Butta: My soul was on E, and it is full after listening to Black Messiah. I am so thankful for this album. It is so necessary right now. Not just for the listening public to restore their faith in D’Angelo but for soul music -- an unapologetically Black music -- to enjoy this time in the sun.
D-Money: Consider my faith restored. This was worth damn near every second of that 14-year wait. I was shaking and crying at just the announcement of the listening session, so the fact that I actually own this unicorn of an album days later still has me in awe. What’s your favorite track?
Butta: Hands down my favorite track is “Another Life.” It’s retro but current, and it’s all love.
D-Money: “Another Life” is definitely a contender. But the one that I find myself coming back to the most is “The Charade.” Something about it just speaks to me right now (probably due to what’s going on in the country). I’m sure in a month it will be another track.
Butta: The beauty of Black Messiah is that every time I listen I hear something new -- a new lyric, a new chord, a new note -- that hits me. Major kudos to all of the personnel who worked on this album to make it amazing -- Questlove, Pino Palladino, songwriter extraordinaire Kendra Foster and all of the aforementioned.
D-Money: Yep. There are so many great moments that I find myself gravitating to, even on the songs that didn’t necessarily grab me initially.
Butta: Exactly. After my first listen, I rated this a 7 out of 10. Now after repeated listens and digging deeper into the music and lyrics, it’s a solid 9 out of 10.
- Advertisement -D-Money: It’s a 9.5 for me, because even with “The Door,” I’m finding more and more that I like about it. It’ll probably go up to a 10/10 by Christmas. DAngelo’s worked his voodoo again.
D'Angelo and The Vanguard Black Messiah [Amazon][iTunes][Google Play]
