CD EXCHANGE: With R. Kelly busy basking in the
glow of his mesmerizing car wreck of a miniseries, Trapped in the Closet, the R&B world has hit a
bit of a drought when it comes to male singers. However, this week an album
emerged that may have fans of the soulful sire saying, “TP who?” Meet Aloe Blacc, a Stones Throw
Records affiliate and MC for the hip-hop duo Emanon. Blacc’s solo album Shine
Through, released July 11, features an
assortment of heaping scoops of sugary-sweet, uplifting soul set to an
array of hip-hop beats, Latin-inspired sounds, acoustic guitar, and soul
rhythms. The cover art depicts Blacc affectionately looking up to a light,
his eyes smiling. You can tell that for the Southern California
singer/MC/multiinstrumentalist/producer, life is good. Blacc’s
glowing face reflects the mood of the album: hopeful, genuine, and joyful.
He chooses to wax poetic on simple matters. Take “Busking,” an
ode to the perils of taking public transportation: He’s late,
he’s got a date — where’s the dang bus? On “One
Inna” Blacc offers a smooth alto that soars to Prince-like heights over the thick
soul grooves provided by indie wunderkind Madlib. Unfortunately, in the game of happy tunes, joyful
optimism can slip into schmaltz, and on “I’m Beautiful”
Blacc is guilty as charged. When he croons the chorus, “I’m
beautiful/and special/and I think it’s about time to tell you
this/I’m gonna be the best me that I know how to be,” Al Franken’s Stuart
Smalley comes to mind. And so it goes with positive thinkers: There are
always cynics to rain on the parade. But as it appears from the
aforementioned tunes, nothing’s going to break Blacc’s stride
— except maybe a bus.
SHOWS-A-GO-GO! Steady,
rhythmic flows from Black Thought and an on-time boom-boom-bap from ?uestlove’s
drumsticks can mean just one thing: The Roots are coming to town — not our town, but St.
Louis’ Pageant Theatre is close enough that the drive is well worth
it. The July 27 showcase will feature the organic styling of the Pharcyde, an LA hip-hop group,
formed in the ’90s, that has influenced the show’s headliners.
The revolutionary MC Talib Kweli rounds out the bill for a full evening of the finest from
the underground. Kweli releases Eardrum this summer, and the Roots’ highly anticipated
album, Game Theory, will be out on the Def Jam label this August.
This article appears in Jul 6-12, 2006.
