Posted on 05/06/2008
To the east my brother to the east, c’mon… Truth Universal actually represents New Orleans via the West Indies but that doesn’t make him any less afro-centric than Brother J. Knowledge sprays and angst permeates Self-Determination but not in an alienating or overtly negative sort of way. And by way of his incredibly rich musical heritage, this Trini-gladiator anti-hesitator keeps a kung-fu grip on well-rounded intelligent music that actually sounds good. Balance is palatable, kid. TU gets his throughout with verbal jabs like; “Kill conformity rumors, keep your faction quiet / still more against the grain than the Atkins Diet.” Aside from that it’s some fuck-a-Bush, Black Steel type prison break shit. Wise Intelligent and C-Knowledge (b/k/a Doodlebug from Digable Planets) come through on “Black Culture,” a Panik from The Molemen banger. Stic Man cameos on “What It’s Bout,” a bouncy time bomb of a track that stays funky and fun despite its militancy. And at this point, Truth’s alignment with Pars’ Guerilla Funk family makes perfect sense. Check for his next release, Decolinization, slated to drop in October on Guerilla Funk Records.

Overall this is a pretty thick album. Verbally verbose, musically warm, but hard enough beatwise to hang with TU’s tongue. It doesn’t make me feel like a bad person nor does it make me want to punch somebody in the face. It’s conscious and out-spoken without being pretentious and preachy. It’s a big world. But truth is universal.

- Jeff Artist