PARENTAL ADVISORY

Now I'm not going to lie, the title of this dvd is one of the more creative things I've seen in a while. On viewing the dvd cover, your eyes go from the "parental", then to the "advisory" and on to inevitable shock by the fact that the creators effectively nullify the purpose of their own 'parental advisory' disclaimer on the cover of the product with the word "bitch". So when I picked up this dvd in Highway Records I knew I was in for some kinda unique experience and willingly, I plunked down my $40 and made some 'movements'. In any case ting real scarce these days; as of this time of speaking, Pro Records hasn't released their album yet and the Tango and Cash is like $100 which is out of my price range, ya dig.

In essence, Parental Advisory Bitch (still can't believe I have to revere this as a title) is a Trinidad hip hop dvd chocked full of freestyles, interviews, videos, skits and basically anything you would think is remotely related to hip hop in TnT. Loads of swagger... check, talking about what you have before you have it... check, American accents...check and a lot of that boldface trini behaviour that is even more entertaining when captured on camera. But unlike "Real Talk" (the comparison was inevitable), which has the distinct and catchy theme of basically bad-mouthing the industry in the most controversial way possible using the (formerly) least controversial people possible, P.A.B. just throws any and everything at you in the hope that something sticks. As a result, you feel like you never know what to expect which sometimes works in its favour and a lot of times doesn't. And I was vexed that they didn't make use of what could have been the baddest catch phrase ever; "Buy this dvd or ah coming fuh yuh mudder ****". Bess.

Thankfully, the entertaining parts definitely make up for any shortcomings of P.A.B. To the perhaps dubious disappointment of some, P.A.B. doesn't exactly earn it's name and isn't any more hardcore than what you would have seen in Real Talk, which to me is a good thing. The best part of the dvd is the coverage of the Nemisis' album launch which features performances by Chromatics, Pro Records and Nemisis himself plus a preview of the new Nemisis clothing line called "Nemwear". The performances were hype as expected but it was the freshness of the clothing line that frankly surprised and impressed me. Big up to Nemisis with this endeavour and I implore all of you to support it when it comes out. Other than that there are a few random moments of humour to be caught in some of the skits like an unfortunate one where an underage kid purchases a copy of Parental Advisory Bitch (which is clearly displayed on the camera via a closeup) and the host merely shrugs and lets the kid go on his way to presumably view a dvd filled with gleeful nihilism. Don't worry, I too believe the children are our future. Additionally, the infrequent cameos of the always noticeable Shinez is also noteworthy and one wonders whether it was the recent controversy that kept him from having a more pivotal role in this production (his upcoming movie looks fresh). In any event, you could do a lot worse. Cop this if you get a chance. Da Face out.