Conscious Revolution (KG2, 2007)

Greg Cipes is an actor/singer whose thespian resume includes everything from cartoon voiceovers (such as Beast Boy in "Teen Titans") to the vaguely homoerotic boy band horror movie Ring of Darkness . His debut album with backing band The People favors a reggae vibe throughout its lush, extravagant sound, with layers of styles, from reggae to rock, pop to hip-hop, folk to dance, liberally distributed from start to finish. It's nothing that can be judged by the standards of a reggae purist, as its best moments are breezy pop reggae-lite like "Fly," "Pain," "Your Song," and most notably the catchy "Free Me." But even on that level, there's something off-putting about Conscious Revolution. For one, the title assumes a purposefulness and grandiosity that it fails to deliver. Rather than putting forth anything "revolutionary," most of the tracks float along on a cloud of fluffy neo-hippy/surfer sentimentality, delivering tired cliches of "one love" and "legalize it." Then, when you throw in a guest performance by (ugh) Jesse McCartney over a tired sample of Bob Marley's "Sun Is Shining" on "Rescue," you can't help but feel that Cipes might be an interloper on the reggae scene, cashing in on the sound of the moment. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, even when I saw promo shots that look like this:

But he made it awfully hard when I saw this one:

Actually, this pic is quite appropriate, since the level of reggae on Conscious Revolution is about that of Paris Hilton's "Stars Are Blind": cheery, poppy, derivative, and immature -- which I suppose might be by design if Jesse McCartney fans are the target demographic. But beyond the expected pop inclination, the album smacks of self-promotion and pomposity, with a faux "street edge" and interludes that serve no purpose other than to give Cipes more air time, not to mention a 12-minute title track that breaks the camel's back with "conscious" lyrics like:

Can't stop a conscious revolution.
We're them kids with a positive solution...
Now, tell me why the police always on my back?
Fuck them dirty pigs, it's time to react.
Take your ticket back, shove it up your crack.
Don't need your dirty laws, I want my money back.

OK, first of all, I seriously doubt the police are "always on your back." Second, you're touting yourself as positive one moment, and the next, you're spewing profanity. Third, this is what your "revolution" is about? Tickets??? Reggae has a long history as a social, political, and religious catalyst for real, impactful change, and for Cipes to be so vocal and self-important about something as trivial as tickets (parking, speeding, jaywalking, whatever) feels insulting not only to the genre but to the listeners' intelligence. Capping off the album, this song solidifies the sense of hollow pretension that you sense, but might overlook, in the previous 17 tracks.