Ursula Rucker - Ma At Mama
Release Date: 6th February 2006
Ursula Rucker has never been afraid to take it there. There, that place, deep, inside, up and above, where she carves emotion with piercing lyrical cadence. There, where poetry and music intertwine, and melodies and words mingle. In her third album, Rucker sets her sights There, aspiring toward an ancient Egyptian Kemetic principle, the foundation of universal order and balance — ma’at — truth. Her third album quite simply is ‘Ma’at Mama’. Ma’at is also the name of the goddess whose power works to keep this truth, this balance, ever present and functional, she muses at home in Philadelphia, surrounded by her four children all under age 12. “Some believe she is at the top of the hierarchy of Egyptian gods and goddesses, for without universal order there is nothing but chaos and destruction”. Mother of four, seeker of truth, Rucker has reached a new personal plateau that takes shape in ‘Ma’at Mama’.
“It has been something I keep in my heart, something that is beautiful, simple, powerful and a guide through this crazy life,” she explains of the balance between motherhood and living as an artist. “Now that I am a mama of four black boys in America, I need all the strength to raise them and do my best to achieve good human beingness, so I can show them the way. Supa Sista has evolved into Ma’at Mama.”
From her native Philadelphia, Rucker’s affinity for flipping the printed word catapulted her into hungry ears when she began to read publicly in 1994 at Zanzibar. The Temple University journalism graduate struck a chord in Philly’s soul that reverberated around the world with her mezzo-soprano speak. Her recordings with the Silent Poets, King Britt, Josh Wink, 4Hero captured the public’s imagination. When Ahmir ‘?uestlove’ Thompson asked her to compose the final cuts on three consecutive The Roots albums, she found an eager international following. ‘Supa Sista’, her 2001 !K7 debut launched a talented poet as a solo artist with the affirmation of a strong lyrical voice. Then came ‘Silver Or Lead’ in 2003, a riveting exploration of self, woman and Black with an assembly of producers.
With ‘Ma’at Mama’, Rucker shows a new level of maturity in her writing. It’s clear that she harnesses emotions in song to get through the daily grind. She explores socio-political point of race, class, culture, religion and gender, with steel-cut precision. Then, there’s her lifelong love of Prince. “If I would go through a hard time I would listen to his music and it was all I needed,” she says with pride. A Prince-like influence is felt on her production choice, working with a vastly talented producer Anthony Tidd who uses traditional African percussion, raucous guitar, and symbiotic synthesizers. With Tidd producing most tracks on the album, she departs into unexplored terrain, like the pulsating funk of ‘Rant (Hot In Here)’. This time around, she sticks with a select number of producers including Tim Motzer, Rob Yancey III and Sönke Düwer, but she still manages to journey from melancholy to impassioned sonic backdrops.
While her perspective as a proud mother informs much of the content (sons Sudan and Sol turn up on intros) her understanding of her own parents inflects this project. “I’m really taking into account who my parents are and what their life is like. My father is black and he’s from Lynchburg, Virginia. My Mother is Italian, born in this country. They got married in 1952, which when I think about it, it took so much courage. They met at a luncheon with a jukebox and a counter down on Market Street in Philly.”
True to form, Rucker’s albums are poetry in motion, guided by a time signature that speaks to the human experience with honesty and poignancy. Sensuality oozes with mention of body parts in ‘Black Erotica’. She kicks simple goodness in the acapella ‘Church Party’, an ode to the glory days with clear imagery. "They all stand in a buffalo stance/B-boy posin’/Skin and style pressed up against church hall wall/3-D graffiti hit/Somebody say, Exotic! Exotic!" Wise listeners should keep liner notes on hand. These connections are made in intense outpourings of emotion, in subtler phrasing and more overt tones in other places. ‘Poon Tang Clan’ is among her power pieces, exploring women tough and street made. "Why am I so raw? Cause I don’t fuck with protocol or propriety[…]". "It’s a poem that’s been around for a while. I recorded it for one of the Roots albums,” she says. “but they changed their mind and never used it.” Rucker does not shelter her audience. She’s honest, vibrant, heartfelt and at the core — true. She ends ‘For Women’ with a grand declaration. "Call me crazy, divine, Ma’at, true honeybun, Supreme Pontifica, electric lady, holy prostitute. I don’t care what you call me. I know who I is".
Rucker, a global activist enlightens, in the recording studio and in her powerful live shows. Most recently she performed at the FREEDOM Festival held in Australia raising awareness for Amnesty International’s global Stop Violence Against Women campaign. By her own definition, she is a ma’at mama to the core. Oh yes, she’s gone there, to that place.
Article Links
Article by: Aaron Newton