Genre is dead. That meme floating around of that photo of Fred Durst, Ice Cube and a whole gang of musicians from the early ‘00s, with the cast of Yu Yu Hakusho and Narato super imposed in the corner, accompanied by “My Music on Shuffle” in impact font. That’s music now. Get used to it or unsubscribe.
Out of the death of genres, categories, and needless distinctions emerges the new LP from Pink Siifu, titled NEGRO. You’ve probably heard of Pink Siifu after checking out his ravely reviewed 2018 LP ensley. That’s cool. It’s a choice record. But it doesn’t prepare you for what NEGRO will be dishing up. Pink Siifu’s latest record lovingly but irreverently blends hardcore punk, free jazz, and Ras G inspired beats in a perfect synthesis of fire and hard feelings. A highly personal look into the life of a man who lives every day as an American, while remaining forcibly and spiritually alienated from the only country he has ever known to call home.
Sitting somewhere between the “mysterious guy” noise rap of Death Grips and the aggressive affections of Ho99o9, NEGRO expands on the ideas of the previously released (and later expunged) fuck demo, and includes a number of its tracks as well as its whole, world-consuming-inferno ethos. One of the tracks held over from fuck includes SMD, which begins with a cut of dialog from the Ivan Dixon adaptation of the black-uprising, political thriller The Spook Who Sat by Door, where a white character complains of unequal treatment by his black comrades. Pink Siifu’s response on the latter half of the song portrays a dim view of these complaints that expands into an indictment of white encroachment into black spaces, encapsulating in the line, “White man trying to take my shit, man always trying to take my shit.” Later, “DEADMEAT” recounts an instance where Pink Siifu was accosted by a police officer in a New York city subway, recounting this life threatening interaction word-for-word over angular, dagger-flash basslines, and ends with Pink Siifu fantasizing about eating the cop’s ribs in one of the many satisfyingly grotesque visual portraits he paints for the listener. Bad Brains influences are evident, rolling through the determined ugly-mood burst of “Chris Dorner.,” as well as the opener of the anxious, hollow-headed bash “ON FIRE, PRAY!” which levels out on the latter half into a psychic anesthesia of pan-fried reverb and corrupted spiritual jazz. Moor Mother contributes her signature touches of woeful noise to the acid-dosed jazz-funk of “bebe’s kids, APOLLO,” while “black LOVE, like paint on tha wall” begins with a Coltrane invoking flute solo-melody, before breaking for a passage of street-level sounds and dialog. One of my favorite moments thought is the Death meets Big Black conflagration on the killing grounds of the funk-apocalypse titled “steal from the ENEMY,” a head-on collision with cleaving grooves and monstrous feedback that is as danceable as it is deadly. NEGRO is one knock out track after another. All killer, wall-to-wall, coffin filler.
While NEGRO is appreciable immediately on the first listen, it’s also a record that reveals more influences and nuances the more times you spin it. There is a lot here to unpack and my review barely scratches the surface. This record has rightfully been getting a lot of love from rock fans as of late, but it is worth pointing out that while many of the sounds that make up the album come from a confluence of influences that predominantly white listeners will find familiar, Pink Siifu is coming from a place that is wholly beyond their experience. While the furnishings may look familiar, they are not like the ones found in the homes of his white audience, and should not be treated as if they belong to them. You’re a guest here folks. Don’t think you own the place.
Grab a copy from Pink Siifu from him Bandcamp here.
