My Review On Erykah Badu's New Amerykah Part 2
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shadb33
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New Amerykah: Return Of The Ankh
1) 20 Feet Tall- 3:25
This is the intro of Erykah Badu's 5th studio album. Very simple beat, the tone of this song tells you right away that the album will have a more calm, subtle and emotional sound compared to the more political New Amerykah Part 1. It is a repetitive love ballad but nonetheless Badu blesses the beat with her sultry vocals.
I rate this track: 4/5
My love/ What did I do/ To make you fall/ So far from me/ And now I can't recall/ The cause of the fall/ Selective memory/ Then you/ You built a wall/ A 20 foot wall/ So I couldn't see/ But if I get off my knees/ I might recall/ I'm 20 feet tall
2) Window Seat - 4:50
Badu's first single off this album. Everyone is pretty familiar with this song and it was obviously the best single off the album. Vintage Badu. Analog girl in a digital world at her finest. And the music video has caused controversy and great publicity for her album. Badu knew what she was doing getting nude in public. I only wish I was there to see it. This track speaks for its self.
I give it: 5/5
So can I get a window seat/ Don't want nobody next to me/ I just want a ticket outta town/ A look around/ And a safe touch down
3) Agitation- 1:33
Very brief record. The beat is quirky, yet funky as it continues to give it's listener's eargasms.. It samples "Just As I Thought" by David Sancious. It has a feel of an interlude so I will rate it accordingly.
This track gets: 3.5/5
What a day..what a day..what a day...what a day.....
4) Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY) - 5:26
I love this track. It's an interpolation of Junior Mafia's "Get Money". Badu graces this version in a rubbery voice, offering multi-tracked harmonies that feel pliant and light. It has the charm of a spring day but still feels pleasantly amiss -- like a freakish midwinter spike in temperature.
I give it: 4/5
Can't lie to you honey/ I just want your money/ Hi I'm Sunny Bunny/ Don't run from me/ Trying to get away/ Just say okay/ Cause Munny I want you bad
5) Gone Baby, Don't Be Long - 4:54
Almost halfway through the album and it feels like Badu hasn't lost her step. Then you get to this track----I like it, but it feels like she is trying to recreate "Other Side Of The Game" from her debut album "Baduizm". She even uses a few lyrics from her classic track. It's a decent record, but I really wasn't feeling the beat and the vocal effects. I like Badu's vocals untouched and raw. Still, this song was listenable and it doesn't mess up the flow of the album at all. It leads into the next track perfectly.
The lowest rating so far: 2.5/5
I know you got to get your hustle on/ So gone baby gone baby don't be long
6) Umm Hmm - 3:52
Just when you thought Badu's creative juices have drained, she hits you with this undeniable track for the second half of her album. This song has a retro seventies soul feel with a truly uptempo sound. This most definitely takes you back to her Baduizm days. Her voice on this track is beautiful; dreamy, elliptical. This record is one of her potent melodies that is gingerly tucked into deceptively complex arrangement. I really like this track.
5/5
Takes some time to let your feelings show/ You can't hide you can't hide/ Skies the limit let me really know/ You can't hide you can't hide/ Come down baby let me know/ Umm hmm/ I love how you make me feel/ Umm hmm/ Let's jump off into your world/ Umm hmm/ Hearts lead baby it's your deal
7) Love - 6:00
This track starts off with a robotic female voice giving the definitions to Love and Fear, which she proclaims to be the only 2 human emotions, in which the other emotions we feel branch off of these 2. I'm feeling this track. It's basically about love. Her lyrics are very simple and delicate over the gentle melody.
4/5
8) You Loving Me (session) - 0:55
Another interlude. It's Badu freestyling over a jazzy beat. It's quite funny. I love it.
