Ursula Rucker Balances Rolesof Diva, Consciousness-Raiser

Poet and singer Ursula Rucker is an anomaly in today’s music world: A proud woman and an artist with a strong social conscience and unyielding integrity, she delivers her message emphatically but without force-feeding. That was certainly the case Saturday night in a stylish, hourlong set at the Knitting Factory Hollywood.

Backed by a guitarist, a bassist and a percussionist who tried their hand at drum-and-bass and jazz but were most successful when letting a funky bass line drive the sound, Rucker played the roles of soul diva and fierce poet with equal aplomb.

The Philadelphian, who established her reputation by contributing vocals to songs by such acts as the Roots, King Britt and 4 Hero, concentrated on material from her debut album, “Supa Sista,� with the soulful “Brown Boy� and title track standing out. She did throw in such pleasant surprises as the King Britt track “Circe� and the Silent Poets’ “Get Ready,� but the centerpiece of the show was “What???,� a stinging indictment against the state--or “non-state,� as she says--of black music.

Played out against a jazzy backdrop, the song was a crowd favorite, and when she warned, “I demand reparation from all fake moguls/ ... music makers and mood fakers/Your bad example could be killing my children’s future,� there was no place to hide for those she was calling out.