Reg E. Gaines专辑介绍：by Alex HendersonWhen Please Don't Take My Air Jordans came out in 1994, some people tried to categorize Reg E. Gaines as a hip-hopper. But this CD isn't rap; it's spoken word. Like Wanda Coleman, Gaines demonstrates that a black vocalist who is speaking instead of singing isn't necessarily a rapper. However, he does tackle many of the same social issues that hip-hoppers have tackled, including black-on-black crime, poverty, and racism. And like rapper KRS-1, he has a way of being humorous and angry at the same time. One thing the artist has in common with so many other spoken word artists is a tendency to be overly self-indulgent. But it's easy to forgive his excesses because the CD's best tracks demonstrate that when Gaines is good, he's really good. The New Yorker is especially impressive on the disturbing title track (which takes a look at inner-city youths who are willing to kill to steal someone's gym shoes), the...