An Album 2Day

“What will your legacy be?” poses Chicago artist, author, and co-founder of the DuSable Museum Margaret Burroughs. “How can I map a portrait of myself  (and my own legacy) through vignettes of the legacies of artists before me?” responds Jamila Woods in her 2019 work “LEGACY! LEGACY!” Across 12 creatives of color, trailblazers and innovators of their time inclusive of Nikki Giovanni, James Baldwin...

Celestial and warm jazz fusion just in time for the summer, this week’s album of focus is “Visions of a New World” by Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes, released in 1975 under Flying Dutchman Records. Having worked under prolific jazz artists like Miles Davis, Gato Barbieri, and Art Blakey, Lonnie Liston Smith began focusing on his own work in the early 1970s (more key influences and partn...

EP 13 | Raven by Kelela (2023) **late night / early morning release for the club queen herself** Raven is for the rave bitches, club kids, and dance queens! Resonance and resilience fill Kelela's sound and perspective as she crafts an album shaped around the transformative symbolism of the Raven. Reflections of isolation and longing as a queer Black femme in the electronic music scene set the...

EP 12 | Saturno by Rauw Alejandro (2022) Love, pride, and sex galore color the third album of Puerto-Rican prince Rauw Alejandro. Serving as an introduction and soundtrack of his world, Saturno is a depiction of the hard-working heartthrob’s inner self. He is as braggadocious and macho as he is vulnerable and loving. He is always protected  - quite literally, cough cough Punto 40 y Cazadores. And,...

EP 11 | Dirty Computer by Janelle Monae (2018)  “I’ll love you in this space and time,” the singer repeats in the intro and title track of her third studio album “Dirty Computer.” Released April 27, 2018, “Dirty Computer” by Janelle Monae invites listeners into the digital vortex and inner programming of Janelle Monae as she strips away her previous albums’ alter ego Cindi Mayweather. Often referr...

Welcome to a very special episode of An Album 2Day! Tune in this week as I discuss the reason behind creating the show, what I hope for the show’s future, and where I see it fitting in the music podcast/review/journalism world. I am excited to share with folks my vision for the show and the community I hope that it creates.  📀📀 Important mentions include:  The 4 whys behind doing this: a love fo...

EP 9 | Brown Sugar by D’Angelo (1995) Venus as a boy, Aquarius as a man, musical artist D’Angelo swoons listeners and lovers alike in his 1995 debut studio album “Brown Sugar.” A pianist, drummer, guitarist, bassist, organist, and vocalist, D’Angelo crafts the record around his smooth falsetto, lush instrumentation, and thoughtful lyrics. Love guides the track in its entirety and D’Angelo approach...

Heaven to a Tortured Mind is Yves Tumor 4th studio album. In this record, Yves jumbles funk, psychedelic rock, noise, glam rock, and more. Some songs are more hazy, while some are more electric. All are distinctive, futuristic, and emotionally raw, a unique blend of noise, angst, bass, brass, and guitar rips. Alongside the sonic cacophony, themes like devotion, passion, loss, and languish are most...

“I just wanna have my t*tties out, t*tties out!” shouts musician Sudan Archives in her second and title track “NBPQ (Topless)” of the 2022 release Natural Brown Prom Queen. A rebel in her own right, the violinist and producer uses this album to vent about missing home (Cincinnati, OH is her hometown btw), isolation amidst COVID-19, perception and desirability, and complicated relationships. Camouf...

EP 6 | Walking Wounded by Everything But The Girl (1996)  As nostalgic as it is future-forward (not to mention influential!), “Walking Wounded”  by musical duo Everything But The Girl was released May 1996. Over heavy-hitting electronic beats, synthesized strings, and a pulsating bass, Tracey Thorn’s somber vocals paint stories of lost love and self reflection. Emotionally raw, sonically flutterin...

Ep. 5 | “Embrya” by Maxwell (1998) Sacral and sensual in its message, “Embrya” by falsetto crooner Maxwell was released in June 1998. A midsummer aquatic dreamscape, the album spotlights a journey of rebirth for the singer and listener alike.  Maxwell dives into topics of love, sex, and spirituality through poetic verses reflective of one another over lush layers of strings, electronic beats, and...

Self-proclaimed punk musical, “All My Heroes Are Cornballs” is rapper JPEGMAFIA’s third studio album! Released September 13, 2019 - Friday the 13th btw - AMHAC depicts the rapper’s ascension to a self-grandiose godlike status. Beginning the album with a “cynical ass prayer” and ending with the oppressor praying to him, JPEGMAFIA is definitively defiant. Backed by arrhythmic and jagged distortions,...

Ep. 3 | Rainbow by Mariah Carey (1999) To some, she’s just the Queen of Christmas. To others, she’s simply QUEEN. Pop diva Mariah Carey is one of my all time favorites, for many many reasons. Released at the turn of the 21st century, “Rainbow” marked a stark departure from her earlier pop popularity. Having experimented with more urban (aka R&B & Hip Hop) sounds previously - particularly i...

With each song on his third studio release, “Ethereal,” viral rapper $NOT ushers listeners into a different world. Displaying a range as wide as Saturn’s rings, $NOT breezes through melodic rap, hype rap, introspective rap, stoner/trippy rap, and pop rap. As entertaining as it is expansive, “Ethereal” is $NOT’s reminder to himself and his audience to have fun with it. With a calm confidence, $NOT’...

Released the spring of 2015, "Sound & Color" by soul rock band Alabama Shakes invites listeners to tune in to the band's time on the road. The lead singer is Brittany Howard, a vocal force who is known for articulating the complexities of race, gender, and space as a queer mixed Black girl from the South (not so much here as on her solo project Jaime). Hinged on eclectic experim...