Hip-hop MC's and producers outside the US have found it incredibly difficult to find their own voice, preferring instead to produce a diluted version of America's output. America's influence is so great and all encompassing within the genre that the struggle to create anything fresh, vibrant and with its own identity seems virtually impossible. This makes MC Solaar's achievements with his poetic, soothing lyrical twists dispensed in his native French tongue all the more remarkable.
This, his fifth album in a career spanning a decade, sees him team up once again with loyal collorators, Bambi Cruz, Black Jack and Don Xere Delavega to produce yet another highly distinctive collection of Gallic beats and rhymes. The only problem being that without the necessary A-Level qualification much of the album's poetic delivery and lyrical punch will be lost on the majority of us not natives of his homeland.
Having said this 'Cinquieme As' is still able to convey emotion, feeling and at times pure, unadulterated rage with its superb productions and Solaar's supreme delivery. Second track in, Solaar Pleure gives the RZA a run for his money with its chilling, jarring strings and melancholic, soulful backing vocals before Solaar's lets rip in a thrilling crescendo of anger and frustration.
In his more reflective and laid back moments, such as the gentle earlobe caressing 'La Belle Et Le Bad Boy' he still grabs the attention as its sorrowful, yet soothing sound tugs at the heartstrings.
So you may not have the faintest clue of what on earth he is on about, but taken as another layer in this stellar sonic collage, you'll find Solaar's one of the strongest voices in contemporary hip-hop.
