Bill Cosby rekindles hip-hop's socially conscious flame on ''Bill Cosby Presents the Cosnarati: State of Emergency.'' It's all part of a grass roots effort to foster ongoing community dialogue and action by way of listenin... more »g parties held at homes, community centers, churches and other locales. Although he does not rap or sing on the project, he executive produced the project and conceived the songs' story concepts.« less
Bill Cosby rekindles hip-hop's socially conscious flame on ''Bill Cosby Presents the Cosnarati: State of Emergency.'' It's all part of a grass roots effort to foster ongoing community dialogue and action by way of listening parties held at homes, community centers, churches and other locales. Although he does not rap or sing on the project, he executive produced the project and conceived the songs' story concepts.
"Heard a lot of things about this record in the past couple years and was always curious how this would come together. Have to say - Cosby does a great job of bringing the right message through the medium. Do wish he made an appearance on this one, would love to hear Mr. Cosby drop some bars as well. Maybe even just some spoken word or a little scat ditty. That would be legendary.
Great album overall, looking forward to hearing more from the Cos."
With their hippin' and their hoppin'
Evan White | Oxnard, CA, USA | 11/12/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I got this album yesterday, and loved it! I can hear Mr. Cosby saying: with their hippin' and their hoppin', and the bippin' and the boppin' ...I just love this guy! Great words, strong music, and hot beats! We need more of this!
"
It's an OK cd...NOT COMEDY
LuvBooks | DC | 11/12/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"As the title says...IT'S NOT COSBY'S COMEDY!! I did the sensible thing and previewed the tracks b/c the titles didn't sound like comedy segments. I'm not a fan of rap by any stretch, but listening to the tracks, I could hear a theme of the messages that Cosby has been speaking out about for the last few years. For that reason alone, it's worth checking out."
Fresh air
Jo·seph | Long Island NY | 11/13/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Positive and socially conscious hip-hop with great beats and emcees. I love it.
No degrading women, no glamorizing crime and/or violence, and no "n-word." Very accessible; themes include working hard, honesty, taking responsiblity for your action, being patient, overcoming hardships and challenges, keeping your head up, etc.
I thought it would be cheesy but gave it a spin and surprisingly found it to be very inspiring and thought provoking while simultaneously appealing to my taste for modern music trends. Very cool. Kudos to Cosby and these young emcees.
"
Pretty weak musically and lyrically
Morphius360 | San Diego | 12/08/2009
(1 out of 5 stars)
"The raps are ok and the music listenable, but most black youth, the stated targets of this project, have ignored this album and with it, its message. The youth are more apt to listen to positive rap groups like the The Coup or the other thousands of independent artists who are not getting the attention that mainstream rappers receive. Perhaps if Cosby would have tapped into groups/rappers popular with the youth the project would have gotten a lot more attention from them. As it stands, this CD has pretty much been ignored by the hip hop listening community.
Hopefully with future projects like these, he will look for more input from the youth he is trying to reach."