Following are additional albums released during August 2019—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves. Continue reading
Tag Archives: rap
July 2019 Black Music Releases of Note
Following are additional albums released during July 2019—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves. Continue reading
June 2019 Black Music Releases of Note
Following are additional albums released during June 2019—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves. Continue reading
Choosey & Exile – Black Beans
Title: Black Beans
Artist: Choosey & Exile
Label: Dirty Science
Release date: March 29, 2019
Formats: CD, LP, Digital
Four years after his debut album Left Field, LA rapper Choosey makes his long-awaited return with Black Beans, his collaboration with producer Exile. Delving into his lineage as both a San Diegoan and an Afro-Chicano, the tracks pay homage to both the successes and challenges of his particular positionality, capturing the beautiful struggle while navigating life’s potholes throughout sunny Southern California. Continue reading
May 2019 Black Music Releases of Note
Following are additional albums released during May 2019—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves. Continue reading
April 2019 Black Music Releases of Note
Following are additional albums released during April 2019—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves. Continue reading
March 2019 Black Music Releases of Note
Following are additional albums released during March 2019—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves. Continue reading
February 2019 Black Music Releases of Note
Following are additional albums released during February 2019—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves. Continue reading
Ice Cube – Everythangs Corrupt
Title: Everythangs Corrupt
Artist: Ice Cube
Label: Lench Mob/Interscope
Format: CD, Digital
Release date: December 7, 2018
O’Shea Jackson, aka Ice Cube, has been around forever and that is not a figure of speech. Depending on your age and generation, you know the name from some form of entertainment. For many, Cube came to our attention with the group NWA. After he departed NWA, he went solo and released what some believe to be his best work, the album AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted. I will get back to that later. He also helped launch careers for Yo Yo and Da Lynch Mob. Cube then went Hollywood, where Boyz In The Hood and the classic Barbershop films introduced him to another audience. Cube has even ventured into sports with his 3-on-3 basketball league. With the release of the biopic Straight Outta Compton a few years ago and his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it appears all has come full circle for the man who once referred to himself as “the Nigga you love to hate.” Continue reading
Mr. Del – Black
Title: Black
Artist: Mr. Del
Label: Dedicated Music Group
Formats: CD, Digital
Release date: December 28, 2018
Del Lawrence, aka “Mr. Del,” has come a long way in the hip hop world since his early days with Three 6 Mafia. His religious conversion in 2000 after his first album marked his turn towards Christian/gospel rap, and since that point Mr. Del has devoted his resources primarily to assisting others in need. He is the pastor of Memphis-based City of Refuge Church through which he has created a global podcast and lecture circuit outreach program in order to spread the word of God. Dedicated Music Group (DMG) is his self-founded label company, allowing Del to develop new talent and produce multiple hard-hitting albums each year. Continue reading
January 2019 Black Music Releases of Note
Following are additional albums released during January 2019—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves. Continue reading
The Black Eyed Peas – Masters of the Sun Vol. 1
Title: Masters of the Sun Vol. 1
Artist: The Black Eyed Peas
Label: Interscope
Release Date: October 26, 2018
Formats: CD, Digital
Before their mega-hit, “Where is the Love,” before Fergie, before holding both the number 1 and number 2 Billboard Hot 100 spots with their 2009 singles, “I Gotta Feeling” and “Boom Boom Pow,” The Black Eyed Peas established themselves as conscious rappers with their 1998 Interscope debut album, Behind the Front. Twenty years later, the group is returning to their roots with their newest release, Masters of the Sun Vol 1. Loosely based on the 2017 graphic novel bearing the same name, The BEP circles back to hip hop’s conscious scene, providing us with their most politically-charged collection to date. Continue reading
December 2018 Black Music Releases of Note
