I went to see Meshell Ndegeocello last Thursday (10/30) here in Atlanta and I was mesmorized by her musicianship, versatility, voice, and skills as a bandleader. We often debate who will/has taken the torch from Prince and I honestly think we need to focus on this brilliant musician (for those of you that enjoy great live vocals, u should really think about hearing Meshell sing live, her voice is unbelievable!). Meshell has released some of the most consistent, genre-straddling albums of the last decade. Moreover, she continues to push the envelope with each subsequent release. She plays multiple instruments produces and does the majority of the vocals on her albums. All of the aforementioned places Meshell in line with the greats, Miles, James, Stevie, Sly, Marvin, Prince, etc. and fortunately she shows no signs of slowing down. Unfortunately, her talents are on display at a time when REAL MUSICIANS are overlooked in favor of big paydays and mindless POP radio/Videos. Meshell is the rare musician that captures all of the vurtues that made Prince and the legends before him so important to the foundation of groundbreaking popular music (Genre-Straddling Experimentation and Great Live Performances). Her music is funky, soulful and folksy, with elements of rock. It's hip-hop tinged, thought provoking, spiritual and highly sensual and unlike the majority of her male conunterparts, she is uncategorizable and talks about more than sex. Meshell brings it harder than any of her contemporaries and pushes music to places most artists are too afraid to even consider. Sadly, her bi-sexuality and frankness about race, American culture, homophobia, captialism and society as a whole have pretty much alienated her from a brain dead public.

So the next time we consider who has taken or will take the torch from Prince, we should throw Meshell Ndegeocello into the mix because unlike most of the candidates she consistantly brings it live and in the studio. The rare mix of a great singer/multi-instrumentalist/producer with thought provoking lyrics in a time when sex and materialism rule the airwaves. Meshell is taking music to the next level it's unfortunate that most people aren't listening.

I have been hearing so much about this woman lately. I guess I should get some of her music. Any suggestions as to what I might start with? Thanks.

I really don't know why her stuff are so hard to swollow, I tried to like her effort but something about it just wouldn't feel right to me,,I can' put my hands on it tho!

kisscamille said:

Peace Beyond Passion! I met her a few weekends ago and thanked her for sharing her gift. She even signed my copy of Peace to "Supa"

Everytime Meshell puts out a new cd I get very excited. She is so underrated. Peace Beyond Passion was the first Meshell cd I bought and I was hooked from then on.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

You MET her!?!?!? You BITCH!

The best place to start IMO, would be either "Peace Beyond Passion" or the incredibly beautiful "Bitter" album. Though these are her most "easy to swallow" albums, they're also her best IMO. If you can't get into these two, then Meshell probably isn't for you...

vocally she's pretty limited though. cool, but limited.
as for that torch; fuck that! just enjoy music. why would
you want a successor?

purpleone said:

Exactly, that's like everybody being annointed the next MJ (Air Jordan). There's never a next. Besides there are others just as good as Me'shell such as Ani Difranco. I'm sure there are more out there as well.

kisscamille said:

YES YOU SHOULD!!! Go out and get some right now!

purpleone said:

Yeah but with her style of music she doesn't need to be a big range vocalist. I know a lot of woman out today with a great vocal range but couldn't do to a bass what Meshell does, or couldn't make an album like "Bitter". We need more Meshell's right now and less Mariah's anyway.

I agree with everything the original post-er said...and THEN some...

The original post said that Meshell should be thrown into the mix of artists who may be candidates for taking the torch that Prince used to carry right? Well there is no doubt in my mind...Meshell should not just be 'thrown into the mix' of folks...she IS THE ONE carrying it...

She has become my favorite artist of all time...a title previously held by some of the greats (including Prince). But if i could only take one artists collection with me to a desert island it would be my collection of Meshells work (which includes both official studio & live recordings and many mindblowing 'un-official' live recordings as well---astounding stuff)

This lady is absolutely 100% PURE artist in every sense of the word...with her it is ALL and ALWAYS about THE MUSIC...sure she wouldn't mind selling more records than she does, being more popular than she currently is...but sacrifice the music for it? she will not...

