There’s certainly an interesting backstory behind the extended gestation of this long-awaited debut album ‘Cleopatra’s Bath Milk’ from Sydney-based hiphop duo Fonke Knomaads. In the early nineties, alongside the likes of Def Wish Cast, DJ Ransom and Sound Unlimited Posse, the Fonke Knomaads represented the first wave of Australian hiphop, the duo of DJ Soup and MC Teop releasing their debut ‘The Hills Are Alive With The Sound Of…†EP through Heidi and Peter Pasqual’s pre-Creative Vibes Poboy label way back in 1992, before having their tracks included on both the ’15oz’ and ‘Undertones Vol.1’ compilations. In 1994 the duo split to pursue their respective solo endeavours, Soup going onto to release several ‘sampology-centred’ albums as well as work with Sleek The Elite, while Teop released an album of Christian hiphop as Father of 5. After a 15 year absence, ‘Cleopatra’s Bath Milk’ sees the duo reunited afresh, and in many senses, the feelgood vibe throughout and warm funk grooves immediately throw the mood straight back towards the Daisy Age , a sonic backdrop that sits perfectly against Teop’s positive lyrics.
While the desert-centred sleeve art and ‘Dreamtime story style’ intro section, complete with crickets and crackling campfire sounds suggest an exotic concept album at first, the tumble into stinky guitar funk grooves that follows on tracks such as ‘Chicken And Watermelon’ and ‘Souperhuman’ see things getting distinctly more inner-city, with Soup’s production on the former particularly calling to mind Beasties high water mark ‘Paul’s Boutique’ as Teop casts things lyrically back to the early nineties and “those who who didn’t sell out for raves.†While the predominant view throughout the 14 tracks collected here is pretty upbeat, tracks such as the black deaths in custody-themed ‘Flames Over Palm Island’ see a political edge coming to the fore, and indeed the cleverly deployed sampling of actual news broadcasts reminds you that sadly, some things haven’t changed in the intervening 15 years. In many senses, the return to the old school firmly in evidence amongst ‘Cleopatra’s Bath Milk’ particularly calls to mind fellow compatriots Metabass N’ Breath, and indeed this inspired comeback effort shows that Soup and Teop have plenty of inspired grooves and rhymes up their collective sleeves yet.
