Having artists for parents is difficult; having fairly famous artist parents has got to be even more of a challenge. Sam, frontman of SMOD, is the son of Amadou & Miriam, the excellent Malian folkies. First you have to deal with the lax rules and iffy temperament of the artist type, then you have the absenteeism born of celebrity. Complete the hat trick with having artistic ambition yourself, and you have to compare or contrast your abilities and talent with your parents, whom Greek tragedy has taught us we are only supposed to better, if not shame entirely. SMOD? No danger here. The easiest point of comparison may be the Osbourne children. The talentless schmucks the Sabbath leader spawned have attempted albums, books and other creative output, to little more than a pat on the head from mother Sharon. With any luck, this self-titled disc from Sam and his buddies will sink to the bottom of the sea under the weight of its hybrid of Afropop, folk and the weakest rapping since will.i.am appeared on “Sesame Street.”
This article appears in May 24, 2011.