In 2017, DJ Jazzy Jeff and members of The PlayList – a hand-picked collective of singers, songwriters, producers, musicians and all-around talented creatives – gathered at his estate to create an album from start to finish in one week. What resulted from that marathon week-long session was the stunning album Chasing Goosebumps featuring the long-missed vocal talents of singer Glenn Lewis. Chasing Goosebumps took everyone by surprise by how fast it was made and how good it was, and the album landed on many Best Of lists that year.
We suspect that lightning will indeed strike twice and another soon-to-be-classic will be released when its follow-up, Chasing Goosebumps II, drops this June. The major players are once again in place for this new project, with a few differences this time around. The featured artist on Chasing Goosebumps II is none other than Maimouna Youssef who brings her vocal versatility and lyrical dexterity out to play. Unlike 2017, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The PlayList have taken more than a week to pull this new album together, and they are still recording and putting the final touches on it.
Although we still have some time to wait for the release of Chasing Goosebumps II, believe us when we say that it will be well worth the wait. We attended the album listening party during April's Crush Your Craft event at City Winery DC, and Maimouna was there to debut the project alongside Muhsinah and Carvin Haggins who both had a hand in its production. Attendees were treated to a song-by-song walk through the album, and between each track Mumu and company discussed what went into the songs and got valuable feedback from the audience. We don't know what songs will make the final tracklist, but we're crossing our fingers that standout cuts "Let's Eat," "Bitterness," 'Letting My Guard Down" featuring Eric Roberson and "Love You" featuring Masego make the cut.
Both Carvin and Muhsinah heaped praise onto Maimouna for her work on this album. "Conversations turned into great records," Haggins said about the creative process with her. Near the end of the listening party, Muhsinah joked to Mumu, "You talk singing," making reference to the ease with which her gift flows.
Music lovers will get to hear those gifts when Chasing Goosebumps II by The PlayList featuring Maimouna Youssef is released in June.
