Kevin Federline, Playing With Fire

(Albums the World Forgot #8, 2010)


Kevin Federline, Playing With Fire (2006, Federation Records)

In today’s enlightened world, where even a black man can be elected president of the United States, it’s tempting to think that the days of racial division are long behind us. While this is true for the most part, there is still one area of society in which such barriers still stand: I’m talking, of course, about rap music, where the number of white rappers who have made it big can be counted on one hand. To the list of those who didn’t make it, we can add one Kevin Federline, a talented young rapper who was unfairly ridiculed simply because he ‘didn’t belong’. Never mind that he shared the same rags-to-riches story with so many acclaimed rappers, working his way up from a lowly backup dancer to a self-proclaimed “superstar” who “married a superstar” (pop starlet Brittany Spears).

Federline first burst on to the rap scene in late 2005 with his scathing diatribe Y’all Ain’t Ready, in which he claimed that his forward-thinking style was “straight 2008”. That was soon followed by the aptly named Playing With Fire, an album that took risks on multiple levels. For starters, there was the innovative production, which Federline describes as “hip-hop flavour mixed with a little bit of rock ‘n’ roll”, an unlikely combination scarcely attempted before or since. Then there was Federline’s peerless wordplay: “Step up in the club so fresh and clean / [I’m] not the outcast that they label me” he raps in Lose Control, not only a reference to his ostracisation by the hip-hop community but also a nod to fellow hip-hop innovators Outkast.

Having taken so many risks, Federline seemed almost ready for the negative backlash, his defensive stance reflected in tracks like America’s Most Hated and Middle Finger Up.  Indeed, the album was not received well: it was universally panned by critics and sold a mere 16,000 copies before being discontinued. Federline had trouble attracting people to shows, even when tickets were given away, and several dates had to be cancelled.

Ultimately, Federline was too far ahead of his time. Perhaps ten years from now, when people are no longer blinded by the colour of a person’s skin, Playing With Fire will get the recognition it deserves. It seems Federline was right when he lamented “y’all ain’t ready”; I can only hope that someday we will have progressed to the point where we all is ready.