Esthero

There was a time when Esthero represented everything that I wanted music to be. I am thinking specifically of the group's debut (and really only, as a group) album Breath From Another. The lead vocalist had a voice that was completely perfect. Soulful, powerful, sensual, with an enormous range. The drum parts were made up of the hip-hop and jungle-style break beats that I craved. The melodies were crafted with smoky, reverby samples, loungy keys, and driving synth basslines. The lyrics were all somewhat cryptic, sometimes dark ("you looked her eye / I watched her lie / she didn't have to die") and sometimes uplifting ("long as I have my voice / I don't need arms to hold"). It was a perfect album.

At some point around 1999 or 2000, I discovered the movie Slam. This was one of the first "indie" films that I really knew existed. At 19, I had never seen anything quite like it. The unfortunate side-effect of my short obsession with this movie was a brief flirtation with slam poetry. This, thank God, did not last. But the film, with its sober yet romantic depiction of a young, charismatic, intelligent young man who finds himself trapped by both his poverty and the legal system, allowed me to empathize with the minority experience in a way that I had never experienced before. And the poetry, while cringe-inducing when performed by most, was truly moving. And its just a great movie overall.

But that's all really an introduction to my ultimate point: during the final credits, what do I hear, but Esthero singing the chorus to a Goodie Mob rap song. You see, at the time, I had also developed an obsession with Goodie Mob and all things Dungeon Family. And this meeting of these two wonderful things was almost too much to stand. As a bonus, the VHS of Slam featured a great, great video of the song (its called "The World I Know"), where Esthero sings atop a car with Big Gipp in the driver's seat. Sound too good to be true? Well, to you, probably not. But it was to me. In case you're pinching yourself too, here it is: 

Esthero (once a group name, referring both to the vocalist and the producers who worked with her, but now adopted by the vocalist as her own personal monicker) has had a rough time commercially, as far as I can tell. I know that she has a loyal following of a number of devoted fans. This is clear both from the frequent activity on her myspace page as well as the very large crowd that showed up to see her in Atlanta a few years ago. That being said, her most recent album was what one might call a "commercial flop." And, to be honest, it just wasn't nearly as good as the original album (which, honestly, probably was not a huge hit itself). I understand that Esthero did much of her own songwriting for the album. Maybe this is a case where her strongest talents lie in her performance, and she's been unable to connect with a songwriter whose music truly suits her.

In any case, as her devotees can attest to, the artist has made at least one very powerful and effective artistic statement, and that is much more than most can say. There are only a handful of artists who have made a truly lasting impact on me, and she certainly ranks among them. Here's hoping her the best for the future. But also recognizing that she's among the few artists to have done something truly great to begin with.