I thought I was going to have to wait til 'Next Lifetime' 'til my bitch came back out with a new album. The original queen of neo-soul, sorry Jill, is back and if "Honey" is any indication she is ready to BRANG IT and LET HAVE with the first of 3 albums she is releasing this year.
Check some review I stole from some John doe blogger who went to her super sexy and super stylish album release party and listening session.
Actually the review is from the world famous YBF magazine but you know...LOL
TAZ
The YBF was on the scene for Erykah Badu’s exclusive listening session for her new album New AmErykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War. It went down last night at NY’s earthy and energetic Chamber of Mirrors. YBF NY Correspondent Tichanda hit up the event and for a review…
Erykah’s 4th World War is a funkadelic, journey through the world as Erykah sees it, lives it, and wishes it to be. She speaks her truth on the album whether describing the loss of her friend J Dilla on “Telephone”, uncovering the layers of herself and revealing the place she is in on “Me”, or calling out to the brothas and sisters on “Soldier” to wake up. There are french horns, flutes, drums, and synthesizers galore. One track even sounds as if it’s played backwards; it was like she is subliminaly trying to tell us something. While the music played we watched a film of sped up and slowed down images that looked like millions of people going up escalators in Grand Central NY, or like assembly lines for Twinkies, hot dogs, cars, and just about anything else you can imagine. It’s like she is taking a stand against mass marketed media crazed packaging and confirming to societal ideas. She wants something fresh and new. She is ready for change.There are songs where the bass reverberates strong and deep. Badu’s voice was layered in almost like an afterthought. But don’t be fooled. Take a peek at the liner notes and the lyrics and whatever you didn’t understand will quickly make sense and speak volumes to Badu’s ability to take simple words to create an assault on your senses. I swear one track had me feeling like if I’d ever thought about smoking weed for the first time - this would be my theme music! Low and behold at the end of the song she was talking about an addict and the need for a “vaccine” to cure the feins of the world. Erykah is no joke.Posters of Erykah’s notes and lyrics while she wrote the albumOn other songs, like “Telephone”, “Master Teachers”, and “That Hump” - her voice is clear, like dripping sugar over tracks, reminiscent of a new age Baduizm. You quickly know the words and will be singing along by the time the song ends. Of course the ethereal side of Erykah was revealed during a Q&A session after the listening session. She mentioned that the album is released on her birthday, Feb 26th, which also happens to be Saviors’ Day. The listening party was held during the last lunar eclipse until 2010-of course she wanted to take advantage of the energy and timing. She actually went to the roof of the building to watch before coming down to start the listening party.She also told a poignant story of J Dilla’smemorial service in which 2 heart clouds appeared in the sky. She said that his mother recounted a story of J Dilla’s painful battle with Lupus, which would subsequently take his life. She remembered that on bad days, he would become incoherent and would have conversations with people that he said were in the room with him. She said she would always ask who he was talking to, and he would say ODB, as in Old Dirty Bastard. He told her that ODB would call him on the phone and would tell him that when he crossed over to “take the white bus, not the red bus”. ODB told Dilla that the red bus would be enticing and look like a good thing, but to wait on the white bus, and it would bring him to heaven.After hearing that story, Erykah wrote “Telephone” which features Quest Love. It’s a beautiful song and one of two that got claps in the audience after being played. The other is “Soldier” - which is scheduled to be her next single.This album may not be as commercially successful as her earlier works, but that’s okay - she recorded over 50 songs just using her computer after her son showed her how to use Garageband on a new laptop. So she has another album (Part Two) which is going to be released in July. Also, one new track will be released every month on the 26th until the end of the year.Badu has a LOT going on and she remarked that she finally made the music she’s been wanting to make all her life. And it shows.
No comments:
Post a Comment