Ain't Nobody Playin'
Judging from recent statistics, it seems that one of the most difficult tasks in music these days is the creation of a solid album worthy of the label of "soul" (I would say "R&B" but the mere mention of it conjures up frightening visions of endless K-Ci and Jojo ballads). Not only has there been a noticeable lack of good albums, but due to the rising popularity of "neo-soul", there has been an increasing number of bad albums produced. Unfortunately, the poster child for this movement (as anointed by pop radio and the Recording Academy), Alicia Keys, numbers among the scores of mediocre artists (face it, the album isn't very good, no matter how many awards it received).
But enough negativity. I come bearing good news of an excellent album and an artist that seems to know what it takes to produce music that walks the fine line between soul, R&B and hip hop, and does so in style. The album is Denials Delusions and Decisions, the debut album from long-time Roots crew member and collaborator Jaguar Wright. There are two main reasons that this album is a success: 1) the production team and 2) the instincts of Wright as a vocalist. For this album, Jaguar enlisted the help of some of the most talented and "organic" producers in the game today: ?uestlove (drummer of The Roots and part of essentially every excellent soul album released in the last five years), Scott Storch (former Roots keyboardist and member of Dre's production team), James Poyser (member of Soulquarian production team) and other assorted members of the extended Roots family. The production style is "organic" in that it is centered around live instrumentation, musicianship and achieving the most pure and natural sound with more traditional instruments as opposed to the heavily synthesized and sampled sounds of much of the R&B world. And not only are these artists doing production on the album but they are also putting in time on their respective instruments on all songs, which makes a significant, if subtle, difference in quality. Secondly, Jaguar shows excellent instincts in identifying how her vocal track(s) fits into the scheme of a song. She has an undoubtedly strong voice but instead of falling into the trap of "showcasing" her voice with gratuitous wailing and ad libs on overlapped vocal tracks, she always sings to the mood, feel and momentum of the song and moment. In many cases, she utilizes only one main vocal tracks with overdubs for the chorus. In other words, she has the power to bring it when it needs to be brought but at the same time recognizes when she needs to lay back and ride the cut.
This tasty combination makes for an album with an undeniable groove and a nice blend of soul and hip hop. The guest spots by Black Thought and Bilal make nice additions without distracting the listener from the focus of the album. If this is what her first effort sounds like, we have a lot to look forward to in Jaguar Wright.
Bottom line: Like soul, funk and hip hop? Buy this album. She's not a throwback like D'Angelo, Maxwell and Badu but anyone who enjoys the groove of these artists and occasionally nods their head to some hip hop will certainly (or at least probably) like this album.