In an Oct. 18 MySpace bulletin Brother J announced that X-Clan is postponing its comeback album.
“Suburban Noize and the X-Clan music group have both agreed that the best time for this product to drop would be February 2007,” writes Brother J. Founded by Daddy X of Kottonmouth Kings, the rap-rock and funk-metal Suburban Noize imprint is releasing X-Clan’s Return from Mecca. “This album is not just an average release,” Brother J promises. “It is the blueprint for the new millennium of conscious writers, artists, and music consumers that don’t have a consisent source to inspire them. This album feels pure like when I first recorded To the East, Blackwards in 1990.”
X-Clan, who released To the East Blackwards and 1992’s Xodus in the early 90s, is a cornerstone of the all-too-brief black consciousness movement. Often misunderstood during its heyday as a black separatist group, X-Clan is enjoying newfound admiration like all things from the so-called “golden age” of hip-hop. This year began tragically with the demise of activist rapper Lumumba “Professor X” Carson, who co-formed the group with Brother J. In the wake of Carson’s death, Brother J founded the X-Clan Foundation, an L.A. based youth mentorship project in conjunction with Communities Organizing to Reach Excellent Concepts (C.O.R.E. Concepts).
Brother J went on to collaborate with Cut Chemist for “Drum Riders” (a title that alluded to Brother J’s 1996 project Dark Sun Riders), a killer cut on Ammoncontact’s With Voices compilation. In the summer, X-Clan was the opening act for Jurassic 5’s national tour, setting the stage for Return from Mecca.
“We are currently planning to work with the Visionaries for some Nov. shows and possibly Public Enemy in the winter,” writes Brother J. “Our 2007 calendar is going to be off the chain!”
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