Oh Sista

Are you ready for the rhyme and the ruckus of Ursula Rucker?

by A.D. Amorosi

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Published: Oct 22, 2008

Ursula Rucker has never faltered in her raw-knuckled socio-conscious prose and sexually endowed lyrics of femme empowerment. Ch-ch-check out her cameos on albums for King Britt or The Roots and her slam slots on Def Poetry Jam. Listen to her klatch of bitchily brewed CDs. Start with 2001's epic Supa Sista and go from there.

Michael T. Regan

Little has changed since we first got to know Rucker on Roots records and readings at Zanzibar Blue. She still hangs with Ahmir Thompson and that Britt character. King's FiveSix label is releasing her new CD, Ruckus Soundsysdom.

"That Philly communal music thing — it's part of the legacy of this city, man," says Rucker. "Folk get together and form unique long-lasting art bonds. Must be the Schuylkill punch. King was the first cat to put me on. Ahmir gave me my first opportunity to be brazen, and take my writing to the next level." And don't forget Tim Motzer, the Philly guitarist whose ambient swells and rhythmic curls have been part of Rucker's sound whether she's doing intimate two-person shows or full-band events. "Tim? That's my road dog right there. We been goin' 'round the world doin' this poetry/music thing for eight years running."

Rucker values the old days ("Vagabond parties, Silk's first Back2Basics jams"), but keeps looking forward. Especially her ongoing experiments with electro-dance producers and the DJ universe.

"Having my shit on dance tracks does me a service. The DJs are my biggest pushers and the dancefloor is the best laboratory. Listeners are happy, open and get swept up by the rhythms, and then, all of a sudden ... they're like, 'Hey, what did she say?'"

If the music is the sugar, her poetry is the herbal medicine. Surprising then, that when you ask if being a spoken-word artist pigeonholes her, Rucker emphatically exclaims "Yes!"

"I can't stand it. I am a poet ... 'Spoken word' is a lazy, inaccurate label to make performance poetry into a scene, a fad, palatable for the masses. But you know what, A.D.? If they put me in the box, I'll always find my way back out of it."

That's why her fourth record, Ruckus Soundsysdom, exists. Rucker once said that her previous three albums (Supa Sista, plus 2003's Silver and Lead and 2006's Ma'at Mama) were of a piece. "The concept of trilogy/trinity is absolutely an offshoot of my Catholicism. But so is my dark side," she laughs. "My first three albums was the opening and closing of a cycle. Supa Sista was my foray into solo album-ness after so many collabs. Ma'at Mama ended the cycle of solo self-discovery. So Ruckus is about having this album shit down."

This album is Rucker's most electronic, funky, intelligent work yet. "Read Between the Lines" is Rucker's presto-chango perception-reality anthem. "Anduknowwhat?" is pivotal because of its vocal energy (Alma Horton, Vicki Miles, Rucker's son Sudan) and its intense musicality.

"It's all so heavy," says Rucker, barely able to control her giggles. She practically yells this. "In fact, King and I have a slogan to describe the intensity of the new joint: 'THEY AIN'T READY.'"

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