One quick glance at my album collection will confirm that I am pretty ignorant when it comes to rap or hip-hop. I’m afraid that it just doesn’t push my buttons and I find it has very little in the way of cultural relevance to me.
It’s odd then that Chupacabra has found its way into my CD collection. Infact I actually went out of my way to purchase it. Perhaps it was the fact that Miss Coppola had more in common with traditional singer-songwriters than her peers. Perhaps it was because that her style of rap (daisy-age I believe…) seemed a much more positive experience than I found in the majority of rap music.
It’s not all sunshine and flowers though, “Piece” and “One Of These Days” are seeped in despair and self-pity. Perhaps it is no accident that these are the flimsiest numbers as well. The real gems on the album are by and large the most positive and life-affirming numbers though, with “I’m A Tree”, “Legend Of A Cowgirl” and “It’s All About Me, Me and Me” being the tunes your most likely to be whistling for a whole week after you’ve listened to this album for the first time.
With this album’s largely optimistic outlook on life, enviable songwriting skills, strong musical arrangements and a unique appearance, Imani Coppola seemingly had it made. A show-stealing appearance on Later with Jools Holland confimed her as a magnetic live performer and rave reviews from all areas of the press indicated that she had a bright future.
Then… nothing happened. Despite “Legend of a Cowgirl” being a hit, the album bombed and she seemed to disappear off the radar completely, though in reality it seems she had been dropped by her record company and opted to self-release a string of albums that received almost zero press coverage here in the UK, leaving her fans here scratching their heads as to how such an obviously talented individual managed to disappear so completely.
