Bill Cosby rekindles hip-hop’s socially conscious flame on “Bill Cosby Presents the Cosnarati: State of Emergency,” an album of music with messages reflecting today’s most critical issues affecting young people. Created to engage listeners and lead them to take action, the CD’s empowering and dialogue-provoking themes will be spread throughout the Internet via the comedian/actor/author’s extensive social media network and an interactive new web site, billcosby.com, designed to build a grassroots campaign of activist-led house parties and town halls.
Two years in the making, “State of Emergency” adds new meaning to the phrase “message in the music.” Tackling such social issues as self-respect, peer pressure, abuse and education, the CD is the aural companion to Cosby’s “Come on People,” co-authored with Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint. The project’s 14 tracks integrate frank, positive messages with a progressive mix of hip-hop, R&B, jazz, pop, funk and rock. The result is a strong, cohesive narrative that doesn’t rely on profanity, misogyny, materialism or ego exercising to deliver its powerful impact.
“State of Emergency” was produced by Cosby’s longtime musical colleague, William “Spaceman” Patterson. The musician/arranger’s extensive list of credits include “The Cosby Show,” Miles Davis, LL Cool J, Eric Clapton and Alicia Keys. In addition to his production partner Ced-Gee, co-founder of the pioneering hip-hop group Ultramagnetic MCs, Patterson recruited three guest rappers for “State of Emergency”: Jace the Great, Brother Hahz and Supa Nova Slom.
Brother Hahz and Jace the Great set the stage on the opening title track, which features a no-holds-barred chorus: “Let the horns blow; it’s a state of emergency/This whole world needs surgery/Every soul breeds perjury/And I got the urge to speak my mind.” Other standout tracks include the New Orleans-jazzed “Where’s the Parade?,” which salutes powerful black women; the introspective “Where Did I Go Wrong?”; the funky yet hard-hitting “Dad’s Behind the Glass”: and the R&B-empowered “Get on Your Job.”
Notes Patterson, “We want people to receive ‘State of Emergency’ the way we made it: as a gift; an opportunity for dialogue between children and parents and an alternative to the cookie-cutter sound that’s out here. Hopefully, we can tear down some walls and be part of the solution, not the problem.”
By using the universal language of music, “Bill Cosby Presents the Cosnarati: State of Emergency” delivers a powerful wakeup call – one that everyone should heed. “Do me a favor,” adds Cosby. “Just listen. Please.”