A multi-talented instrumentalist, writer, composer, performer, producer. With the most unique, amazing, raw and honest and many times haunting live vocal delivery you’ll hear.

So...here’s a quick breakdown of her official releases for those who may not know about her. ALL of them are completely solid through & through…and yet each is completely different in it’s own right…

Debut album:
"PLANTATION LULLABIES" (1993)...

Her first record put her on the map with a bang...a perfect blend of modern & classic. 1993...a time when much of the music available was shallow in content and most records available were way too slickly produced and devoid of true inspired inspration (including my former hero Prince). In the midst of that environment Meshell released this first record "Plantation Lullabies" and I was blown away on the spot. Depth in content, compostion, and construction/production. It was seamless blend of trailblazing modern-ness and old school-ness WITHOUT TRYING to be. Among others this contains the gems "Two Lonely Hearts On a Subway", "Diggin You (Like An Old Soul Record)" & "Soul On Ice". YEARS before Dangelo, Maxwell, Badu even came to us...it was THIS record that returned improvisational musicianship to the music. It was really THIS record that was the inspiration and innovation that started that trend.
An impressive FIRST RELEASE from a very young multitalented writer, composer, performer, producer. Grammy nominated…


Second Album:
"PEACE BEYOND PASSION" (1996)...

Picked up where the first one left off...but took it to another level. More personal and introspective than her first record, this one blew my mind AGAIN. For me it solidified the fact that the first record wasn't just a fluke...this girl had 'the chops' on EVERY level and was going to be around for GOOD. Among others this one contains a bunch of gems...including the absolute instant classic "Ecclesiates: Free My Heart" as well as the haunting "Make Me Wanna Holler". Important to note: I first saw her play live in a small club during this release...BLOWN AWAY. Not to compare but although I had seen Prince on MANY occasions in various venues over the years, the first Meshell show took me further...took it to another level. With her it was ALL about the music and her band was much more improvisational and exploritive and they had the talent to pull it off. The core of band I saw her with back in 1996 ended up playing with her for about 10 years. (Federico Gonzales Pena on keyboards, Gene Lake on Drums, Cato Allen on Guitar) They were, and continued to be a raw powerhouse of a group that could play ANYTHING and play it ALL ridiculously WELL. (sadly, but amicably, the band The Bretheren' as a whole have recently disbanded...only the guitarist Cato still remains (who meshell calls her musical soulmate). (FYI there are some unofficial live documents of this band in action...if you run across one DON't HESITATE to pick it up.)


Third Record:
"Bitter" (1999)

Meshell flipped the script with this one. Whereas her first two records were trailblazing in the Funk, Soul, Rockish jazzyesque fusion type of sound...this time, with Bitter, she put out quiet introspective and almost acoustic record. It took a left turn from where she had been sonically, which is trailblazing in its own right. So lush and beautiful… it washes over you gently and quietly…building up to soaring crescendos and floating you back down smoothly. lyrically it honestly tells stories of the ups and downs love and life. Just as with her other records this is absolutely solid through & through…songs like “A Fool Of Me”, “Loyalty” “Sincerity” & “Grace”. Voted as Record of the Year by many publications at the time. Record of the year yet so few people even knew about it. Amazing. Interestingly enough as quiet and acustic sounding as this record is…when she played LIVE during this tour her shows where her most EXPLOSIVE yet. She and the Bretheren improvised on these tunes like nobody’s business…they expanded and explored and exploded them into completely new pieces of art every night many times sounding nothing like the recorded version which was ALREADY amazing. I think my favorite Meshell show of all time occurred during this tour.


