THE POWER OF COLOSSUS

words CHARLES IZENSTEIN shutter AMY YVONNE YU

Colossus’ pace, his tough chug of melody and beat, match the sidewalk’s pulse, that 1–2 strut found on the street. With bottom-heavy arrangements, styled as both jazz and hip hop, Colossus’ engine powers his project ahead, fueled by the organic and by the human vocal instrument. A double-length offering, West Oaktown, the premiere creation from the altitudinous maestro of jazz-hop, Colossus, is presented by the California-based Om HipHop Recordings, both as an artist album and a collection of remixes. By including two works, one laidback and the other fresh and chunky, Om is screaming out to wake up and find out that Colossus has the voice of the world.

To understand the timelessly artistic merit of West Oaktown, Colossus’ personal history is important, as it establishes his street tenure as a veteran professor of the proverbial funk. Colossus, a.k.a. Charlie Tate, hails from England and his musical career began with the Parisian project “The Big Cheese All Stars,” a group supported by the label of the same name. After successful tours, single releases, and an album, Colossus’ musical opportunities blossomed, leading to tours with Roy Ayers, Gil Scot Heron, Fred Wesley, Neneh Cherry, and even the great James Brown. These incredible projects led to the formation of King Kooba, a duo composed of himself, Charlie Tate and DJ Shuff. King Kooba grabbed the attention of Om Hip Hop and after some work together, their relationship was cemented. As Colossus subsequently relocated to the Bay Area full-time, many nights in jazz bars, some beverages, and many spins of classic jazz, funk, and soul records led to the conception of this latest project, West Oaktown. To even further educate and introduce themselves to the public, Colossus and the Om crew have a running weekly party in Oakland called ‘Slow Gin’ where all things funk, soul, and jazz are championed and acts as a base camp for the Bay Area’s staggering number of talented musicians and MCs.

Digging into the two disks that are West Oaktown, jazz and hip hop jump off the wax, but Colossus’ influences are more varied. As the first disk of the album begins, the references are quite interesting to the average consumer, who doesn’t have the extensive musical knowledge mastered by Colossus. The first cut, the ‘one’ lyric scratched in and out initially brings a quick memory of a Biggie Smalls lyric from the great “Life after Death” cut, “The ten crack commandments”. While this reference is probably unintentional and definitely exposes this listener’s layman’s knowledge of classic wax, the reference actually connected the laidback vibe that follows the intro with another contemporary hip hop legend and gives the soulful West Oaktown offering an inner-city image. Quickly the jazz drops in and a patchwork of horns, drums, guitar and smoky male vocals warm the listener. Images in rhyme flow almost too quickly, but the vocal style balances a spoken word vibe with a hip hop MC’s attention-grabbing ego. The police siren and the DJ scratch, inseparable metaphors for urban street life, present West Oaktown not as an acid jazz exploration or thug hip hop statement, but an amalgamation of the true urban musician. He is Savion Glover and Gil Scott Heron but he is also the future generation to come. Oakland is an interesting place at this point, almost six years into the new millennium and Colossus is a walking microcosm of Oakland’s revitalized identity. Part thug life, part rejuvenated soul, Oakland is freedom and equality, but success there comes only to those with both proper skills and the balls to survive and create rather than imitate.

As West Oaktown’s first disk runs its course, its jazz-hop vibe blends cutting edge with classic roots. On the other hand, the second disk, the Remixes, launches Colossus’ straight-up hip hop funk skills into the mix. Utilizing a sampled scene of a street hustler pushing wares repeatedly through the collection of remixed tracks, not only do the cuts explode with fresh beats, the sounds have a relatable quality from real life. The remix cuts are a study of urban reality and the idea of recreating new and ultra-fresh beats from the jazz-hop of the first disk elevates Om’s product above the average product on the market. Colossus is a modern teacher whose lectures are not stuck behind some desk but are available at your local record shop and should not be missed!

"...but success there comes only to those
with both proper skills and the balls to
survive and create rather than imitate."