Black Radio

by Robert Glasper Experiment

Robert Glasper's Black Radio is easily one of my favourite albums of 2012.  I've been playing this disc to bits since I got it back in the spring, and continue to be impressed with the range of talent Glasper brought together for this album.

Here are a list of the collaborators:  Shafiq Husayn, Erykah Badu, Lalah Hathaway, Lupe Fiasco, Bilal, Musiq Soulchild, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Yasiin Bey (Mos Def), among others.  Each artist, except for Bilal, appears on a single song.

There are a mix of covers and new material.  Badu does some amazing things with the old Mongo Santamaria jazz standard 'Afro Blue', and Bilal gives us a very different take on David Bowie's 'Letter to Hermione'.  The album ends with a slow, strange instrumental rendition of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'.  Lalah Hathaway's 'Cherish the Day' is every bit as good as Sade's original.

In terms of new music, the fourth track, 'Always Shine', featuring Bilal and Lupe Fiasco does just that.  It's easily the best I've ever heard from Fiasco, proving what I've always thought - that it's because of the beats he raps over that I don't usually like his work.  Yasiin Bey also impresses with 'Black Radio', showing that the change in name has done nothing to dampen his skills on the mic. What makes this album work so well is the consistency of Glasper's vision.  

Every track on this album is good, and the cumulative effect of taking us through the best of what 'Black Radio' has to offer is powerful. 

NoYork!

by Blu

So, after years of releasing albums on his own, or on independent labels, Blu finally drops a major-label album, and it has poorer distribution than anything else he's done.  I haven't been able to find this album on sale anywhere in Toronto, and instead had to mail-order it from the US (I am not a downloader).  When I get the album, it's in a cardboard sleeve with no name, credits, or track listing.  The picture shown to the right shows the four different packages that this disc comes packaged in one of.

Anyway, who cares about all that stuff, because it's all about the music, right?  Blu has been on my radar since Below the Heavens, his excellent debut with producer Exile.  This is easily the most solid release he's had since then.

There are a few sides of Blu.  We get the young rapper who likes to brag about his early exploits - sexual and otherwise, but we also get a more thoughtful, contemplative artist (like on 'Spring Winter Summer Fall').  He has a great voice, and a nice laid-back flow.

The production on this album is wonderful.  Blu works with Madlib, Flying Lotus, Shafiq Husayn, Samiyam, Dibia$e, Exile, and Knxwledge.  I think he produces a couple of tracks himself too - there are some with credits missing on the album's Wikipedia page.  He is joined by Edan, Jack Davey, Sa-Ra, U-God, Tiombe Lockhart, and a number of other singers and rappers I'm not that familiar with.

This is easily one of the best hip-hop albums I've heard lately, from an artist who is maturing nicely into a unique and consistent voice. It's well worth getting if you can find a copy (it's not available on Amazon).

New Amerykah Part Two: Return of the Ankh

by Erykah Badu

This is a very cool album, although it has some interesting differences from its predecessor, New Amerykah Part One.  The earlier album had a number of stand-out hip-hop tracks produced by Madlib and Karriem Riggins, while this is a much softer affair.

There are still some amazing drums, but the general feeling of this album is both more gentle and laconic.  There are a number of gifted producers working with her on this, including Madlib, Riggins, Shafiq Husayn, James Poyser, and, at the very end, Georgia Anne Muldrow, her musical sibling.  Many of the tracks have live instrumentals, including drums by ?uestlove.  And, of course, there is a lovely little Dilla beat.

Lyrically, the songs are quite sparse and thoughtful, as Badu uses her small voice to great effect.  This is a rare album; it's consistent and unique.  I know that much of this disk got overshadowed by the short-lived controversy surrounding the video to 'Window Seat', but it deserves to be listened to and examined on its own merits.