Russell HughesJack Parow – Afrika 4 Beginners (Parowphernalia Records)
The passing of time change people and Jack Parow has rode that wave with the dexterity and skill of a monster-swell chasing surfer.
From his more straightforward beginnings as a straight forward Afrikaans rapper on 2009’s Jack Parow to the more ambitious and sonically different Nag Van Die Lang Pette in 2014, Parow has been determined to experiment and change but in some curious way stay the same.
Lead single and the first song on the album is Boepens Vark, a tune that harks back to his debut record with its tongue-in-cheek lyrical content and an approach that fails to take itself too seriously. Honestly that’s one of the reasons so many fell in love with the South African and it holds the key to his lasting charm.
But then straight away the musical differences come out of the woodwork. Bang Babbelas is a stripped back, lazier R&B tune that could be off an easy listening record – but it’s still a song that has a little something something about it.
One thing that Parow introduced in Nag Van Die Lang Pette is vocal interludes and those remain in number and feature a who’s who of South African culture.
Lonely The Brave have truly arrived with stunningly original Rudux
Parow’s collaborative spirit is also alive and kicking and one of the best songs on the album features another cameo for Dirt Nasty – although his strength here is also a weakness as To All The Girls pulls together all the worst lyrical instincts of the genre.
The dabble with EDM also remains and through Kak Soek and Skop, Skiet and Donderweer Parow picks up where he left off on Attack, Kill, Destroy.
But at the end of it all, the essential facts remain the same: Parow is a master at tweaking each album enough to add a fresh ingredient without taking away the thing that made him so successful in the first place. Long may it continue.
RUSHONROCK RATED: 9/10 Top of his game