If there were such a thing a "Christian adult album alternative radio," or if pop and adult contemporary formats were more open to lyrics of mysterious metaphor and the socio-political implications of living out the Gospel, Ben Okafor's singular brand of folk rockin' Afro-World Beat-flavored pop music might be know to more folks than just the import hounds. What to do?
Maybe his folk rockin' side that will win over some whose taste for the tropical doesn't run deep. "Sanctify My Soul" weds biblical imagery and everyday struggles to the same anthemic surges often found in Midnight Oil's work, and the undercurrent of Afro-pop won't be alien to Peter Gabriel fans. "Living In A Suitcase" and "Be My Brother" employ Billy Paul's sax to strident and breezy grooves, respectively, with lyrics expressing the anguish over political corruption and the need for love expressed therein, relating to lovers of both Bruce Cockburn and Third World.
And if it weren't for the spiritual/political lyricism, numbers like "She Said" and "Love Train" could define a kind of Africanized lovers' rock sound. Perhaps his politics, born of a harsher reality than most U.S. Christians face, keeps Okafor apart from the Christian music mainstream. The music itself is certainly accessible.
When the confluence of his reggae and folk natures come together in numbers like "Susan," "Sweet Lady" and the closing, gentle "Hear His Voice," he sings either about a love one who sees him through political torture (sounds like that's the case), or perchance the same loved one just being lovely and the wish to be led out a land where money dealers screw the people tighter daily.
If Christians are concerned with the plight of the world, Okafor deserves a place on the evangi-pop menu. Don't spit out anything else, but the World Beat-starved are especially advised to heap a portion of Generation on their plates.
4/5
