Wow! I'm just realizing that this is the very first album review that I've done since the conception of
the M Report has been on-line...
sad face ;( Has the state of music been that bad?
When I think of artist today trying to keep the art form alive, It reminds me of the plot for
"Revenge of the Sith" (lol) where the
"evil dark side" of music is killing off the last of an almost abandon skill
(like the
Jedi) who's escaped death (by label, sales, etc.) are barely heard from or seen. However there is a
"New Hope."If
D'Angelo is the "
Yoda of Neo-Soul", then Erykah is surely
"Leia".
"New AmErykah" sounds less organic in it's instrumentation then her previous releases, but my no means is it less courageous in it's attempts to take all the built up ear wax you have, and turn it into one of those calming candles she known to burn on stage. Heavily on rotation is the hypnotic, Wu-Tang-ish song
"the Healer / Hip Hop"which will be the new mix tape circuits "must freestyle over" beat.
Then following that would be, the jazzy blues cut
"Me". Which has personal revelations that artist tend to stay away from in their lyrics ,
but once again Badu is willing to "Take one for the team".
"Solider"is the next candidate for single release being that it's the 2nd most "commercial"(for lack of a better term...sorry) it's beat lends itself enough breathing space for a future rapped over remix by MC
"Who's the hottest at the moment" (please no
Lil' Wayne).
The sometimes hard to follow, yet funkilious production of
Sa-Ra comes across as refreshing under Erykah direction on
"Master Teacher" helps me "stay woke" while I await a connecting train on my morning commute. It's chopped up, bouncy rhythm tries to educate through repetition then
SWITCH...the style changes but the message remains the same. In the words of
Laurence Fishburne (Spike Lee's film)
School Daze "Wake UP!" Your new conscience has been downloaded. I hope America gets AmErykah. Badu I salute thee.
Remember Spike Lee's "School Daze"or better yet Kid & Play's "House Party?" Well, our good friends at YUME have planned an event harking back to those infamous "Pajama Jam" party scenes that those movies popularize back in the 90's and they're doing to for '08! YES, the old school "PJ Party" will make it's comeback debut @ Loft 406, and we would love for you to be in the mix. But wait don't just throw anything together, matching tops and bottoms preferred (lol). Hey even lingerie, if you're confident like that. But however please, don't show off anything, NO ONE else wants to see!
