You
know the story. Baby-faced Joel turns up at the Australian Idol
auditions with his "beat box" sounds. He had no illusions about
becoming a force in Idol. He wasn't what they were looking for.
But he got his moment in front of the judges, and the cameras, and
made an impression. And then he followed up by sending a demo tape
to judge Mark Holden of what he couldn't possibly have shown, the
complete Joel Turner. And now we too are listening to the complete
Joel Turner, Joel and his brother and cousin, with their teenagers-in-Brisbane
version of rap. This is serious. Honest. True. On 'Respect' they
warn what will happen if we follow American hip hop all the way.
The guns, the violence. This is rap without the hate. But using
the music they obviously love to reflect their own very real lives.
Drugs. The hope for a future in a world offering no future. Life
on the street. Our streets. And as the hit 'These Kids' shows, there's
also a real songwriter at work here. 'Lady' and 'Behind Bars' both
show off just as much talent in the area of modern r&b. The vocal
beat box stuff provides the little interludes usually reserved for
skits on traditional rap records. That Australian Idol was just
a glimpse of the possibilities, and one suspects that there's much
more ahead than what's offered on this entertaining, sincere album.
(MGM)
You
know the story. Baby-faced Joel turns up at the Australian Idol
auditions with his "beat box" sounds. He had no illusions about
becoming a force in Idol. He wasn't what they were looking for.
But he got his moment in front of the judges, and the cameras, and
made an impression. And then he followed up by sending a demo tape
to judge Mark Holden of what he couldn't possibly have shown, the
complete Joel Turner. And now we too are listening to the complete
Joel Turner, Joel and his brother and cousin, with their teenagers-in-Brisbane
version of rap. This is serious. Honest. True. On 'Respect' they
warn what will happen if we follow American hip hop all the way.
The guns, the violence. This is rap without the hate. But using
the music they obviously love to reflect their own very real lives.
Drugs. The hope for a future in a world offering no future. Life
on the street. Our streets. And as the hit 'These Kids' shows, there's
also a real songwriter at work here. 'Lady' and 'Behind Bars' both
show off just as much talent in the area of modern r&b. The vocal
beat box stuff provides the little interludes usually reserved for
skits on traditional rap records. That Australian Idol was just
a glimpse of the possibilities, and one suspects that there's much
more ahead than what's offered on this entertaining, sincere album.
(MGM)