Black Messiah

Out of the blue comes Black Messiah, D’Angelo’s much-anticipated third full length LP (co-credited to his backing group, The Vanguard) and it’s quite astonishing. As with Brown Sugar and Voodoo, Black Messiah is best heard in its entirety. Saying that, all these songs could stand alone. Ain’t That Easy, Sugar Daddy (both co-writen with Q-Tip and Kendra Foster), Really Love, Back To the Future (Part I), The Door would all make great singles.

After a good few listens the quality of Black Messiah just opens up and D’Angelo’s layered vocals together with organic beats and killa grooves creates a captivating and atmospheric soundscape. What’s most astonishing is how fresh and modern it sounds even when channeling obvious influences, Marvin Gaye, Sly And The Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Funkadelic, Prince, The Crusaders it’s all in there. 

A highly charged political message, "All we wanted was a chance to talk 'stead we only got outlined in chalk" - a lyric from the song "The Charade." co-writen with Questlove and Kendra Foster.

At the LP’s launch D’Angelo explains the title - ”For me, the title is about all of us. It's about the world. It's about an idea we can all aspire to. We Should all aspire to be a Black Messiah.... Its about people rising up in Ferguson and in Egypt and in Occupy Wall Street and in every place where a community has had enough and decides to make change happen. It's not about praising one charismatic leader but celebrating thousands of them."

All year we’ve been waiting for an album with an otherworldly experience like this, with no-shows from Kanye and Frank Ocean; D’Angelo fills the void with ease.

I pity all the people that have already compiled and published their albums of the year charts as this LP would surely feature in most top tens if not top of the whole list! It’s a landmark LP that will sit along side classic albums like Marvin Gaye: What’s Going On, Sly And The Family Stone: There’s A Riot Goin’ On,  Bob Dylan: The Times They Are A-Changin’, Public Enemy: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Gil Scott-Heron: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, you get the picture.

Dripping with infectious funk throughout it’s really hard to single out any one track, the quality maintains an optimum setting from start to finish at just under an hour it’ a magnum opus!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Buy it NOW on iTunes