Moor Mother - Black Encyclopedia of the Air ALBUM REVIEW
If you’re curious about Ayewa’s activism and Black Quantum Futurism, check out the group’s website here.
Most of the people reading this probably don’t know who Camae Ayewa is, and that’s fine. I’ll try my best to educate you. Ayewa is a poet, activist, musician, writer, and most recently, a professor hailing from Philadelphia. She also formed Black Quantum Futurism with fellow activist Rasheedah Phillips and is the leader of the ‘liberation-oriented free-jazz collective,’ Irreversible Entanglements. Outside of her activism, she’s dabbled in music under the name Moor Mother and has collaborated with artists like Billy Woods and Mental Jewelry. However, her debut album, Fetish Bones, is what I consider her best solo project. The massive book of poetry that comes with it is also a great read. Now, we have her seventh studio album, Black Encyclopedia of the Air, and I’ve been excited for this one for a while now. Along this ride with her, we have Pink Siifu, Elucid, Lojii, Brother May, Antonia Gabriela, BFLY, Nappy Nina, Maassai, Orion Sun, YATTA, Elaine Mitchener, and Dudú Kouate. It’s an eclectic and interesting list of collaborators, so let’s not waste any more time and get into it.
When it comes to the sound and production of this album, it’s surprisingly calmer, albeit haunting most of the time. I’d consider this project a good stepping stone into Ayewa’s discography as Moor Mother, mainly because I’d call this her most accessible album yet. Well, accessible to her. Don’t get me wrong, this is a very experimental album and it’s probably one of the more experimental albums of the year. It’s jazzy and has warm R&B vibes throughout, and Ayewa’s sinister voice is a perfect contrast to it. Ayewa’s writing, like always, is upfront and hits you like a truck. Her lyrics about social injustice and the hauntings of protests both in the past and the present are just as impactful, even if the music itself is less harsh.
Even if the concept of an Afrofuturist universe may not click with me entirely, I can’t sit here and say that I didn’t feel something with this. Black Encyclopedia of the Air tackles hip-hop in one of the eeriest ways I’ve heard in a long time, and with its lyrical content, it should be eerie. Moor Mother is in a whole new plane of existence when she’s on the mic and is backed up by some of the most hallucinatory beats I’ve heard in recent memory. Even with a growing discography, this album stands out among the rest.
10/10
Listen here
Bandcamp (to support the artist directly)
YouTube Music
Black Encyclopedia of the Air is an ANTI- release.
Most of the people reading this probably don’t know who Camae Ayewa is, and that’s fine. I’ll try my best to educate you. Ayewa is a poet, activist, musician, writer, and most recently, a professor hailing from Philadelphia. She also formed Black Quantum Futurism with fellow activist Rasheedah Phillips and is the leader of the ‘liberation-oriented free-jazz collective,’ Irreversible Entanglements. Outside of her activism, she’s dabbled in music under the name Moor Mother and has collaborated with artists like Billy Woods and Mental Jewelry. However, her debut album, Fetish Bones, is what I consider her best solo project. The massive book of poetry that comes with it is also a great read. Now, we have her seventh studio album, Black Encyclopedia of the Air, and I’ve been excited for this one for a while now. Along this ride with her, we have Pink Siifu, Elucid, Lojii, Brother May, Antonia Gabriela, BFLY, Nappy Nina, Maassai, Orion Sun, YATTA, Elaine Mitchener, and Dudú Kouate. It’s an eclectic and interesting list of collaborators, so let’s not waste any more time and get into it.
When it comes to the sound and production of this album, it’s surprisingly calmer, albeit haunting most of the time. I’d consider this project a good stepping stone into Ayewa’s discography as Moor Mother, mainly because I’d call this her most accessible album yet. Well, accessible to her. Don’t get me wrong, this is a very experimental album and it’s probably one of the more experimental albums of the year. It’s jazzy and has warm R&B vibes throughout, and Ayewa’s sinister voice is a perfect contrast to it. Ayewa’s writing, like always, is upfront and hits you like a truck. Her lyrics about social injustice and the hauntings of protests both in the past and the present are just as impactful, even if the music itself is less harsh.
Even if the concept of an Afrofuturist universe may not click with me entirely, I can’t sit here and say that I didn’t feel something with this. Black Encyclopedia of the Air tackles hip-hop in one of the eeriest ways I’ve heard in a long time, and with its lyrical content, it should be eerie. Moor Mother is in a whole new plane of existence when she’s on the mic and is backed up by some of the most hallucinatory beats I’ve heard in recent memory. Even with a growing discography, this album stands out among the rest.
10/10
Listen here
Bandcamp (to support the artist directly)
YouTube Music
Black Encyclopedia of the Air is an ANTI- release.
Comments
Post a Comment