Following are additional albums released during December 2018—some will be reviewed in future issues of Black Grooves. Continue reading
Neneh Cherry – Broken Politics
Title: Broken Politics
Artist: Neneh Cherry
Label: Smalltown Supersound
Formats: CD, LP, Digital
Release Date: October 19, 2018
It’s hard to believe it was thirty years ago that Neneh Cherry burst onto the scene with the international hit single “Buffalo Stance” from her debut album, Raw Like Sushi, (1988). Garnering lots of MTV and BET love, Cherry was perhaps on her way to becoming huge, but as the ‘90s rolled in, Cherry did an exit stage left. After releasing Homebrew (1992) and Man (1996), she went UG—as in underground. Cherry’s whereabouts became a topic of interest for her fans. It takes a great deal of confidence and know-thy-self to just up and walk away from the commercial trappings of the game. But Cherry comes across as one who was never impressed by that. Continue reading
Masta Ace and Marco Polo – A Breukelen Story
Title: A Breukelen Story
Artist: Masta Ace and Marco Polo
Label: Fat Beats
Release Date: November 9, 2018
Formats: CD, LP, Digital
Brooklyn, hip hop’s locus, has nurtured some of the most legendary artists in the game. Many tributes have highlighted the borough’s significance, both to the genre and as a vital part of New York City. A Breukelen Story, Masta Ace and Marco Polo’s first official collaboration, manages to do just that and so much more. Continue reading
ILL DOOTS – Ill Doots
Title: Ill Doots
Artist: ILL DOOTS
Label: Ropeadope
Formats: CD, MP3
Release date: July 27, 2018
Over the summer, the Philadelphia hip hop collective ILL DOOTS released their self-titled album, Ill Doots. The ensemble—a group of artists, educators, and activists based in Philadelphia—is inspired by Minneapolis funk, classic rock, hip hop, neo soul, and “everything in between.” Since their early formation in 2009 at a dorm room jam session, the collective has released several albums, toured the U.S., and become a fixture on the Philly concert scene. Apart from their musical endeavors, ILL DOOTS has a community outreach program called the I Love Learning initiative that provides free workshops in schools, after school programs, churches, and community venues in Philadelphia. Continue reading
Welcome to the July 2018 Summer Rocks issue
Welcome to the July 2018 Summer Rocks issue of Black Grooves. This month we’re looking at the many permutations of Black rock, from the psychedelic riffs on Dug Pinnick’s Tribute To Jimi (Often Imitated But Never Duplicated); to the socially conscious songs of Fantastic Negrito on Please Don’t Be Dead and Bettye Lavette’s Bob Dylan tribute Things Have Changed; to the British blues rock collaboration on Buddy Guy’s The Blues Is Alive and Well; to the multi-faceted fusions of the Stanley Clarke Band’s The Message, Shuggie Otis’s Inter-Fusion, and Serpentwithfeet’s Soil; to the folk rock of AHI’s In Our Time and the countrified soul of Priscilla Renea’s Coloured; to the black metal of Zeal and Ardor’s Stranger Fruit; and last but not least, the foundational rock and roll on The Ballads of Fats Domino.
Seminal jazz releases this month include Kamasi Washington’s two-disc Heaven and Earth and Dr. Michael White’s Tricentennial Rag honoring New Orlean’s 300th birthday. Yet another tribute album is Lurrie Bell & the Bell Dynasty’s Tribute to Carey Bell, featuring the four accomplished sons of the legendary Chicago blues harpist.
Also featured is gospel singer Javen’s latest album, Grace; the collaboration connecting Sengalese kora master Diali Cissokho and North Carolina band Kaira Ba on Routes; Lamont Dozier’s Reimagination of tracks previously written for other artists; and the Little Freddie King compilation Fried Rice & Chicken featuring his best tracks from the Orlean’s label. Wrapping up this issue is our list of June 2018 Releases of Note in all genres.
Royce da 5’9″ – Book of Ryan
Title: Book of Ryan
Artist: Royce da 5’9”
Label: Heaven Studios/eOne
Formats: CD, LP, Digital
Release Date: May 4, 2018
Royce da 5’9”, while best known for his collaborations with artists such as Eminem in addition to his extensive recording career, is still an enigmatic figure to many of his fans. While other artists have freely woven their personal issues into their rhymes, until this point Royce has relied on his lyricism skills to build his reputation and fan base. With Book of Ryan, however, he switches up his game plan and allows us a glimpse into his personal world. Functioning as a part-retrospective/part-progressive look at the Royce-That-Was and the Royce-That-Has-Yet-To-Be, Book of Ryan unflinchingly spins a narrative of past drug use, current insecurities and future self-expectations.
