Pink Siifu - NEGRO [2020]

Pink Siifu has a great range of talent. There is the mellowness of his previous solo album, Ensley, and then there is Negro. The two projects are extraordinarily different, but an analysis of his discography reveals relevant precedent. The artist embraced abrasive hardcore punk in 2018 on Fuck Demo, a four-track EP that contains tracks featured here. On Negro, Siifu leaves the smooth hip-hop pastures of Ensley for radical noise. The album is a fierce evolution in sound and structure. Siifu's voice is filled with furious energy - and the indignation is justified. Negro is a record that rages against the violence of systemic racism.

KeiyaA - Forever, Ya Girl [2020]

KeiyaA's music has a compelling warmth and fluidity. The New York City-based Chicago-raised singer is a student of her craft, being the sole producer of the majority of Forever, Ya Girl. While it's informed by Neo-Soul legends such as Erykah Badu, KeiyaA's work has a distinctly modern haze to it. The strong sequencing and loose lo-fi brilliance of the album makes it extremely easy to listen to. The aesthetic of Forever, Ya Girl finds a creative middle ground in-between music like Georgia Anne Muldrow's more sample-based work and the more organic nature of albums such as Solange's When I Get Home. Similarly to the work of both the aforementioned women, in KeiyaA's vision, blackness is paramount.

King Krule - Man Alive [2020]

Man Alive continues the melancholy present in much of The Ooz, but here King Krule feels much more desolate. Sparse darkness and a sense of longing permeate throughout the entire tracklist. The two singles, which are both album highlights, are almost polar opposites. On "(Don’t Let the Dragon) Draag On", Krule feels apathetic and depressive, whereas "Alone, Omen 3", offers the listener a surprising dose of hazy sunshine via some of the Englishman's best writing.

R.A.P. Ferriera - Purple Moonlight Pages [2020]

Published in PostGenre

On Purple Moonlight Pages, R.A.P. Ferreira is extremely loose and free, at times even nonchalant, but he is always impressive and in control. The emcee's intriguing abstract nature, wit, confidence and unwavering commitment to the craft of imaginative rhyming all combine in a performance that will undoubtedly go on to be remembered as one of his peaks. Although his verses are rarely conventionally direct, the combination of the upward trajectory of his career, the establishment of his own record label and the birth of his son has made Ferreira much more open and reflective lyrically. Living and learning from these experiences has helped him release what is arguably his best work yet.

Tomas Fujiwara - 7 Poets Trio [2019]

Published on NextBop

When one thinks of jazz trios, the combination found on 7 Poets Trio is probably not what comes to mind. Then again, when looking at the members of this trio, each one being a mainstay in the boundary pushing avant-garde jazz scene of New York City, it makes perfect sense. 7 Poets Trio is a riveting collaboration between Patricia Brennan (vibraphone), Tomeka Reid (cello) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums). All of the compositions here, with the exception of "Questions", were written by Fujiwara exclusively for Reid and Brennan and it definitely shows - the connection among the three musicians is extraordinary.