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Amazon.co.uk Review
Dallas native Erykah Badu was responsible for the project that pretty much defined out-there, Afro-spiritual R&B. Her debut album, Baduizm, paved the way for neo-soul talents like Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott, and was hailed deservedly as the "most innovative and exciting soul debut since D'Angelo's Brown Sugar". With Mama's Gun, Badu takes another giant step into the left-field with less delirious results. Aided by D'Angelo's backing band, the SoulAquarians (Jay Dee, Ahmir "Quest-Love" Thompson and James Poyser), the relationship angst of first track, "Penitentiary Philosophy" is accompanied by truly turgid hard rock. Thankfully, the rest of the album doesn't harbour ambitions to "rock-out" in an Alanis Morrissette style. The guests include Bilal (Common), Roy Ayers, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, Betty Wright and Steven Marley but this is Badu's show. Sonically speaking, Mama's Gun's best tracks--"Cleva", the staccato funk of "Booty", the gorgeous, "A.D.2000", "Orange Moon" and epic closer "Green Eyes" (where she really does sound like Billie Holliday")--are once again a cool hybrid of jazz, blues, soul and hip-hop. Mama's Gun is definitely less immediate than its predecessor and perhaps requires repeated listening to appreciate. However it is hard to escape the feeling that this is Badu by numbers, a well-crafted, though ultimately dull facsimile that aims to capitalise on ground first broken by a focused and fascinating original. --Reuben Dessay
Description
R&B diva Erykah Badu's long-awaited second studio release finds her incorporating pronounced jazz influences into her history-cognizant mixture of hip-hop and soul. Jazzy touches,from the vibes on "My Life" to the ballad "Orange Moon," with its languid upright bass and bop-schooled piano, abound. Jazz trumpeter extraodinaire Roy Hargrove was responsible for all the horn arrangements on MAMA'S GUN. "Booty"'s Crusaders-style horns and loose, funky rhythm nod to mid '70s R&B, and the guitar lines on "Bag Lady" could have come off a vintage Marvin Gaye album. With its delicate acoustic guitar textures, lush background vocals, and '70s-style keyboards, "A.D. 2000" occupies a classy middle ground between Sade and HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS-era Joni Mitchell. The album closes with the adventurous, suite-like "Green Eyes." The first section of the song finds Badu crooning in a '30s jazz-blues style over crackles that emulate a scratchy old 78. The second "movement" grows jazzier, led by flute and punctuated by acoustic bass lines and brush-strokes on the drums. The final section bears a more modern R&B feel, with syncopated rhythmsand a carefully arranged horn section. Ultimately, Badu's self-description of an "analog girl in a digital world" proves highly apt on MAMA'S GUN.
Dallas native Erykah Badu was responsible for the project that pretty much defined out-there, Afro-spiritual R&B. Her debut album, Baduizm, paved the way for neo-soul talents like Lauryn Hill and Jill Scott, and was hailed deservedly as the "most innovative and exciting soul debut since D'Angelo's Brown Sugar". With Mama's Gun, Badu takes another giant step into the left-field with less delirious results. Aided by D'Angelo's backing band, the SoulAquarians (Jay Dee, Ahmir "Quest-Love" Thompson and James Poyser), the relationship angst of first track, "Penitentiary Philosophy" is accompanied by truly turgid hard rock. Thankfully, the rest of the album doesn't harbour ambitions to "rock-out" in an Alanis Morrissette style. The guests include Bilal (Common), Roy Ayers, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, Betty Wright and Steven Marley but this is Badu's show. Sonically speaking, Mama's Gun's best tracks--"Cleva", the staccato funk of "Booty", the gorgeous, "A.D.2000", "Orange Moon" and epic closer "Green Eyes" (where she really does sound like Billie Holliday")--are once again a cool hybrid of jazz, blues, soul and hip-hop. Mama's Gun is definitely less immediate than its predecessor and perhaps requires repeated listening to appreciate. However it is hard to escape the feeling that this is Badu by numbers, a well-crafted, though ultimately dull facsimile that aims to capitalise on ground first broken by a focused and fascinating original. --Reuben Dessay
Description
R&B diva Erykah Badu's long-awaited second studio release finds her incorporating pronounced jazz influences into her history-cognizant mixture of hip-hop and soul. Jazzy touches,from the vibes on "My Life" to the ballad "Orange Moon," with its languid upright bass and bop-schooled piano, abound. Jazz trumpeter extraodinaire Roy Hargrove was responsible for all the horn arrangements on MAMA'S GUN. "Booty"'s Crusaders-style horns and loose, funky rhythm nod to mid '70s R&B, and the guitar lines on "Bag Lady" could have come off a vintage Marvin Gaye album. With its delicate acoustic guitar textures, lush background vocals, and '70s-style keyboards, "A.D. 2000" occupies a classy middle ground between Sade and HISSING OF SUMMER LAWNS-era Joni Mitchell. The album closes with the adventurous, suite-like "Green Eyes." The first section of the song finds Badu crooning in a '30s jazz-blues style over crackles that emulate a scratchy old 78. The second "movement" grows jazzier, led by flute and punctuated by acoustic bass lines and brush-strokes on the drums. The final section bears a more modern R&B feel, with syncopated rhythmsand a carefully arranged horn section. Ultimately, Badu's self-description of an "analog girl in a digital world" proves highly apt on MAMA'S GUN.
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62% buy the item featured on this page: Mama's Gun £7.18 |
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