March 15, 2002

Ali G : Indahouse - The Soundtrack

Does what it says on da tin...

7 / 10 "Legalise! It is well unfair what the honkys in the press have written about the So Solid Crew
and Oxide & Neutrina (sic). Dem claim, illegibly illegibly, that these boys preach a message of violence. That is habsolute bullshit! – scuse me French. These boys preach nuttin but peace and love. So next up is the new track fromOxide & Neutrina, called ‘Shoot To Kill''' – Ali G, ‘Legalise’

The new Ali G soundtrack album is a multi-layered experience. To some, it will be a half-decent compilation of hip hop, R&B and garage tunes. To others, it will be a comedy album in which Ali G hilariously links the tracks, pirate radio Tim Westwood style, imploring the listeners to "keep the text messages flyin’ in… don’t ring after 8pm" and bigging up the "Eaton Wick crew". But to the terminal clever clogs who analyse Ali G’s every move, it will be yet another riff on the central gag – the ambiguities of white, Asian and/or British kids adopting black American style and culture. Why else would the album include Another Level’s ‘Freak Me’ (three-quarter-white Lahndan boys cover libidinous R&B hit), Adam F (Alvin Stardust’s son makes like the newDr Dre), or Oxide & Neutrino (multi-racial south London duo adopt ragga gangsta attitude)?

Then there’s the accent thing. As Ali G says when introducing the Shaggy
track. "In real life, him don’t (deep) speak like this. Him speak like a girl (demonstrates) ‘Hello Ali G! Will you be me friend? Do you like my natty dreadlocks?’" The gag, of course, is that Ali G is even more fake – so what of Backyard Dog, who have Lancashire accents so thick you could spread them on barm cakes but growl through ‘Baddest Ruffest’ like they’re from Kingston, Jamaica? Or [a][/a]
, who put their best yank accents on to cover one of the great male R&B playa anthems, Montell Jordan’s ‘This Is How We Do It’ (not very well either, it has to be said)?

The final touch is the inclusion of two of the most incendiary old school rap records ever, NWA’s ‘Straight Outta Compton’ and Public Enemy’s ‘Fight The Power’. The latter was originally included on the soundtrack of ‘Do The Right Thing’, a provocative (and some said inflammatory) Spike Lee film about racial tensions in New York and features the famous line "Elvis was a hero to most/But he never meant shit to me".

Since Elvis was the first white boy to famously co-opt black culture, is this a savage dismissal of his descendents who do the same? Or does ‘Fight The Power’’s inclusion in this context show that racial differences are now regarded as a joke rather than a burning issue? Sacha Baron Cohen’s not saying. He’s a clever bugger…

Alex Needham