Why I like Faithless

I have to admit that I have always liked rap music - I like its speed, its freshness and vitality, and its generally syncopated nature - the generally close link between the stresses in emphasis of the vocal and the backing track. In the dim and distant, I have written and performed rap, but only in a "review" setting, it has to be said.

As old as I know this comment is going to make me sound, modern rap music generally leaves me cold. It is abusive, it is benile, it is shallow, and it is foul-mouthed. It has precious few redeeming features, and is a world away from the relatively genteel rap roots that I fondly remember.

Here enters Faithless. Like Malcolm McLaren, Faithless freely admits to a complete inability to sing. This is not a problem, because he surrounds himself with extremely talented musicians and singers to realise his creations. Faithless writes rap. He is older, wiser, and more intelligent and considered than most other chart-hitting rappers. His music and his messages are more complex and lyrical.

Another aspect that has always appealed to me is "lyrics as poetry". I can point to my love of groups like Genesis, Marillion and Fish, Pink Floyd and Alan Parsons Project in this vein. Faithless, like Fish, loves to savour the sound and meaning of words. He uses devices that you don't generally get outside poems - like aliteration and onomatopoeia. He swills the sound of words around in his lyrics just as one might savour a wine by swilling it around in the mouth and see how it stimulates your pallete.

Because Faithless is now famous and accomplished - with a string of hit albums and singles behind him, the collaborations that he can arrange are increasingly good. I wouldn't say that any of his songs are weak - but in working with the likes of Dido, and many others, he achieves a breadth on his albums that can go from gospel to opera to full-on rap.

So - Faithless combines clever and considered lyrics, rap, and good music. And that's why I like Faithless. :)