5/5
You loving me/ And I'm driving your Benz/ You loving me/ And I'm spending your ends/ You loving me/ I'm drinking your gin/ You loving me/ And I'm ? your friends/ That's terrible isn't it..lol
9) Fall In Love - 4:30
Banging track. Behind her is what sounds like an Alicia Keys song flipped inside out, with keyboards squeaking where you'd expect them to chime. Giving Biggie some more props, Badu recycles a couplet from his song "Warning": "There's gonna be some slow singing and flower-bringing if my burglar alarm starts ringing." And on and on she goes, tip-toeing over the beat for six funky minutes.
5/5
/You don't wanna fall in love with me/
10) Incense feat. Kirsten Agnesta - 3:25
Badu is literally killing the second half of this album. Incense starts off with a beautiful instrumental. I don't even know how to describe it. Then Badu gently comes in and croons in a dreamy tone. I'm not too sure of the lyrics but they truly soothe the soul. Great track. Felt like an extended interlude. I'm glad she extended it.
Shad Bey gives this track: 4/5
11) Out My Mind, Just In Time - 10:21
This is the last track of her physical album. I believe she has 2 bonus tracks on her Itunes album. Now for all my Badu fans: you all know her epic ballads such as "I Want You" and "Green Eyes". Well this finale will most definitely be up there with those. This may be her most personal song to date. The lyrics detail the crumbling of a relationship, from the woman's perspective in the first part of the song. However, the second movement suggests that Badu wants to move on.
Thus the album concludes on a defiant note, with Badu declaring her independence from not only her lover, but also from what she considers confining musical forms. The generic state of the musical world hasn't influenced Badu in the least.
Of course I rate this: 5/5
And I lie for you/ I cry for you/ I pop for you/ And break for you/ And hate for you/ and I'll hate you too/ If you want me too
Overall, the second installment of the New Amerykah series was phenomenal. Badu is still Badu and she hasn't lost any of her creative uniqueness that has defined her since 1997.
I give this album 4.5 out of 5 stars. A great record if you are a Badu fan. Or if you are a musical lover that wants to be entertained.
1) 20 Feet Tall- 3:25
This is the intro of Erykah Badu's 5th studio album. Very simple beat, the tone of this song tells you right away that the album will have a more calm, subtle and emotional sound compared to the more political New Amerykah Part 1. It is a repetitive love ballad but nonetheless Badu blesses the beat with her sultry vocals.
I rate this track: 4/5
My love/ What did I do/ To make you fall/ So far from me/ And now I can't recall/ The cause of the fall/ Selective memory/ Then you/ You built a wall/ A 20 foot wall/ So I couldn't see/ But if I get off my knees/ I might recall/ I'm 20 feet tall
2) Window Seat - 4:50
Badu's first single off this album. Everyone is pretty familiar with this song and it was obviously the best single off the album. Vintage Badu. Analog girl in a digital world at her finest. And the music video has caused controversy and great publicity for her album. Badu knew what she was doing getting nude in public. I only wish I was there to see it. This track speaks for its self.
I give it: 5/5
So can I get a window seat/ Don't want nobody next to me/ I just want a ticket outta town/ A look around/ And a safe touch down
3) Agitation- 1:33
Very brief record. The beat is quirky, yet funky as it continues to give it's listener's eargasms.. It samples "Just As I Thought" by David Sancious. It has a feel of an interlude so I will rate it accordingly.
This track gets: 3.5/5
What a day..what a day..what a day...what a day.....
4) Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY) - 5:26
I love this track. It's an interpolation of Junior Mafia's "Get Money". Badu graces this version in a rubbery voice, offering multi-tracked harmonies that feel pliant and light. It has the charm of a spring day but still feels pleasantly amiss -- like a freakish midwinter spike in temperature.
