Adrian Younge - The American Negro

You might be familiar with Adrian Younge's work as a soundtrack composer for films like Black Dynamite and Luke Cage or for his pitch-perfect funk arrangements for the Ghostface Killah album 'Twelve Reasons to Die'... But if you've followed him closely you've heard his amazing recent collaborations with legends like Doug Carn, Gary Bartz and Roy Ayers for the JAZZ IS DEAD label. Now JAZZ IS DEAD presents Younge's massive excavation of the black psyche through music. Spoken word, baroque soul-pop arrangements and moody R&B are stirred together over 2 LPs to create an atmosphere of brutal truth and groove. Unsettling but worth the plunge. 

Jazz Is Dead Records - "The American Negro is an unapologetic critique, detailing the systemic and malevolent psychology that afflicts people of color. This project dissects the chemistry behind blind racism, using music as the medium to restore dignity and self-worth to my people. It should be evident that any examination of black music is an examination of the relationship between black and white America. This relationship has shaped the cultural evolution of the world and its negative roots run deep into our psyche. Featuring various special guests performing over a deeply soulful, elaborate orchestration, The American Negro reinvents the black native tongue through this album and it’s attendant short film (TAN) and 4-part podcast (invisible Blackness). The American Negro - both as a collective experience and as individual expressions - is insightful, provocative and inspiring and should land at the center of our ongoing reckoning with race, racism and the writing of the next chapter of American history."