I normally like modern r&b/neo-soul/whatever you want to call it about as much as I like Donald Rumsfeld.
I dig old school r&b, of course, but I can only take so much of the crap that currently makes up that genre.
The exception to all of this, though, is Erykah Badu's
Mama's Gun, a fantastic album and one of my favorites that I could see many people not taking seriously. Take this disc seriously, though, because practically every track is gold.
Some background that might be interesting: Badu had a relationship with Outkast's Andre 3000 that resulted in a child. When they split up, both musicians used that drama as inspiration in the studio. Outkast made
Stankonia, with Andre writing "Ms. Jackson" about the incident, and Badu released
Mama's Gun, reflecting on the break up on the 10-minute "Green Eyes."
Enough with the facts ... the album, like I said, is fantastic. Opener "Penitentiary Philosophy" sounds like early Hendrix, the J Dilla-produced "Didn't Cha Know" is full of passion, the playful "Time's a Wastin'" features the best vocals on the entire album and "Green Eyes" is flat-out incredible.
The strongest track, though, is "In Love With You," a duet with Stephen Marley. Yes, its a fairly simple love song, but both singers sound spectacular and the acoustic guitar that plays throughout is great. If you just want to download a song, try this or "Penitentiary Philosophy," which is more rock-influenced.
Though there might be a few tracks that don't blow your mind, there isn't really a
bad song here. And it has a high replay value, especially considering the genre, which can get old rather quickly if you're not in the mood.
Anybody that likes older r&b should check out
Mama's Gun! Yeah ...
