Digable Planets - La Femme Fétal (track highlight)

I came across Digable Planets when I was leaving high school in the early 00’s and often they were my go-to for that chill mood with the laid-back jazzy beats, smooth vocals, and thoughtful lyrics. However, as I was grew more disillusioned with, well, a lot of things, they eventually fell to the back of my consciousness as I pursued the more aggressive delivery and heavy hits of people like Public Enemy and early Ice Cube. While they would return to rotation every so often Digable Planets were never where I went for political catharsis, rather were always there in the back of my mind as a good group to throw on and vibe to. That was my mistake.

They had a quiet revolutionary bend that’s on full display on their 1993 track ‘La Femme Fétal’ from their debut album Reachin’ (A New Refutation on Time and Space.) It keeps with their chilled-out presentation but presents a ‘hot-button issue’ with humanity with a very personal story (that occurs almost 30 years ago to the day!) about two friends with neither the maturity nor the economic means to continue with a pregnancy. Through its smooth instrumentation and spoken word infused delivery it avoids the preachiness and self-righteousness that can overcome similar tracks reminding you that when these debates occur in the national consciousness it’s all too easy to forget the people it affects the most.

Nobody makes the decision to terminate a pregnancy lightly and as Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler describes in the track, its often a last resort fraught with very real danger from medical complications to outright terrorism by people who claim a fealty to ‘life’ they don't uphold when it comes to any time after birth.

I debated writing this as I was divided on wading into ‘political’ territory in this medium, but after a while I decided to go through with it. It’s hard for me to view this issue as strictly ‘political’ since at its very base element, it’s about human rights. The right for all birth-giving people to make choices about their own bodies. What happens when we start limiting those rights? People suffer and with the compromised Supreme Court's recent decision to overturn of Roe V. Wade fresh in mind, it’s important to keep in mind the lives of the people this decision is going to affect most. As songs like ‘La Femme Fétal’ illustrate, we can’t forget about each other as we enter a very real future where certain rights aren’t guaranteed.

It was 8:49 on a beautiful 9th day of July
There was not a cloud to speak of so the orange sun hung
Lonely in the sky
I was laying prone in my catbeat home
Listening to fine nappy Jackie and his jazzcat's horn
Sliding in a tape of Bird on Verve when suddenly rang my phone
Hello Butterfly, the voice said
Slip on some duds, comb out your fro and slide on down to my pad
The vibe here is very pleasant and I truly request your presence
A problem of great magnitude has arose
And as we speak it grows
Damn, what could it be I thought
A juice I bought and rolled on down to her spot
Seeing bros I know slapping fives I arrived and pressed G-5
And there was Nikki
Lookin' some kind of sad with tears fallin' from her eyes
She sat me down, and dug my frown and began to run it down
"You remember my boyfriend Sid, that fly kid who I love
Well our love was often a verb and spontaneity has brought a third
But due to our youth an economic state, we wish to terminate
About this we don't feel great, but baby, that's how it is
But the feds have dissed me
They ignore and dismiss me
The pro-lifers harass me outside the clinic
And call me a murderer, now that's hate
So needless to say, we're in a mental state of debate"
"Hey, beautiful bird" I said, digging her somber mood
"The fascists are some heavy dudes
They don't really give a damn about life
They just don't want a woman to control her body
Or have the right to choose
But baby that ain't nothin'
They just want a male finger on the button
Because if you say war, they will send them to die by the score
Aborting mission should be your volition
But if Souter and Thomas have their way
You'll be standing in line unable to get Welfare while they'll be out
Hunting and fishing
It has always been around, it will always have a niche
But they'll make it a privilege, not a right
Accessible only to the rich
Hey, Pro-lifers should dig themselves
Because life doesn't stop after birth
And to a child born to the unprepared
It might even just get worse
The situation would surely change if they were to find themselves in it
Supporters of the H-Bomb, and fire-bombing clinics
What type of shit is that? Orwellian, in fact
If Roe v. Wade was overturned, would not the desire remain intact
Leaving young girls to risk their healths
And doctors to botch, and watch as they kill themselves
I don't want to sound macabre
But hey, isn't it my job
To lay it on the masses and get them off their asses
To fight against these fascists
So, whatever you decide, make that move with pride
Sid will be there and so will I
An insect 'til I die

Rhythms and sounds
Spinning around
Confrontations
Across the nation
Your block
My block
Dreadlocks
What a shock
Land of the free
But not me, not me