Review: HEAVN - Jamila Woods (@duhmilo); A Niles P. Joint

It’s inevitable that while writing album reviews, you’ll come across more than a few albums to which you don’t relate. Not everything is going to be from or marketed to someone in your exact same demographic. Your job as a writer, however, is to see past that and appreciate the music for its artistry while still recognizing its message. This was the case when Chicago soulstress Jamila Woods released her debut album Heavn. The free project is a de facto musical tribute to Black Girl Magic and while there are certainly some esoteric elements that come with that, it is one of the most complete R&B/Soul albums you’ll here this year, if not this generation. It’s essential listening for 2016, especially in the current climate.  

Listening to Heavn for a few days straight, I didn’t catch this on my first few spins. It’s actually a loose concept album that follows the journey of a Black girl from childhood on. Bubbles is the first track and introduces Woods’ sweet (but not artificially so) voice that seems to float through the song. It continues with VERY BLK which takes a playful cadence heard in blacktop chants and uses it to talk about police brutality. The enigmatic & rechristened fan favorite NoName contributes a verse. It’s an upbeat song that’s like a Black Lives Matter primer that also introduces the periodic in-song interludes that explain the next track. Lonely Lonely is a slower and more somber duet with Lornie Chia that shows a strength in self reflection even the worst days. Things pick up with the title track as Woods yearns for the simpler elements of love.

While In My Name clocks in under two minutes, it’s still one of the most passionate on the album. It covers both getting someone’s complicated name right (an issue among POC) and not calling one out their name in any arena. Blk Girl Soldier exemplifies he plight and simultaneously celebrates the strength and resiliency of Black women, offering tribute to those in history that “taught us how to fight.” A song titled LSD featuring Chance The Rapper isn’t about acid but instead a tribute to and defense of Chicago (LSD is Lake Shore Drive in this case).  Emerald St. is a more localized companion piece, this time featuring Saba. Both are excellent in encapsulating the essence of Chi Town and all the good things when the rest of the world seems intent on making them the example of a bad city to prove a misguided point. Woods and friends certainly make their case.

Having two songs in a row with connecting themes continues. Lately is a song about loss that has one of the most powerful lines I’ve heard in “You are the library burned/ But they can’t take the lessons I learned.” It’s melancholy but much needed as it’s a fact of life we all deal with. Donnie Trumpet of The Social Experiment lends his self explanatory talents to Breadcrumbs. This one is about dealing with a grandparent that’s suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. It’s more specific and heart wrenching than the previous track but they work together in a moving & sentimental way.  

You’ll hear the most crisp guitars of all time on Stellar, which interpolates the incubus song of the same name. It’s another short song, but it hints to something much more grand. Although Holy has some religious undertones, it’s enjoyable regardless of your faith as it illustrates the value of self-love in the face of adversity. It has the potential to brighten your day every single time you listen to it. The culmination of the entire album is Way Up. Woods seems to describe herself and Black women as a whole as not transcendent, but outer worldly.  When you consider the full essence of both, as displayed on this album specifically, she’s right.

As much as I try to stray away from hyperbole, Heavn just may be the best album of the year across all of the genres. Jamila Woods has crafted a masterpiece of a concept album that has several sub concepts within and still has insane replay value in each song. She also manages to tap some of Chicago’s hip hop bohemians (NoName, Chano, Saba, & Trumpet) for her cause, ensuring that this album will be historically remembered as one of the city’s best. In a time where it’s very much needed, she gives hope and inspiration to Black girls everywhere through her music while also making something accessible to everyone due to the album’s aural mastery. This is one of those things that I’m going to send to EVERYBODY, my sisters, friends, classmates, co-writers, etc. because in all honesty, everyone needs to hear it.

Rating; 5 out of 5.