Fourth Record:
“Cookie: Anthroplogical Mixtape” (2002)

This one, just like the title suggests, is a mixtape of sorts…it kinda covers all of her various styles to the nth degree…but in many instances is even more experimental than before. Another ‘flip of the script’ so to speak again with some stunning results. There are some straight up songs… such as the is the beautiful beautiful ballad “Earth” or the bouncy groove of “Hot Night” , “God Fear & Money”, and the remake of Funkadelics “Better By The Pound”…and there are also some AMAZING recordings that absolutely defy any categorizations whatsoever…such as the explosive “Jabril” , “Criterion”, “Akel Dama (Field of Blood)” , “6 Legged Griot (Weariness)” . Thematically & lyrically it also lives up to it’s ‘mixtape’ title in that it is across the board…it does everything from holding an honest clear mirror up to society and asking the hard questions… to telling slice of life stories of young sexuality and trust….to speaking about finding pure honest love…there is a dash of everything in this one. Another grammy nomination went to this one too…



Fifth Record:
“Comfort Woman” (2003)

This one JUST came out. Buy it and you also get access to mp3 downloads of live stuff from her current tour. See my full review of “Comfort Woman” the post in this forum titled “The record you should have...Meshell: Comfort Woman...”


Also for anything Meshell …concert tickets, mp3s, videos, interviews, reviews, lyrics, etc…hit this great site run by one of her fans….

http://www.freemyheart.co...-home.html

the torch has been passed indeed…

What's the big deal about a limited vocal range? It was just a few weeks ago a lot of the people in this forum creamed their pants over Andre's The Love Below, and he can't sing worth . It doesn't mean his album doesn't have its merits, or its minuses for that matter. If Meshell was trying to be a so-called DIVA I could see the point about her vocal range, but she outclasses every "diva" of her generation in so many more ways it's not even funny.

I adore Meshell, but I think we'd all benefit from her just continuing to be Meshell, as opposed to the unofficial "new whomever."

I'm certain there is a planet full of uncelebrated musicians who are just as talented and inspired. And though she's accomplished, she has some development to experience yet where composition, lyrics and other instruments (I bet she could learn to be an amazing guitarist, for example) are regarded.

Im just glad she's here! I try not to compare her too much to past favorites.

sorry, shes cool and a good musican but the difference between someone like her and prince is that prince can write songs, and meshell sadly cant. plus shes a spoken word poet first and singer second. and their music isnt really that similar, theres hardly any rock or pop elements to her music either...

>but the difference between someone like her and prince is that prince can write songs, and meshell sadly cant.<

I used to feel that way, but go listen to her "Bitter" album and then get back to me on that. That's a very strong collection of "songs" in the strictest sense of the word.

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

I still sat we should get away from the whole "torch pasing" thing, but:

1) Meshell can absolutely write a good song, lyrically and musically; and

2) There is absolutely a rock/pop influence in her music. It's not mindless, like much of pop, but she has some very radio-friendly songs that were overlooked. As rock goes, check out some of the guitar solos on her latest album COMFORT WOMAN.

...funny that this thread has come 2 fruition, I've been listening to ALL her albums (sans bitter as I didn't manage 2 get it azyet) all of this week.

I will co-sign with the ORGer who states that she started the trend years before the Soul Aquarians (D'angelo, Erykah Badu et al).

She is definitely inspired a lot of my work (even wrote the tribute track) as she ain't afraid to be who ad what she is... TRUE TALENT.

The torch HAS been 'passed'...

'dre

The "torch" thing:
yeah you're right...fair enough...the 'torch passing' thing is probably really irrelevant and maybe a little non-productive on the whole. I'll agree with you on that. I guess what i (and i'm assuming the original post-er as well) were really TRYING to to express was probably something more along the lines of THIS...

"Not since Prince's music first exploded on the scene has someone affected us as much as Meshell's music has."

