Citizen Cope doesn't get much respect. An acoustic guitar strumming balladeer with a varied musical palette that draws equally from hip-hop, soul, R&B and the blues, Cope has been recording and producing his easygoing brand of “conscious message” music for almost a decade, to respectable popular appeal and little to no critical reception.
“People who write about me don't really understand me,” Cope, or Clarence Greenwood explained on the phone while wandering around his neighborhood in Brooklyn last Sunday afternoon. “And a misconception people have is that I get played on the radio. I don't. Not on popular radio stations, and I've been shut out on college stations as well.”
The persecution is a bit perplexing, as Cope's music is more appealing than a lot of pop music circulating. Frequently grouped with Ben Harper, Jack Johnson and G. Love, Cope is a less accomplished lyricist than any of these artists but a far better producer. Tracks from all three of Citizen Cope's albums pop with crisp production: they combine catchy hooks with strong melodies, and incorporate powerful use of repetition. Cope creates something perfectly worthwhile: pleasant pop music.
Cope's eponymous debut album fused hip-hop and folk music, to mixed success. “Contact” sounds like a Soul Coughing B-side, and “Let the Drummer Kick” borrows heavily from either Stevie Wonder's “Pastime Paradise” or Snoop Dogg's appropriation of the sample. But by 2006's Every Waking Moment, almost every track creates sounds like a radio-friendly pop hit.
Cope, who performs at the State Theatre Saturday night, consistently sells out venues across the country, and has a dedicated fan base. It's too bad that he isn't more respected for what he does; what he does is quite good judged on its own terms.
I caught up with Clarence Greenwood by phone from Brooklyn.
Q: The music that you have played over the course of your career is quite varied, genre-wise. By which I mean you will find inspiration in everything from Stevie Wonder and soul music to Bob Marley and reggae to the blues...but do you think your music goes beyond genres?
Citizen Cope: I think the genre thing is just there to help people connect to emotions. Genre is kind of the vehicle that gets you there.
I just use the music that I love. I love the Beatles and I love Bob Marley, spiritually. And it's all making an emotion that touches somebody. You know, making a song that emotes joy or pain or struggle, or whatever other emotions we have. I mean songs in general or even styles just come back to that.
Q: Your albums are quite produced, and so I wonder how you transform such lush arrangements into solo and acoustic performances?
Cope: Just with the acoustic guitar. A lot of the songs are started that way. My music is basically about the songs anyway, so that's what the tour is about as well.
Q: Your songs use repetition and melody in such a clear and definitive way. Can you tell me a bit about the songwriting process?
Cope: I usually come up with a rhythm or a pulse first. And then I'll try to fit the guitar or melody and the lyrics into it. But there is no written way or set way to do it; I just try to follow my instincts.
Usually songs come to me. But I just try to wake up and play the guitar in the morning. For me it's a pretty natural and cool process.
Q: If you go back to the first album, I was wondering if you could talk about your initial desire to fuse hip-hop and the acoustic guitar? Did particular artists influence you in any way?
