Keziah Jones
Captain Rugged
Release Date: Jan 20, 2014
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: Because
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Album Review: Captain Rugged by Keziah Jones
Fairly Good, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 4/5
Two decades after he first dubbed his blend of raw blues and edgy funk "blufunk", Nigerian singer-songwriter Jones has adopted the guise of Captain Rugged, an African superhero who acts as a "satire on power, politics and magic" and enables him to tell tales of immigration, refugees, broken dreams and exile. Ten years in the conception, the alter-ego seems to have given his music new powers. He rampages through infectious grooves that – while his own superheroes are George Clinton, Jimi Hendrix and Fela Kuti – aren't too far from an Afrobeat Richie Havens.
Based on rating 2/5
Nigeria-born but London-raised, Keziah Jones has carved out a niche for himself over the last 20 years with a unique hybrid of rock, funk, soul and afrobeat. This latest album, his seventh, takes the form of a concept work based on a superhero, Captain Rugged, and sees him beef up the African aspects of his sound while painting a lyrical picture of modern-day Lagos through his alter ego. High on ambition, musicianship and charm the end result is a set of well-meaning if often uninspiring afro-rock.
'Captain Rugged'
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