If music is a barometer of what's happening in society, consider Cecil茅 Doo-Kingu茅's latest album a storm.
Tapping into society's growing disenchantment with issues ranging from politics to the police, Doo-Kingu茅's album Anybody Listening Part 2: Dialogues, is hitting a nerve with people who are fed up with the system.
鈥淚t took a couple albums to exercise my inner demons and my broken heart and now I'd like to engage in a more vital debate with my audience in terms of how we can work together to try and make life better for each other,鈥� said Doo-Kingu茅, who has been making music for the past two decades.
The new album, which is the second part of an incomplete trilogy, is littered with songs usually reserved for punk albums, but seems right at home with Doo-Kingu茅's deep voice and enchanting blues.
鈥淪ix Letters鈥� and 鈥淏loodstained Vodka鈥� are two songs that stand out on the 12-track album.
鈥淭hose are the two that seem to hit people where it counts emotionally, which is interesting to me because they are both about disenfranchised people and bigotry,鈥� said Doo-Kingu茅.
If you can ignore her slick guitar riffs for a minute and listen carefully to her lyrics you'll quickly discover that 鈥淪ix Letters鈥� is about police violence and what she describes as 鈥渞acial murder.鈥�
鈥淚 think it's important that those of us who are able to catch people's attention and who are in a position to raise awareness about certain issues, I think we have a certain responsibility to do so,鈥� said Doo-Kingu茅.
She credits her parents, who were part of the generation that fought for Cameroon's independence in West Africa in the late 1950s, for raising her with a social consciousness.
鈥淔rom a very early age all of us siblings we had a sense of social justice and equality that was burned into our minds,鈥� said Doo-Kingu茅, who was born in New York City and moved to Montreal when she was 20 years old.
鈥淚 also think when you're a visible minority from a very young age you have a certain sense of what is just, so that's always been the background to my intellectual development.鈥�
To catch Doo-Kingu茅 live, head over to the Olive Bistro and Lounge Feb. 7. The show starts at 7:30p.m. and tickets are $15 at the door.
Paul Clarke
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