You remember when Kanye had a picture taken with all those dudes that look like they sit down to pee? Well imagine if a trio of those dudes started a (supa) production crew in Los Angeles. The outward appearance of Sa-Ra is basically that. And while I don’t know if they stand or sit, it kinda doesn’t matter considering some of the beats that these guys have come up with thus far. Enthusiastic as that might sound, all of it must be tempered by the fact that a great deal of Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love seems to have been created as backdrops to a whole buncha ladies singing. So where does that leave us, huh?

Made up of the trio of Taz Arnold, Shafiq Husayn and Om'Mas Keith, Sa-Ra first came to relative prominence when releasing 2007’s The Hollywood Recordings. In tandem with Babygrande and Ubiquity the ensemble has spread an odd compendium of black music filtered through a boom bap consciousness over its various releases. It ranges from (almost) straight rap tracks to future funk and space oddities not fit for anything else other than listening. The group might get referred to as rap or hip hop, it’s only in a pretty broad light that that can be valid. There really isn’t any ‘rapping’ on here – “Bitch Day” gets close, but not close enough.

"We're the only thing that can be compared to Funkadelic in this new era, in this new shit," figures Keith in an interview with a Canadian magazine. And while that influence is certainly in place, most would hesitate to draw such a comparison. It’s not invalid, but a bit obtuse considering the sprawling discography of Clinton and the relative new car smell still following Sa-Ra around. But braggadocio is part and parcel of the game at this point. And winning is something that Sa-Ra aims to do. Contributing to work from folks like 50 Cent, Badu and even Mobb Deep, it’s no longer a question of if this trio is gonna make it, but how big?

After taking a listen to Nuclear Evolution: The Age of Love it does seem as if the disc is primed for success – but not really of the cross over type. Most likely Sa-Ra is going to languish in the ‘urban’ sections of whatever contrived charts exist as opposed to becoming international Kanyes themselves. That really shouldn’t be too much of a problem considering that the music represented on this latest disc is pretty fiercely unique and focused in a weird way.

Sa-Ra clearly does what each member believes to right. There aren’t any tracks tailor made for stardom. And even if the album includes sounds as varied as Latin music, hip hop and soul, there’s a persistent production quality – that spacey, funky thing – that ties it all together. I have no idea what the ‘hit’ might be off of this disc, but maybe there’s not supposed to be one. Regardless of that, I’m just waiting for the instrumental disc, ‘cause really, I can’t handle that much soul music.