The 21-set album begins with an introduction in which Royce lays out his intentions for his music in narrative-style, and quickly gets right down to business in his second cut, “Woke.” The minimalistic, polyrhythmic percussion is appealing in its own right, but the lyrics calling out those in self-denial of their behavior and environment is spot-on conscious mode. “My Parallel,” the first of three self-explanatory ‘skits,’ further explores Royce’s purpose for the remainder of the album, disclosing that his dark childhood and subsequent drug use drove many of his self-destructive decisions.
While Royce doesn’t dwell in his past for the entire time, the main focus of his album is to let us into his inner world and former experiences. His choice of featured artists lets his fan base know who is important in his life—Eminem, T-Pain, and Pusha T, to name a few. “Amazing,” featuring Melanie Rutherford, is a multi-functional finger-point towards the grocer in Royce’s childhood who took away his coveted basketball, while also introducing fans to his past self through a self-affirmational journey through his old neighborhood.
Royce continues his backward glance with “Boblo Boat,” an offering best experienced through video (above) due to its nostalgic youthful feeling and amusement park scenes. But it’s his skit, “Who are You,” that offers the best proof of why Ryan has released this deeply introspective album. This narrative features Royce describing a dream in which he is able to ask his late father hard-hitting questions he never got the chance to ask, followed by Royce’s son asking if he can interview him for a school project he has decided to do about his father called “The Book of Ryan.”
The Book of Ryan is a well-crafted piece of audible prose. Looking inward and outward at both society and himself, Royce da 5’9” gives us a page-turning look at all the forces that molded and shaped him into the artist he is now and the individual he aspires to be.
Reviewed by Amy Aiyegbusi
Murs – A Strange Journey Into the Unimaginable
Title: A Strange Journey Into the Unimaginable
Artist: Murs
Label: Strange Music
Formats: CD, Digital
Release Date: March 16, 2018
There’s something to be said for raw, introspective honesty. It not only provides relief to the one sharing, but it also lets others know they aren’t the only ones adjusting to difficult life issues. On his latest album, A Strange Journey Into the Unimaginable, underground rapper Murs bares his soul with some of his most candid, direct lyrics yet. Murs, a native of south central Los Angeles, has released nearly two dozen albums, but none of them belt out the trials and tribulations more poignantly than this one. Yet, he still manages to weave some lighter-hearted rhymes in-between his retrospections, showing fans that regardless of the darkness faced, one can still find reasons to smile beyond the pain.
In his first track, “The Unimaginable,” Murs strips himself down to the bone, providing a glimpse into his previously unimaginable life journey dealing with a painful divorce, a 12-month separation from his son, and the loss of his stillborn second son and a personal friend: I cried a whole lot when I filed for divorce, and when a homie got shot /…when I was separated from my son, I cried for almost a year /..a baby boy…he was born without a heartbeat. The next offering, “Melancholy,” is a more upbeat tune that, while continuing its focus on struggle, admits that Murs’ overwhelming grief has morphed into a lingering pensiveness: Hi everyone. My name is Murs, and uh…yeah. I’ve had a rough couple of years…I’m at this point now where I’m not too high and not too low. I’m just here.
“Same Way” is a fun, tongue-in-cheek diss to friends and family of Murs’ girlfriend who don’t like him, as he simply states, “Tell them I feel the same way.” On “Superhero Pool Party, Murs’ son asks for a bedtime story and is treated to a comical what-would-happen narrative involving characters such as Batman, She-Hulk and Professor X. Providing touching tributes to love and commitment on “So Close So Far” and “Vows,” Murs shows his softer and more hopeful side, and he closes out his album with the somewhat dark but still completely candid “God is the Greatest,”
While his experiences so far were something he most likely couldn’t have imagined, Murs has turned his tragedies into therapeutic rhymes. Spinning his tales so that everyone knows they aren’t alone, Murs has managed to turn the unimaginable into a tale of perseverance, giving all of his listeners hope for their own journey through life.
Reviewed by Amy Aiyegbusi