no beats in this pulpit

Seize the Time (Mammoth Records)

Fun-da-mental

By Kory Wilcoxson

With a label reading "Warning: Contains the Truth," it is easy to figure out where Fun-da-mental will register on the preach-o-meter.

Coming at you with the equal doses of spirituality and conviction, Fun-da-mental is about as politically serious as rappers can get. Some of their soapbox rants make Public Enemy look like A Flock of Seagulls.

Fun-da-mental are not your average rappers for several reasons. One is they hail from England, always a distant cousin when it comes to producing quality rap artists. They also rap from an Indian (as in the country) angle, and many times lash out at what they describe as an unsympathetic, self-centered English bureaucracy.

Not to make light of their cause, but from a strictly entertainment view, Fun-da-mental may be hard pressed to find an audience for their protests on American soil. Rap is popular because it is what's real to its listeners. It would be hard for average teenagers to get hyped about the mistreatment of Muslims in England.

It does not help the group that the rapping and beats are fairly standard stuff. And after awhile, all that preaching gets monotonous but has you praying -- for the end of the sermon.