TRACK LISTING 1. Consciousness Hiphop 2. Black 3. Where were U? 4. Dear Mr. President 5. Famous or Nameless 6. Change Will Come 7. Are U a Clone? 8. A Life Less Ordinary 9. Silver or Lead? 10. Worldz Biggest Pusherz 11. BEE 12. Prisoner of Your Mind 13. Am I Dead Yet?

Burke's brand of politics focuses not only on present issues, like the pace of land reform (“Dear Mr President”) and black economic empowerment as “the new form of minority endowment” (“BEE”), but also on the culpability of whites during the apartheid years (“Where were U?”) and the perceived need for a new war crimes committee (“Change Will Come”).

Burke plays with words well. There is no doubt that he is a talented wordsmith who can weave fascinating rhythms and rhymes around simple phrases. The music is also good, understated but rhythmically interesting.

Some of the subjects Burke addresses are ones that need to be brought out from under the carpet. Apartheid criminals are still free, the land issue needs to be considered at some stage, and the matter of whether black empowerment is meeting its objectives should also be considered.

But Burke, rather than adopt an approach that encourages reconciliation, takes a confrontational and potentially inflammatory one.

In “Where were U?', for example, he raps: “Was your brother shootin' bullets from a Kasper in my hood / Did your sister cry rape when she got caught wantin' it good?”. Does he consider the effect of such a question on someone whose sister was indeed raped? Addressing black South Africans in “Are U a Clone?”, Burke warns: “Before '94 he wouldn't touch you with a flagpole / But now he embraces you like you're part of his soul / His goal is to make you live like him, smell like him / Speak like him, act like him and party like him / And say hip hop hooray to the white way / Put on the blinkers and say SA is okay”.

If Burke is really as angry as he comes across on Consciousness Hiphop, the CD is a wake-up call for anyone who thinks everything is moving along swimmingly in South Africa. There are people in the country who are not just frustrated at the pace of reform, but bitter and even wrathful. If he isn't angry, but trying to be controversial for the sake of sales, then the album is irresponsible, as this kind of thing has the potential to drive a wedge through a society still trying to close the wound left by apartheid.