Formed in 1991, Fun Da Mental have been producing urgent - sometimes frenetic - music, constantly crossing styles and boundaries.
All is War is the band's fifth studio album and continues in a similar musical vein as previous endeavours, mixing up intense and driving electronic beats with traditional tabla, strings and vocal styles, socially conscious rap and an emphasis on race and religion. It was recorded in London, Pakistan and South Africa. I have two earlier albums (Seize the Time and Erotic Terrorism) and have seen them live once or twice over the years. While I may not agree with all the sentiments and - as a good anti-authoritarian - I have some questions about where they are coming from vis Islam, I still value the uncompromising political and personal stance of Aki and the rest: plus they produce damn fine righteous tunes to get down to. As with most artists, there's always a few things that the discerning listener should question.
Despite all the hype around the release of the album in the mainstream press (for example “Fury at suicide bomb rap”, The Sun), I actually found it more listenable to than 1998s Erotic Terrorism and - as with all good music-as-social commentary - very much of its time. The 13 tracks cover a critique of foreign policy, racism, Islamophobia, gender, the white liberal establishment, and, perhaps most controversially, the threads that bind those who bomb - from states to individuals. Most commentators latched onto the suicide bombing bit and chose to ignore lines such as “I insist I'm a legitimate scientist / paid by the government with your finances /I got a private room in the Whitehouse suite / So I can develop according to presidential brief”.
A few tracks on the album are sung in Punjabi (so, I will be honest, I don't have a clue what they are going on about) and there are some good collaborations, notably with the South African collective The Mighty Zulu Nation on the upbeat, Anarchy in the UK-steeped Bark Like a Dog. Overall there's a good mix of tempo and hard/softer approaches.
If you have caught some of the hype and are curious, I'd recommend checking it out. The intensity of the music will not be to everyone's taste and some of the lyrical content is certainly challenging. But then I guess that's the point - to articulate the very real frustrations of both Muslims and non Muslims on the issues the album covers, and to provoke a debate. This album exemplifies free speech and the traditional role of the musician-as-social-interpreter - something which is sorely lacking in the majority of today's artists. MUSIC - 4 stars
POLITICS - 3 stars