I give it: 4/5
Can't lie to you honey/ I just want your money/ Hi I'm Sunny Bunny/ Don't run from me/ Trying to get away/ Just say okay/ Cause Munny I want you bad
5) Gone Baby, Don't Be Long - 4:54
Almost halfway through the album and it feels like Badu hasn't lost her step. Then you get to this track----I like it, but it feels like she is trying to recreate "Other Side Of The Game" from her debut album "Baduizm". She even uses a few lyrics from her classic track. It's a decent record, but I really wasn't feeling the beat and the vocal effects. I like Badu's vocals untouched and raw. Still, this song was listenable and it doesn't mess up the flow of the album at all. It leads into the next track perfectly.
The lowest rating so far: 2.5/5
I know you got to get your hustle on/ So gone baby gone baby don't be long
6) Umm Hmm - 3:52
Just when you thought Badu's creative juices have drained, she hits you with this undeniable track for the second half of her album. This song has a retro seventies soul feel with a truly uptempo sound. This most definitely takes you back to her Baduizm days. Her voice on this track is beautiful; dreamy, elliptical. This record is one of her potent melodies that is gingerly tucked into deceptively complex arrangement. I really like this track.
5/5
Takes some time to let your feelings show/ You can't hide you can't hide/ Skies the limit let me really know/ You can't hide you can't hide/ Come down baby let me know/ Umm hmm/ I love how you make me feel/ Umm hmm/ Let's jump off into your world/ Umm hmm/ Hearts lead baby it's your deal
7) Love - 6:00
This track starts off with a robotic female voice giving the definitions to Love and Fear, which she proclaims to be the only 2 human emotions, in which the other emotions we feel branch off of these 2. I'm feeling this track. It's basically about love. Her lyrics are very simple and delicate over the gentle melody.
4/5
8) You Loving Me (session) - 0:55
Another interlude. It's Badu freestyling over a jazzy beat. It's quite funny. I love it.
5/5
You loving me/ And I'm driving your Benz/ You loving me/ And I'm spending your ends/ You loving me/ I'm drinking your gin/ You loving me/ And I'm ? your friends/ That's terrible isn't it..lol
9) Fall In Love - 4:30
Banging track. Behind her is what sounds like an Alicia Keys song flipped inside out, with keyboards squeaking where you'd expect them to chime. Giving Biggie some more props, Badu recycles a couplet from his song "Warning": "There's gonna be some slow singing and flower-bringing if my burglar alarm starts ringing." And on and on she goes, tip-toeing over the beat for six funky minutes.
5/5
/You don't wanna fall in love with me/
10) Incense feat. Kirsten Agnesta - 3:25
Badu is literally killing the second half of this album. Incense starts off with a beautiful instrumental. I don't even know how to describe it. Then Badu gently comes in and croons in a dreamy tone. I'm not too sure of the lyrics but they truly soothe the soul. Great track. Felt like an extended interlude. I'm glad she extended it.
Shad Bey gives this track: 4/5
11) Out My Mind, Just In Time - 10:21
This is the last track of her physical album. I believe she has 2 bonus tracks on her Itunes album. Now for all my Badu fans: you all know her epic ballads such as "I Want You" and "Green Eyes". Well this finale will most definitely be up there with those. This may be her most personal song to date. The lyrics detail the crumbling of a relationship, from the woman's perspective in the first part of the song. However, the second movement suggests that Badu wants to move on.
Thus the album concludes on a defiant note, with Badu declaring her independence from not only her lover, but also from what she considers confining musical forms. The generic state of the musical world hasn't influenced Badu in the least.
Of course I rate this: 5/5
And I lie for you/ I cry for you/ I pop for you/ And break for you/ And hate for you/ and I'll hate you too/ If you want me too
Overall, the second installment of the New Amerykah series was phenomenal. Badu is still Badu and she hasn't lost any of her creative uniqueness that has defined her since 1997.
I give this album 4.5 out of 5 stars. A great record if you are a Badu fan. Or if you are a musical lover that wants to be entertained.
Comments
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I think you way overrated a bunch of the songs here, and I like the album.
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I think you way overrated a bunch of the songs here, and I like the album.
what would u rate the album overall?
