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A revival of soul music, updated to the technology of the hip-hop era,
was heralded by Texas-born singer-songwriter
Erykah "Badu" Wright's Baduizm (1997), although her tormented
vocals were more reminiscent of blues and jazz singer Billie Holiday.
On And On made her a star, but the album deserved more because it fused
hip-hop's street culture, soul music's spiritual anxiety and psychedelic-rock's arrangements.
She confirmed her inspiration with Mama's Gun (2000), that contained the
hit Bag Lady, the funk orgy Penitentiary Philosophy
and especially the ten-minute elegy Green Eyes;
and Worldwide Underground (2003), ostensibly an EP containing the single
Danger, the nine-minute Bump It and the eleven-minute I Want You; although both collections were less compact and visceral than the debut.
New Amerykah Part One - 4th World War (Motown, 2008) revisits
soothing soul music, digital glitches and intense hip-hop,
blending live instrumentation and samples in a fluent and never discordant
manner. While nothing is as ambitious as the previous records, she achieves
a sort of classical elegance in
the brooding Madlib-produced The Healer,
the exuberant 9th Wonder-produced Honey,
the jagged Shafiq Husayn-produced The Cell,
the Kariem Riggins-produced sociopolitical sermon Soldier
and the eight-minute elegy Telephone.
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(Translation by/ Tradotto da Alessandro Capuano)
Un revival della musica soul, aggiornata alla tecnologia dell’era dell’hip-hop, fu annunciato da Baduizm (1997), della cantautrice texana Erykah “Badu” Wright, sebbene la sua voce fosse più reminiscente della cantante blues e jazz Billie Holiday. On And On fece di lei una star, ma l’ album meritava di più, poiché fuse la cultura di strada hip-hop, l’ansia spirituale della musica soul e gli arrangiamenti del rock psichedelico. La cantautrice confermò la sua ispirazione con Mama's Gun (2000), il quale conteneva la hit Bag Lady, l’orgia funk di Penitentiary Philosophy, e, soprattutto, l’elegia di dieci minuti di Green Eyes; e con Worldwide Underground (2003), apparentemente un EP, contenente il singolo Danger, Bump It, di nove minuti, e I Want You, di undici minuti. Entrambe le collezioni, però, erano meno compatte e viscerali dell’album di esordio. New Amerykah Part One - 4th World War (Motown, 2008) rivisita musica soul distensiva, anomalie digitali ed intenso hip-hop, mescolando strumentazione live e campionature in maniera fluida e mai dissonante. Sebbene nulla sia ambizioso come i dischi precedenti, ella raggiunge una sorta di eleganza classica nella cupa The Healer, prodotta da Madlib, nell’esuberante Honey, prodotta da 9th Wonder, nella frastagliata The Cell, prodotta da Shafiq Husayn, nel sermone sociopolitico di Soldier, prodotto da Kariem Riggins, e nell’elegia di otto minuti di Telephone.
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