Release Date: 18 November 2000
Song Count: 14
Duration: 1 hour, 11 minutes, 48 seconds
Rating: 6.1/10
Description:
Today marks the 55th birthday of a musical artist considered by many to be the "Queen of Neo-Soul": Erica Abi Wright, known on the stage as Erykah Badu. Her works, especially across the 90's and 2000s, have had wide amounts of exposure, propelling her to the top of the Neo Soul movement, and amongst them is the album releasing at the dawn of the millenium, Mama's Gun. Releasing following a bout of writer's block as well as childbirth getting in the way for Badu, the album circles around topics of justice, self-worth, equality and finding one's place in the world in a tone inspired by multiple genres at once.
Combining soulful vocals with laid-back rhythms as well as influences from hip-hop, jazz and funk scattered all around, the tracks show their inspirations and atmosphere from the moment the first one of the line begins to play. Badu's gentle vocals flow atop a varied instrumental composition and envelop the listener into an air of introspection and tranquility through their sound, only further amplified through the way the songs interact with each other, smoothly sailing through. It lulls one into a carefree state of letting whatever comes along - both physically and mentally - pass by and not let the thoughts of others affect the lens one looks through.
In the best of tracks, and when listening in some doses, this effect strikes the hardest and leaves a positive impact that feels empowering and re-energising. The fact that a lot of tracks follow a very similar formula with infrequent changes in approaches and sounds, as well as the fact that this persists for an entire 74 minutes in total, however, knock it down from achieving the same thing for the entire rundown. Though captivating and engaging at first, the repetition of heading into territories already thoroughly treaded left me coming out of the experience more with boredom than with relaxation or anything of the sort. The talents of Erykah Badu are clearly displayed within the record, and the grounded sound of it is remarkable at particular moments, so it is a letdown that this level of intrigue didn't stick with me for longer whilst listening. Who knows, perhaps this is a record that may have to grow on yours truly first, but for now, this will make its way into the category of "respected more than actually liked" in terms of album enjoyability. Sincerest pardons.