Chocolate City

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Chocolate City
Chocolate City cover
Studio album by Parliament
Released 1975
Genre Funk
Length 36:42
Label Casablanca
Producer(s) George Clinton
Professional reviews
Parliament chronology
Up for the Down Stroke (1974) Chocolate City (1975) Mothership Connection (1975)


Chocolate City is the name of a 1975 album by Parliament. It features the classic P-Funk combination of George Clinton, Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins and Eddie Hazel and the debut of the Horney Horns consisting of Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley. The album has a theme of love of Washington, D.C., where P-Funk was particularly popular, with the Capitol, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial all featured on the cover as well as sticker titled "Washington DC". The album reached the top 20 of the Billboard black charts but only reached #91 on the album charts.

Contents

[edit] Theme

The album takes its name from the term "Chocolate City", which had been used to describe Washington, D.C. where blacks had been becoming a majority through migration (as explained in the cover notes included with one recent CD release of the album). The term had been used by Washington's black AM radio stations WOL-AM and WOOK-AM since the early 1970's to refer to the city. Bobby "The Mighty Burner" Bennett, a DJ on WOL, told the Washington Post in 1998 "Chocolate City for me was the expression of D.C.'s classy funk and confident blackness."[1]

George Clinton used the concept in the title track using the black domination of the inner city populations as a positive message in contrast to concern over White flight. The lyrics of the song refer to several such "chocolate cities" but focuses on D.C.: "There's a lot of chocolate cities around/We got Newark, we got Gary/Someone told me we got L.A./ And we're working on Atlanta / But you're the capital C.C."[2]

Clinton's lyrics referred to Chocolate City as "my piece of the rock" as opposed to the "40 acres and a mule" that slaves were promised after the Civil War. He contrasted Chocolate City with the "vanilla suburbs" of the city, a term first used on the track.

The lyrics also reflected Clinton's thanks for the capital's strong support for P-Funk, further shown by the album cover showing the Lincoln Memorial and the United States Capitol.

Other tracks on the album reflecting the influence of Washington are "Let Me Be" drawing from 1970's D.C. gospel and "I Misjudged You" a homage to The Unifics, a Washington R&B ballad group.[3]

[edit] Cultural references to "Chocolate City"

New Orleans' mayor Ray Nagin used the term Chocolate City in 2006, a few months after Hurricane Katrina, during a Martin Luther King Day speech (the "Chocolate City speech"). This remark, in which Nagin said that New Orleans "would be a chocolate city once again," led to controversy, with critics accusing Nagin of racism; when Nagin later attended the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Stephen Colbert welcomed Nagin to Washington, D.C., "the chocolate city with a marshmallow center and a graham cracker crust of corruption".

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an independent living group known as Chocolate City at M.I.T. was founded in 1975. Named after the Parliament song, the living group houses 28-30 male students, and is a recognized part of the M.I.T. housing system. According to the living group's[4], Chocolate City at M.I.T.'s primary purpose is to support its brotherhood and contribute to the global community. "Chocolate City is a brotherhood of MIT students and alumni who identify with Black culture and share common backgrounds, interests, ethnicities, and/or experiences. By cultivating a tradition of social, intellectual, character, and leadership development, the Brothers of Chocolate City exemplify a high standard of excellence which is founded on continual growth. We seek to enrich the MIT and greater global communities by embodying the principles of our brotherhood."

[edit] Music

Chocolate City was the second Parliament album released by Casablanca Records in 1975. The album features the classic P-Funk lineup with George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, and Eddie Hazel. The Brecker brothers, Michael and Randy, joined the band as did vocalist Glen Goins. Prakash John plays bass on several tracks as well including the title track.

The album is full of the uptempo funk that the band would be known for as well as the vocal harmonies of The Parliaments. Let Me Be draws on jazz as well as gospel lyrics.

[edit] Chart performance

Chocolate City reached the top 20 of the black album charts in 1975 and reached #91 on the album charts. "Chocolate City", the title track and first single, reached #24 on the black chart and #94 on the Billboard Hot 100 while "Ride On" the second single reached #64 on the black chart.[5]

[edit] Track listing

The track listing on the original album was:

  1. "Chocolate City"
  2. "Ride On"
  3. "Together"
  4. "Side Effects"
  5. "What Comes Funky"
  6. "Let Me Be"
  7. "If It Don't Fit (Don't Force It)"
  8. "I Misjudged You"
  9. "Bigfootin'"

A 2003 remastered version contained three songs including alternative mixes of "If It Don't Fit (Don't Force It)" and "I Misjudged You" and a recording of Common Law Wife not on the original album.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Carroll, Kenneth. "Reflections on Chocolate City: The Meanings of Funk", The Washington Post, 1998-02-01.
  2. ^ Avila, Eric (2004). Popular Culture in the Age of White Flight. University of California Press, p.5. ISBN 0-520-24121-5. 
  3. ^ Popmatters Review (11 June 2003).
  4. ^ Chocolate City at M.I.T. living group website.
  5. ^ All chart listings from Billboard published on Allmusic.com.
  6. ^ Original track listing from Allmusic.com. Additional tracks in pop matters album.
Chocolate city references
  • Neal, Mark Anthony (1998). What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Popular Culture. UK: Routledge, pp.103,115. ISBN 0-415-92072-8. 
  • Smitherman, Geneva (2000). Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner. Houghton Mifflin, p.92. 
Music
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