead
It fucks with your head
When every black leader ends up dead

Somebody said
Our greatest destiny is to become white
But white is not pure
And hate is not pride just 'cause civil rights is law
Doesn't mean that we all abide
So tell me are you free?

Campaign for every dead nigga blvd
So ya'll motherfuckers can drive down it in your fancy cars
You try to hold on to some Africa of the past
One must remember
It's other Africans that helped enslave your ass

Everybody's just trying to make to make that dollar
Remember what Jesse used to say?
I am somebody
No longer do I blame others
For the way that we be
Some niggas need to redefine
What it means to be free

I can't even tell my brothers and sisters that they're fine
This absence of beauty
In their heart and mind
Stopped breastfeeding the child
You put 'em on the cow
And now you wonder why they act wild

You see brown folks are the
Keepers of the earth
Unifiers of the soul and mind
Not these wannabe gaudy pimps and thugs
Wearing diamond watches
From African slave mines

Perhaps to be free
Is to all love those who hate me
And die a beautiful death
And make pretty brown babies
So tell me, are you free?

Campaign for every dead nigga blvd
So y'all young motherfuckers can drive down it in their fancy cars
You try to hold on to some Africa of the past
Then one must remember
It's other Africans that helped enslave your ass

Everybody's trying to make that dollar
Remember what Jesse used to say?
I am somebody
No longer do I blame others
For the way that we be
Some niggas need to redefine
What it means to be
free.....


This is a straight call out to her own community. I have always admired her because she is willing to take anyone and anything to task.....even herself and where she comes from. So anyone who feels she is a racist preaching hatred, can you bury that once and for all? Right there she takes ownership in the most hardcore way.

She is someone I consider a hero and I am thankful to be able to have an artist in my life with with such integrity and strength as a source of inspiration.....

.
[Edited 11/6/06 11:37am]

The next time she is within 100 miles of me.....I'm there.

Graycap23 said:

OMG you have to see this show. It was incredible. I have seen her slappin the shit out of the bass before but it was so cool to see her surrounded by musicians capable of doing the same. Noticably absent was a keyboard. And she said we were the very first crowd that they played that material for

who has the time or energy to hate me'shell?!? i don't listen to her all the time, but i buy all her albums and i'm certainly in favor of her. what's not to like? sheesh.

Anyone who hates Me'Shell on the grounds you cited hasn't been paying attention. You can hate her look, her sound, her sexuality or her philosophy, but she's one of the best around today and u should respect her.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Was my boy Chris Dave the drummer from Mint Condition there?

Graycap23 said:

I have no idea who the other musicians were. Let me dig around, maybe I can find out. The guitarist was incredible He had "Soul Spaceship" written on his guitar. I'm so hoping that is the name of the upcoming album

Oh, one thing that was really cool about this show was to watch Me'Shell direct the band. I can't say that I've ever really seen her in that capacity before. She knew what she wanted from the musicians and she was trying to get it. They were tight as hell and if that was a dry run or if they could actually tighten up from there, damn future show goers are in for a huge treat

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Cool. Thanks.

Here are the band members from the show I saw:

.....featuring Meshell Ndegeocello, Mike Severson, Mark Kelley, Daniel Jones, Charles Haynes, Gilmar Gomes and Sy Smith.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Cool. I hope they post the :LIVE show on her site.

Sass, I still want to know your review of the CD you were sent

Thanks for the rundown Supa! That girl needs to get her azz back to Chicago. The last time I saw her was right before Bitter (tied for my favorite of hers w/PeaceBP) came out and she played almost the whole damn thing in this teenie-tiny club here in Chicago... it... was... un... be... lievable . I was trembling at points it was so intensely beautiful. The woman has so much range and I love that she rocked yer ass inside-out and is still able to put on a show like I saw of pure raw unrestrained emotion. All hail Me'Shell
[Edited 11/1/06 13:36pm]

eleven said:

I saw this same show The first show I saw was a mix of Peace and Plantation and had a full scale band, including Wendy and Lisa and a horn section. So the next time I saw her I was really taken aback to see only her and 3 other musicians and she talked about some of the things she was going through, her girlfriend at the time and her spiritual life and then she played that whole album and to all of us, it was new material. That's how this show was. All new material, no old stuff. me show too and was knocked on my ass
[Edited 11/1/06 13:45pm]

Yay! I've been waiting for this Richard!

Thanks for posting...

It was an incredible night wasn't it?



p.s. got your text message...don't worry about it...let me know when...it's all good.

i saw her before Comfort Woman and it was amazing she toured with like 10 musicans and she'd call one up and to replace another when she wanted a different sound.

violator said:

!!!!!

I am SO DAMN EXCITED FOR THIS ALBUM! You have absolutely no idea how this translates live

I guess Europe gets first crack cuz it's not listed on the US Amazon site

Supa, wus up

I saw MeShell @ the Independent recently (about 3 months ago??) so I'm skipping her upcoming gig here (either this month or next month) b/c I figured she'll do something along the same lines (she usually doesn't perform that close together out here). I really hope I'm not fucking up by not going, I work that night so I can't regardless. But she literally NEVER disappoints!

I can't remember what she did @ the show I saw but there was a lot of new stuff & it all sounded cool. I will always, ALWAYS purchase her albums

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

you can order from there. That's how i got Dance of the Infidel with the European cover.

wooah i almost missed this thread...thanks for the review SupaFunky...excellent!

got DANG i can't wait to see her new band play her new stuff live!

so was this show you went to one of the Temple Bar gigs out in Cali?

(btw i've already ordered that EP from Amazon.fr...its a 5 song EP)...i think the FULL length CD is due out in February (at least in France)

justhemusic said:

Yup The Temple bar is super small so it was like the best place I've seen her so far

There are Me'Shell haters?

Supa, question; What small club are u refering to? In other words, WHERE IN THE HELL WAS THIS AT?! And maybe even more crucial; AND WHEN WAS THIS SHIT?! I have a couple of her cd's and I've actually seen her live at The Roxy.

blackguitaristz said:

This was 2 fridays ago at the Temple bar

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Whaaaaat?!

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

sonya still hasn't mailed it. i'm gonna cut her some slack, though, since she is doing her doctor's residency and could probably give two turds about a cd.

as a side note, though, i have to say my biggest beef with what i've heard so far is that she puts me on the defensive. and not in a good way. i disagree with a lot of things natalie merchant says. tori amos, prince, michael stipe...i hold different views from all of them. yet i don't feel insulted nor do i get defensive when they speak their mind in the work they produce. something about me'shell's style, i don't know, it bugs me. sometimes that can be good. so far, with regard to her, it hasn't been. rather than encourage me to dive into her philosophy or perspective, she leaves me switching the disc.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Way to go Supa. Nice review.

If I wasn't "Invading" , i'd have been right there with you.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

sallysassalot said:

You have to provide examples cuz I need to know what is hitting you the wrong way. First people say she blames whitey (not you necessarily) and then when she takes her own community to task, it aint good enough. You have a mental block that needs to be shat the hell out of your mind. If it's your religous hysterics, get a grip and bone out if you need to