Rolling Stone

Meshell Ndegeocello
"Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtage"

Release Date: June 4

"A deeply groovy revolution from a soul-music loner.

Iconoclastic soul sister Meshell Ndegeocello once again laser-focuses on putting forward her agenda: that only revolution will save the black soul, not to mention black music. Cookie's uprising takes place in the bedroom, the streets and the studio, and Ndegeocello's supreme control over the tone and texture of her sinewy vibe is the sound of a woman in charge of her body and mind. Her deep-groove soul is spiced with spoken-word clips, as on "Akel Dama," on which Gil Scott-Heron and others speak over the pulse of a beating heart, and grounded by her smooth vocals, crooning on the get-with-you "Priorities 1-6," and the sexy-sad "Berry Farms"; rapping non-nonsense-style on "Hot Night," which features snippets of Angela Davis.

Powerful, beautiful, sensual and activist, this is the record Prince keeps trying to make.

Grade: Four Stars"

Caption under photo: "Ndegeocello makes a great lost Prince album."
[This message was edited Fri May 31 14:34:09 PDT 2002 by MatthewCho]

Entertainment Weekly

Meshell Ndegeocello
"Cookie: The Anthropoligical Mixtape"

Release Date: June 4

"The queen of boho soul is back with another set of songs that are political and unflinchingly personal, but still manage to entertain. The singer's throaty growl pumps songs like "Hot Night," while other cuts are
characterized by sax riffs and hard-driving bass lines. Inspired guest turns from Talib Kweli, Lala Hathaway, and Dick Gregory help make this one tasty Cookie."

Grade: A

Was it really necessary for Rolling Stone to take a dig at Prince? Why couldn't Meshell's new album simply be considered a "good" album without mentioning anyone else? The whole last phrase of the last sentence could've been deleted and the review would've been great.

Barnes & Noble

Throughout her groundbreaking career, Meshell Ndegeocello has never minced words, and her musically and lyrically bold fourth disc, Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape, is no exception. Here, she unabashedly puts her opinions to the fore, mocking the music industry's reliance on cookie-cutter knockoffs with the album's title and chastising her fellow African Americans' materialistic ways on the funky political anthem "Dead Nigga Blvd., Pt. 1." "You sell your soul like you sell a piece of ass," chides the soul singer, whose music helped pave the way for neo-soul superstars such as Erykah Badu and D'Angelo. But instead of alienating her target audience, Ndegeocello draws them in with tough love. After all, her goal is to elevate black consciousness. "Remember what Jesse used to say," she adds, "I am somebody." But whether she's waxing poetic about race ("Dead Nigga Blvd. (Pts. 1 and 2)"), religion (the explosive "Jabril"), love (the ballad "Earth"), or sex (the explicit "Trust"), it's Ndegeocello's passion for her subject matter and her music that makes The Anthropological Mixtape such a moving listen. She backs up her polemics with a rich musical tapestry that interweaves funk, rock, soul, hip-hop, jazz, go-go, and spoken word. Perhaps in an effort to garner the mainstream success that has eluded her thus far, she collaborates with several popular urban artists, including progressive MC Talib Kweli on the Latin-tinged "Hot Night" and sultry songbird Tweet and raunchy rapper Redman on the Rockwilder/Missy remix of "Pocketbook." But Ndegeocello, with her deep, seductive vocals and intoxicating, Prince-inspired bass and guitar licks, is the real star of the show. In fact, not since Prince (and Sly Stone before him) has contemporary soul music been blessed with an artist so unafraid to express her bad, black self. And for her fearless creativity, her fans are truly grateful.

Tracy E. Hopkins

www.dresounds.ukf.net/jazz/ndege.ram

still listening?

or, you could just go the "rainbow" section here and read them all.

suomynona said:

Where can I hear samples from her?

here ("wefunk" portion of the site.

suomynona said:

Wow! I like her!

cool. yeah, yesterday i added 17 full length songs to help introduce folks to her music.

glad you enjoyed the songs

suomynona said:

Be sure to check out the Pocketbook video at freemyheart!

It's pretty good - tongue in cheek humor about marketing.

- Matt

Anybody see her on LETTERMAN Tues night?
Any catch her in playing in LA?

PFunkjazz said:

no, but i did see her on leno

suomynona said:

yeah, that's what I meant cuz she was in LA then.