ngoma unleashes his entire instrumental arsenal, playing his favorite didgeridoo, along w the bamboo flute, accoustic guitar & a violin that races thru some of his early tracks. ''a poem in response to the question/what kind of music do u play'' is tha 1st track, & he answers it with that screaming violin as if it was a jimi hendrix song. and in his initial opening #2 song, ''real war stories'', ngoma whips us on a journey thru tha vietnam laced 60's, complete w agent orange, booby traps n no benefits. but his next jumpoff will surprise u because he leaps right into tha disco and dance-tech eras of tha 80's & 90's w ''when the jazz and the food and the mardi gras stopped''. i have heard katrina poems b4, but this simply is a delight, u HAVE 2 hear it performed live. in ''i'm in a recovery program from western civilization'', he ups tha ante w tha railroad work song, ala oscar brown and destroys tha track w metaphors and ancient rips at tha amerikkkan systems that have depleted tha economy & freedom. but tha track that best held me at bay was ''on tha day the pope died''. this here is tha entire cd, folks. ngoma sings all background vocals ala a gospel quartet group, easily blowin u over w ''by the rivers of baylon, as if he was sam cooke. this could b tha BEST poem he has ever written. and i remembered him reading it from paper when it was 1st created. it's a masterpiece, hands down. 

but he is not finished, as he gives u gary bartz's famous rendition of ''uhuru sasa'' in his next song ''i wish i didn't have to write this poem''. ngoma is fiercely unrivaled in his ability to weave his way around traditional songs that have influenced today's and yesterday's culture. and he has a vast knowlege in creating ways to remind us in his guitar aided ''birmingham sunday'', originally done by richard farina. i could see freedom buses burnin' and 4 lil coffins from that church bombin' as i listened 2 this rendition n even though i was at work, i nearly cried from hearin ngoma's vocals bleedin' on this track. but just when u think tha master hasn't got anything left in his notepad he gives u tha jay-z/biggie gigantic ''ode to the black south/bring back segregation'', w tha 1 & only god mc----kasim allah. it's like teacher n pupil takin down tha evil empire w enuff verbal stones 2 build 49 cities. i played this one back 3 times, kasim rips tha didgeridoo laced track w a ferocity, and ngoma is no slouch either on this song. 

he ends his cd w ''standing on the corner of '59 turning 60'', a blue note of cool funk proportions. this is tha one track where ngoma simply lays on tha track and floats until it seems like they had 2 drag him out of tha booth. cleary his most relaxed song. this entire project slides thru gospel, jazz, post modern hip-hop and lots of heavy rock hidden in his music. i found some of tha tracks 2 b a lil loud and drowned him somewhat, and his musical intros were alot longer than i wished for, yet he seemed more in control when he begins 2 speak. it's almost as if u don't care, because his subject matter is never tha same, and his diverse way of attackin tha bush administration didn't get tired one bit. this clearly is a top notch cd, an anthology u MUST have in ya collection. 
i give it: 4 1/2 ''RL's'' 
da gifted 1