Looking for a way to close their first full-length album, pioneering live hip hop outfit The Roots invited a fellow Philadelphia native to take the record in one last, staggeringly different direction.
Since that show-stopping, jaw-dropping 1994 release, Rucker has turned-up on records by everyone from London drum & bass pioneers 4 Hero to dance music iconoclast Josh Wink. Finally she has the chance to bring her unsettling poetry to the fore on this belated debut.
The obvious frame of reference for 'Supa Sister' must include Saul Williams' staggering 'Amethyst Rockstar', yet it's Rucker's misfortune to arrive on the record racks after that masterpiece of unbridled musical and lyrical invention.
Much of 'Supa Sister' suffers by the inevitable comparison, the beats - from a cast of producers that include 4 Hero, the Sylk130 collective and F-Communications' Alexkid - erring too often on the side of politeness. There's thus an unfortunate coffee table sheen to the record that rather underpowers Rucker's astonishing verses.
The musical settings aside, though, Rucker's passion and intensity of feeling are compelling. Hip hop desperately needs voices like this, railing against the ignorance of mainstream rap posturing ('What???'), skewering sexism and misogyny ('Womansong') and pointing out the desperate consequences of what happens when these things become dominant (the closing tale of rape and paedophilia, 'Song For Billy', as disturbing and uncomfortable as anything Rucker has ever recorded).
Next time out, maybe she will be matched throughout to music that helps articulate her measured rage rather better. For now, though, this record is more than enough.
