SOme of you cats are gonna be like


either you will love it or be like "WTF.....Is this guy thinkin this record is going to get him a hit record? "


This dude really wanted to avoid "Soul Sista" and "Fast Lane" or neo soul comparisons.

He's got crazy rhythm guitars on this and off kilter drums and off the chain vocal harmonies. This is step up and real introspective dark album. When I say a dark album this shit is DARK. Song titles include "Sweet Sour You" "White turns to Gray" Sorrow Tears and Blood" You get what Im saying? The Basslines are opal black.




It's a great return for Bilal. He could have easily pulled a Maxwell or a D'angelo. But he kind of got influenced by the Sa Ra/Jay Dilla new movement of tracks goin on. What they are doing...


I think Women will have trouble listening to this. He is influenced by the UK Broke beat scene too on this as well. He doesn't let up on the Experimental Bilal sound. There's one track with slide guitars. There's another track on a Afro beat hybrid type rhythm. Bilal has ill session musicians on this one. Where the first record was 15/20% experimental this one is like 80% or something like that. This dude really is a clever arranger as well.
[Edited 12/31/05 20:09pm]

I cant wait to check this. It's great to hear he is reaching out with his music, more artists and record companies should do the same instead of duplicating the same record and formula.

Anyone got a release date?

I'm so glad another one is coming out. I knew he was capable of more complex stuff. Or something funkier like Plantlife.

Sounds very promising

It sounds like he's going for his Bitter.

namepeace said:

Thats a good comparison. It's darker than a mutha.


BTW Guest on it is "Common" on the 7 minute Sorrow and Tears which is like some afro beat Fela Kuti-esque type track.

Album clocks in at:59 minutes

Perfect album for Winter although it may not come out during that time.

Sounds amazing. Can this be heard anywhere yet?

calldapplwondery83 said:

The Afro Beat sounding track "Sorrow Tears and Blood" is gonna get cats like "OH Shit" If you like Fela Kuti/Roy Ayers Ubiquity you gonna dig it. I think Georgia is on the vocals too or someone likeminded from that scene

"Sweet Sour You" is some off kilter type lo fi Prince 1999/SOTT synth shit that ends the album.

Trickology said:

Tiombe Lockhart is also on that song

calldapplwondery83 said:

ypu can hear 3 of the songs here, along with his remake of high and dry

http://profile.myspace.co...D=45181067

Scrapluv said:

I really kind of feel bad after reading his myspace page comments for obvious reasons. But Bilal should realize the fans are going to circulate this like crazy. Even the Non Fans. Bilal should consult his management camp and get more stricter with rules.
That "High n Dry" cover is blazing. He should put that on the album. I will still buy your album, Bilal.

But Damn why would you want to pull a Qtip/R Kelly/Dave Matthews? Just give someone 1 or 2 songs. I'm still not getting why people pass around CdR's of the album to friends five months early before the release date. It's just a mistake. Your friends can wait. Everyone can wait. Those 3 songs were enough til the release date. Bilal's management needs a whuppin.






DAAAAAMN " (C) Chris TUCKER in Friday
[Edited 1/1/06 12:40pm]

Scrapluv said:

Oh yea that makes sense since he produced 1 of her tracks.

Trickology said:

I know, you'd think a leak would force management to move up the release, not shelve the album. If the music is good, people will buy the record. the business is killing the music

Scrapluv said:

This sucks though because it tries to put the blame on the fan who has the work.
And the artist should realize it's his management he needs to watch.
I mean,Jesus if nobody passed anything it's still going on a Peer to Peer
by mistake. Thats the nature of the beast of 06. Remember in 2000 people were saying "Internet circulation isnt going to do a thing" Oh it isn't ?

Well Ho Ho ho look what's happened now. I guess it does matter. The same thing happened with Kanye. I really think it's a question of how many numbers they expect Bilal to sell with this. If I was a project numbers estimator I'd say "50,000-100,000" But I don't know maybe Bilal sells Gold in the UK and Europe and he isn't told about it. That kind of thing does happen.
My space isn't a indicator of how much someones project will sell it's just a indicator of general interest that a surfer has in a artist.










(Check your inbox for a message,scrapluv)

I think Women will have trouble listening to this.

Sounds like an interesting CD, but I am wondering why women will have trouble listening to this? Is this about the lyrics?

The wait is almost over. Thank goodness.

Diananeith said:

Well, let me rephrase that. I think the majority of women buying consumers stil go to conformity because of fear of repercussions or another reason.

If you look at all the progressive electronic/avant garde/jazz/noise/brokebeat anything leftfield mostly (not all) it's funded by a male driven audience.
Now why is that? Maybe Vogue and Seventeen and Cosmopolitan and Mtv really does a hold on a woman's mind or maybe it's a lack of style and image presented to be interesting. I don't know and Im not judging. Im just stating a fact that is common place. That trying to get women to buy leftfield projects is a difficult task even more difficult than selling something not of the norm. Except for things like Bjork or Portishead. There are always exceptions to the rule. I believe it has to do with the repercussions of not being into usual women things. Alot women have alot more to lose on the social ladder than men do. That's my personal belief why women do not revolt against mainstream for the most part. Prince is an exception but again .....most women have been persuaded to listen to Shania Twain,Ashanti,Mariah Carey,Xtina,Hillary Duff,
Lindsay Lohan,Avril Lavigne,Jessica Simpson,Spears, Madonna,ColdPlay,Usher,50 cent,

I just believe males support for the left field has always been male driven in the record/concert industry as evident with Zappa and Mingus, Name how many girls you know who could name a Mingus song or a Zappa song. When something is so off the beaten tracks a woman will revolt moreso than a man. I think you don't stand a chance unless you are visually appealing these days in the Leftfield to women. A guy could care if a guy looks like Tom Waits. And if a woman artist is really different then chances are a woman will say "That's really strange and I don't like that" Unless you are lucky like Bjork and you come from Iceland and you resonate to someone as they can identify with.


In short, the more stranger you are and if you don't sing relationship/sex material the women will run for the hills.

I think what Trickology is trying to say is, no matter what gender you might be, Bilal will require an adventurous listener.

-Trickology's public rep

Make Me Over is on some straight Funkadelic shit!!!!! I wasn't impressed with the album upon first listen, but the more I listen the deeper it gets. Dude's voice is a serious instrument.

I haven't listened to all tracks yet, but so far I just love what I heard
BTW, I am female

Ok, Trickology, I see where you are coming from. As a woman, I was taken a back with your initial statement, but now that you have explained what was intended, I must agree with you. Although, these days, men can be just as bad as women when selecting music to listen to. And by the way, I haven't listened to all of the tracks either, but I like what I heard also.

CinisterCee said:

Agreed!

namepeace said:

Well, he better be careful because some artists in the Neo Soul category try SO HARD to shake that moniker that they end up alienating their ORIGINAL fans with some "complex new-type" shit and then NO ONE is feeling their shit and then their career is basically done.

ChristopherTracyParade said:

True, but I'd rather have them expand and try to evolve artistically than simply rehash their last record (I'm looking at you musiq)

SteamForest said:

March 2006 from what I saw. No date was listed.

Shania Twain,Ashanti,Mariah Carey,Xtina,Hillary Duff,
Lindsay Lohan,Avril Lavigne,Jessica Simpson,Spears, Madonna,ColdPlay,Usher,50 cent,

We chicks listen to that stuff?

Scrapluv said:

Ain't that the truth?

CinisterCee said:

Thanks you Cin for clearing that up cuz a sista was about to wile out on Trick's ass...

Rhondab said:

Rhonnie is so damn militant. but sexy as all get out.