That's probably a more accurate and productive statement. Speaking for myself here...Meshell's records so far have 'hit me in the chest' in similar ways that Prince's records of the early to late 80s originally 'hit me in the chest'. With both, on those records, it felt like a refreshing 'break from the norm' of whatever else was going on in the popular music at the time...with both, on those records, I felt i was getting to hear artist being honest and expressing in an unrestrained way, not really caring what the public thought. With both, on those records, I felt lucky to be around at the right time to get to experience the music being created by these amazingly talented, prolific, unappologetically 'true to themselves' artists who seemed to genuinely CARE about their craft. With both, on those records, I got the feeling that I was experiencing musical history unfolding right before my ears.

Again I can't really speak for the original post-er but THAT's more of what i was TRYING to say really...

I wasn't trying to compare these two artists work or style itself...i was attempting to compare the IMPACT that their work had on ME.

Fair enough? cool.



To the poster who said...
"but she cant write a song"
Well, you're gonna have to explain to me what you define as a 'song'. Until then, we'll just have to agree to disagree because going by my own definition, she's written some of the best 'songs' I have ever heard. So again, I'm genuinely curious to hear what your definition of a 'song' is. Let me know and we can go from there.

And I think someone also posted something like...
"but her voice is too limited"
Again here, I am curious as to what you mean by 'limited'? Are you speaking in terms of does she sing like say an old school whitney or maria or whoever? Nope she doesn't. I wouldn't want her to. Thats not what she does at all. What Meshell DOES do is CONNECT with the pure emotion and vibe of a song and EXPRESS it in a direct and sincere way...without frills, without vocal acrobatics...she makes you feel what SHE really feels about the song. You never feel like she is 'singing just so you can hear her voice', or "Singing it in THIS style or THAT style because that's how most of the 'hit' songs are doing it these days'...no, with Meshell you feel more like you are eaves-dropping...accidentally eaves-dropping in on somone in their basement intimately singing to THEMSELVES about their life...it's honest and sincere. I don't know about you, but that is EXACTLY what i look for in a musical artist, thats what i prefer...honest sincere intimate expression. And in my opinion Meshell's voice in her songs has that expression... without a doubt...and in an unlimited supply too...

so i hope i explained where I'm coming from a little more clearly this time than the first time. I know people like what they like...ain't gonna change that. Personally I think her stuff is as good as it gets. So I'm really just posting about what I'm digging and why I'm diggin it, for whatever its worth.

its all good!

later

gee wiz, seems like there's a new "female prince" every couple of years. is the new music landscape so dire that we're repeating ourselves going back to Me'shell?

Lammastide said:

I'm very jealous! - I don't think it was meant for me to meet her though - every time I see her I wanna grab her! mm mm she's VERY sexy!

AaronUniversal said:

I'm not sure what you mean here? new female prince every few years? have there been a bunch of folks hyped as 'the new prince'? I must have missed that...of course I could have missed that since i hardly listen to the radio or watch many videos due to the fact that...well...because the music landscape there IS so dire, heheh .

As for repeating myself...I'm not sure what you mean by this? Repeating myself how? I don't think I said that Meshell is 'the next Prince'...actually I would not want her to travel down the path he's gone. She's really got her own amazing thing going on. Again, my comparison of her and Prince was mainly about this...the IMPACT i feel when I hear HER music feels similar to the impact i felt when i first heard HIS music way back when. I feel a similar raw uncomprimising unpredictable essence in her work as i did when Prince was on his way up and creatively hungry and full of fresh interesting ideas.

