New Amerykah Part One:4th World War

Rolling Stone (p.59) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Badu kicks off the first disc by indulging her arty side: 4TH WORLD WAR is mostly dark, minor-key melodies, eerie chants and atmospheric electro beats..." Rolling Stone (p.91) - Ranked #19 in Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums Of 2008 -- "AMERYKAH is a hip-hop update of Funkadelic's brain-melting sonic stews." Spin (p.51) - Ranked #12 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "Laptop R&B that uses hip-hop as its muse....Badu croons her own future in your ear." Entertainment Weekly (p.58) - "She is both earth mama and mystic, a Billie Holiday jazz-rasp queen with a tangy Southern drawl..." -- Grade: A- Uncut (p.87) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[S]he's far bolder, singing in a strange, little girl's voice over a solitary Chet Baker-style trumpet or chanting mantra-like over a bubbling African rhythm." The Wire (p.70) - "['Honey'] drips with the kind of sultry retro-funk that proves NEW AMERYKAH to have been well worth any amount of waiting." Vibe (p.75) - "[T]he album is challenging, fabulously out there....It's drenched in a '70s acid-rock aura/ afro-sheen vibe -- a spacious, heady brew of trippy guitars, keyboards, and steady beats." Q (Magazine) (p.141) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "NEW AMERYKAH blends classic soul with Sly Stone-freak funk and zonked-out hip hop." Mojo (Publisher) (p.106) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[H]er boldest and best yet, brilliantly eccentric but repaying every indulgence." Mojo (Publisher) (p.72) - Ranked #16 in Mojo's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "[S]egueing through haunted hip hop, luscious soul and futurist funk..."

寡作ながらも必ずシーンの動きに影響を与える充実作を生んできた彼女が、デビュー10周年を経て待望の新作をようやく完成させた。のっけから70'sレア・グルーヴ名曲であるランプ“The American Promise”の、オリジナルと同じロイ・エアーズを起用したリメイク!　ただ、それ以降は先行曲“Honey”を手掛けた絶好調の9thワンダーをはじめ、マッドリブやサー・ラー・クリエイティヴ・パートナーズ、盟友のクェストラヴといったヒップホップ勢が強力にサポート。そんななか、オープニングの勢いそのままに泥臭いファンクをディープに追求しながら、独自のクロスオーヴァー感覚を交錯させて、見事にフューチャリスティックなサウンドへと昇華するバドゥイズムはやはり唯一無二だ。心して聴くべし!
bounce (C)卯之田 吉晴