#ICYMIMonday: Sound & Color - @AlabamaShakes; A Niles P. Joint

Since it’s Grammy Monday (which is within Black History Month of course,) we have a very special edition of #ICYMIMonday for you.  There’s a Black music clause in the contracts of the WTM staff that allows us to cover one non hip hop act per quarter so long as they’re Black.  I used this to cover Lianne La Havas awhile back and now I’m invoking it to cover the Alabama Shakes’ sophomore album Sound & Color.  Nominated for multiple Grammys this year, the band functions extremely well as a unit and respect is due.  But its driving force is undoubtedly the lead singer & guitarist Brittany Howard. This isn’t going to be a standard album review from me as much as it will be a study in Black Girl Magic.  

First, understand this about Brittany Howard.  She didn’t join the band on a whim midway through their success and wasn’t installed by an enterprising record exec. She did however write her own songs and teach herself to play three instruments all before linking up with Heath Fogg & Zac Cockrell (future guitarist & bassist for the band) in high school.  The jam sessions she organized and hosted at a relative’s house eventually drew drummer Steve Johnson.  Keyboardist Ben Tanner came later.  All of this was done to escape the doldrums of small town living in Athens, Alabama and while she was simultaneously working as a fry cook & postal worker.  If you can’t tell by now, Brittany Howard is a muhfuckin’ beast.

You'll immediately notice that other than maybe the general rock category, this album doesn’t stick to one genre throughout.  You can attribute this to Howard being musically influenced by an eclectic-ass mix of David Bowie, Bon Scott, & Nina Simone.  No matter how this album was sequenced, you'd wind up with two songs that are completely different in sound.  So you’ll have the title track, essentially a spacey slow jam, right next to the rambunctious strained relationship anthem Don’t Wanna Fight.  Really the band could’ve repeated the style of these two songs throughout and everyone would have been satisfied.  Howard’s vocals ranging from soft to boisterous in the span of two songs only scratches the surface.

Dunes transitions from blues to thunderous rock on the same track.  Following this with a shrill yet comforting falsetto on Future People works better than anyone could've imagined.  This sets up for a home run in Gimme All Your Love.  The yearning in her voice, especially in the chorus, is palpable as she pleads with her lover to open up to her more.  About two-thirds in, the instrumental switches to guitar-driven soul to close out.  After such an emotional rollercoaster, This Feeling is a welcome & calming acoustic jam.  

Guess Who would feel right at home on a lite FM station or an independent arthouse movie alike.  Naturally the band switches the tempo entirely for The Greatest, which masterfully mixes elements of punk rock energy with an almost almost 1950’s rock sound.  The cross generational combination is another stroke of genius that many listening have come to expect at this point.  They explore yet another style with Shoegaze, which borrows from the late 80’s and early 90’s UK-based subgenre of the same name.  

The last quarter of the album starts with the bluesy Miss You.  The track will be praised for raucous guitar chords but pay close attention to the understated piano.  The album is due for an epic and gets one in the nearly seven minute long Gemini.  They experiment with vocal effects that persuasively create a lucid ambiance.  The album closes with Over My Head.  Going back into accessible love themes, Howard talks about “Loving so deeply, I’m in over my head” over a medley of electric piano, cymbals, and handclaps.  The album goes out with a hushed bang.  

Is it possible for someone to be simultaneously critically acclaimed and underrated?  Alabama Shakes have been nominated for  and won a slew of awards while garnering stacks of positive review.  And Brittany Howard gets to perform at the Grammys and also won Billboard’s Women in Music Powerhouse Award, which is the most accurate title one could give. This is a woman who created her own lane by fusing multiple genres together while still creating a cohesive sound and has managed to do so for two albums, not to mention fronting a side project with the band Thunderbitch.  I alluded to Black Girl Magic and Brittany Howard exemplifies it as much as fan favorites Beyoncé and Rihanna.  The fact that she’s more in the rock market might unfairly keep her off the radar of some.  But listen, if there’s one person that could defy musical barriers and cross over, it’s her.  Hell, she did it on multiple albums.  Nothing’s impossible for her.