P.M. Dawn to put out new cover album

The alternative rap act will open for Boyz II Men at The Wedge.

By JOHN BENSON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

Along the alternative rap highway can be found a plethora of discarded early ’90s acts such as Arrested Development (the band, not the show), De La Soul and P.M. Dawn.

However, the latter act is on the slow comeback road with a new cover album, called “P.M. Dawn Loves You,” due out on Valentine’s Day.

“It’s the same direction we were headed before, we just kind of take our vibes and spread them all over the place,” said P.M. Dawn visionary Prince Be (born Attrell Cordes), calling from Jersey City, N.J. “This go-round, we did a bunch of cover songs. We just wanted to kind of hang out with some songs that we knew were of caliber where we should be at.”

For the most part, the mainstream’s knowledge of P.M. Dawn begins and ends with its 1991 international No. 1 hit “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss,” which is a clever dream of a song that features laid-back hip-hop sensibilities with a mainstream hook. The track slyly combined samples from Spandau Ballet’s ’80s song “True” with Eric B. and Rakim’s “Paid in Full.” 

To say they don’t make tunes like this anymore is an understatement. More so, Prince Be knows it.

“I was just looking at the Billboard charts and was like, ‘I don’t understand how we fit in here anymore,’” Prince Be said. “It’s all of this crazy stuff going on. It’s all weird party music like ‘Soulja Boy’ and ‘Sean Kingston.’ I like all of those songs, but that’s not me. That’s not nothing I can be.” 

So instead, P.M. Dawn is taking a safer route by releasing a covers album filled with variety and integrity. Songs include Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” Bob Marley’s “No Woman No Cry” and the unexpected Puddle of Mudd’s “Blurry.” P.M. Dawn performed the latter track a few years ago on NBC-TV reality show “Hit Me Baby One More Time.”

“I just wanted people to remember when there were really good songs on the radio,” Prince Be said. “Right now, it’s like we’re in fast-food business and it’s fast music. And I’m not that kind of person. I can’t flip a song a couple of times and then I have a song. I have to cook it at 360 degrees for a few hours.”

With “P.M. Dawn Loves You” on the horizon, along with a live album due out in the spring, P.M. Dawn is hitting the road. This includes an opening gig for Boyz II Men on Friday at The Wedge in Austintown.

While the road back to relevancy is long, Prince Be feels as though his act has a leg up on the competition.

“I think sonically and musically and artistically, our game is tight,” Prince Be said. “And I think the machine has been commissioned to exploit things that aren’t necessarily up to par, and therefore I feel like they’ve lowered the bar considerably. So we’re just going to jump sky high.”

He added, “And we’re hoping that people see it that way.”