Also i think the fact that they are both renowned for their great live performances has been brought up. But let me be clear..the fact that 'THEY ARE BOTH KNOWN' for giving great live shows...well 'that' is where the 'live performance' similarity ends. I've seen them both perform live on multiple occasions and they are very very different. I tend to prefer Meshells live expeience, again due to the raw naked improvisational unpredictable feel about it. Prince's official shows sometimes tended to be a little too theatrical & too choreographed for me...that stuff is cool occasionally... but mostly i prefer a more intimate honest 'in the moment' musical interaction & shared experience that i have gotten at every Meshell show I've attended. Now, i will say that some recordings I have of a few of Princes AFTERSHOWS are more like the feeling i get at Meshell live shows. His AFTERshows used to be usually about REALLY exploring and experimenting with the music...letting the band find its way through...being real loose and letting the raw 'mistiakes' happen. THATS the element i like most about the Meshell gigs...that 'me and the band are on a journey right here with you...we don't know how it's gonna end up but lets just see where it takes us' vibe makes for some special memorable shit. Prince's aftershows used to have that vibe. But his official shows lost that somewhere along the way. All of the Meshell shows I've seen still have that element going on. So i guess if there is a similarity at all in their live experiences it would mainly be applicable only to his aftershows.

There are other simalarities between them too i suppose, but no more than a lot of other artists out there. After all there are a handful of artists these days that are multiinstrumentalists, producers, arrangers, composers, performers. Lets see...although some of their musical influences, inspirations and heroes are also similar, Meshell is younger so there is a modern element in her music that I don't think he has in his music (nor should he try to IMO...as it wouldn't be natural for him). It should be noted that she has said in interiews that she herself was a big Prince fan growing up as well.

So, to summarize...

Are there some similarities between them?
Yes

Are there some differences between them?
Definitely.

Is she 'the next Prince'?
not sure what that means exactly...it could mean different things to different people. I'll say this... to me, as an adult, Meshell IS the first artist SINCE Prince that has me as excited about music as I was was in jr high or high school...when i was blown away by Dirty Mind, and couldn't WAIT to get the Controversy record. When I was FIENDING to hear the 1999 album. The fact that I'm nearing 40 years old myself and yet i was counting the days till the release of Comfort Woman took me right back there. The music is definitely differnent now, but the FEELING of excitement and adventure and joy it gives me is the same. So in THAT sense, yes a torch has been passed i suppose. And that is all I'm trying to say and share really.

Wow,justhemusic,that's an interesting analysis of Meshell and her work.After reading your post,I'm tempted to go to one of her shows the next time she plays my area.

i never feel like listening her cds...and i tried it

funkbabyandthebabysitters said:

That's as crazy a statement as I've ever heard. You obviously haven't listened to either Peace Beyond Passion or Bitter to suggest there's no pop or rock elements to her music. In fact, I'd have to believe you haven't heard her past the radio.

As much as I love the little fella, his music over the past 10 years or so has been dwarfed in quality by Ndegeocello's.

SweetKreme said:

...you nasty little goat!

more Meshell info...long before her current release Comfort Woman even hit the streets...this other project below was already completed and awaiting release as well...talk about a one two punch...

on her next release...

“Me’Shell told me that she’d been wanting to make a jazz album. She had the idea for Papillon, and she was the driving force for the project.
She conceptualized it, produced it, directed traffic and invited friends. It’s not a pop record. There are tunes that are 11 to 14 minutes long and feature the players really stretching out and blowing.”

—Verve A&R executive Jason Olaine, 8/27/03


"Papillon ♥ Dance Of The Infidels"...

1. The Believer
2. Al Falaq 113
3. Aquarium
4. Papillon
5. The Chosen
6. Dance Of The Infidel
7. Luqman
8. Heaven

Guests: Lalah Hathaway, Cassandra Wilson,
Neal Evans, Oran Coltrane, Kenny Garrett,
Jack DeJohnette, Don Byron, Wallace Roney,
Joshua Redman, Oliver Lake, Larry Goldings...
Co-Produced by Me'Shell NdegéOcello & Bob Power
Tracked in Avatar Studios' Studio A
Mixed in Sony's New York City Studio D
Mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge in New York, NY
Verve Records
February/March 2004

Above info is from the defintive Meshell site FreeMyHeart.com...

http://www.freemyheart.co...-home.html


I know i can't wait for this one..damn sure wish i could swing a ticket to Japan to see her perform some of these tunes at the Blue Note clubs over there...