EMERGENCE

Chairman's Choice
by Chairman Mao
July 2008 | XXL Magazine

Let's be clear: INVINCIBLE ain't the one to be marginalized as merely a female rapper. Although she strives to be "one of the best, period/Not just one of the best with breasts and a period," you won't find her swapping her "baggy clothes for camel toes," as she declares on the thunderous "Looongawaited," from her, yes, long awaited debut ShapeShifters (Emergence/Bling 47). In other words, she proudly walks her own purist path, which means spouting diatribes on Middle East displacement ("People Not Places") and heartbroken thoughts on Bush-league America ("Spacious Skies") and addressing further social injustices ("Ropes") in her repertoire of humanism 'n' blues. It also means beats courtesy of her hometown's (whaddup, Detroit) finest studio rats (Black Milk, The Lab Techs, Waajeed)--a D-tail that complements Invincible's breadth and breath control with a gang of unfadeable aural touches: clever "Love Cats" cutups on the anitlove rap "No Easy Answers," cascading strings on the Motor City-centric "Recognize," and Spanish guitars on the epic title track. "Music is not a mirror to reflect reality/It's a hammer with which we shape it," she states at song's outset. Supreme sentiments.