NEW AMERYKAH, POLL 1 (4th World War)

i chose telephone, but really this whole album is genius.

where's 'real thang'? it's not my favourite but it's just so righteous - i think it and 'honey', the most straightforwardly tuneful tracks on the album, work really well as bonus tracks. 'real thang' is endlessly quotable too - "got to balance your chakra, raise your octave to opera", "your double helix gon' triple", "shatter glasses like ella" and most of all the spoken ad libs: "sir, i think you better tell your soldiers that they need to - FALL BACK! cuz we comin' with a centrifugal force, it's about to get metaphysical y'all"

anyway it's between 'the cell', 'the healer' and 'soldier' for me, but more than any other album this year it just feels wrong to pinpoint particular favourites, it's such a cohesive work overall.

i dont have real thang on my copy!

holy shit. just found real thang. it's the b-side to "the healer" 12" righteous is right. DAMN. is this supposed to be off of part 2 or something? and when do we get return of the ankh anyway?

I think "Real Thang" (which I haven't heard) is only on socialist British pressings or some shit like that.

didn't she do that with i want you on worldwide underground?, too?
kinda makes me wish i hadn't waited to move to america before buying a copy.

"I Want You" is right in the middle of my American copy of WWU. Best song on the album, too.

ah o k. i haven't got that one yet, i'm not sure why i thought so. maybe there are other bonus tracks on uk one. such a perfect song:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1uxsc_erykah-badu-i-want-you_music

"That Hump"

― Put A Ring On It (The Brainwasher), Friday, October 24, 2008 10:34 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

"the cell", but having to pick one is near impossible

haha 'real thang; is uk-only'?! i will upload tomorrow when not fall over drunx

UH HUH

i think i want to vote for "the healer" now

Twinkle- i love the eerieness of the production, the way her voice gets twisted all the way through the song and that verse about warlocks and witches with ill glitches.

Telephone

I don't know why, but nothing on the album has grabbed me yet -- I think my ears are so conditioned to track-only, singles listening that stuff just blows by if there's not a hook (i.e. I'd vote for "whole album" too). Looking for "Real Thang" now -- on the version I have there's a track just listed as "Bonus Track," but that appears to be "Honey"

this album is great... i voted for "soldier," though it was really a tie between it, "the healer" and "the cell"

Me was a close 2nd

'real thang'

Telephone

hip-hop
is bigger than religion

master teacher pt 2.

Right I just listened to this to decide. It's Me, The Cell or 2nd part of Master Teacher... or Telephone.. one of those anyway.

cell is way overrated. it sounds like something from 91.

I'm compelled to admit I prefer the tornadic first half of "master teacher," just to balance the scales.

cell nu amerykah pt. 1 is way overrated.
― titchyschneiderMk2

I think this is what you meant to write.

Plus, sounds like 1991 sounds like awesome.

yep

"The Cell" sounds like something from 1973, specifically, something by Stevie Wonder.

stevie wonder was using lightweight breakbeats and blanded out synths in 1973?

the whole album sounds like it wishes it lived back in 1973. is that good or bad? i dunno. but that doesn't mean i wouldn't take Call Me and Fresh (and Burnin') over this had ir been released then.

there are about 3 or 4 tracks tops that sound like they could have been made back then. even then, only amerykahn promise sounds *properly* retro, everything else in that old school soul/jazz/funk vein sounds like its been made recently.

The Cell has synths?

The wobbly bassline and finger snaps in "The Healer" set an incredibly nice vibe in the room everytime i put this on, so I'm going with that. I must say, I don't really like the first track, though. I think it's a little too aggressive sounding, and seems out of place with the rest of the album.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

i am pretty cool with these results, aside from "Honey" getting shafted

Yeah wtf?

well i'm not saying that's surprising, generally i think people who know an album won't vote for the single in a poll like this even if they like it

Also, "Honey" kind of feels like an addendum to, rather than a component of the album.

wtf, people; this is the only thread where we can specifically talk about this album!!?

anyhow, i din't want to sidetrack the whatcha listening to thread any further... so i'll post this here instead:

"New Amerykah makes me think of something Matos told me about Sign O the Times: "You will never get to the bottom of that album." It is the meatiest album I've heard in a long time."

sure. but so what? the main difference between the two, for me, being that SotT has at least ten GRATE songs on it; whereas, New Amerykah... has what esactly??? i mean, i keep waiting for the damn songs to sink in, but it just ain't happening. yet.

SotT has at least ten GRATE songs on it; whereas, New Amerykah... has what esactly???

11.

i mean, i keep waiting for the damn songs to sink in, but it just ain't happening. yet.

I don't know how long you've had it, but it took me about 3 months to realize this album's greatness.

hahaha--now if only i could remember any of them...

xp

i've had it since March. :(

took me 1 listen

well yeah, it sounded good right off the bat for me as well; i just don't get any of this "album of the year" nonsense.

Album of the year nothing. This is an all-timer.

gah! the love you guys express for this makes me feel like i'm listening to an entirely different album. hey, maybe that's it...

i loved Mama's Gun, btw.

It's been my experience here on ILX that those most strenuously resisting this album are also those who can't get beyond Mama's Gun (which I love also, but I've moved on).

can i just posit the brother on her floor as the punctum here

my brother's sleeping on my floor
a bitch could use a little moooooore

otm

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

That Hump 1

recount

Thanks to some dude, I've relistened to her catalog in the last three days and am gone baby gone all over again.

This was polled way too early.

Master Teacher has always been my favourite.

i'd've voted soldier. this is the album that keeps on giving

I can't even with these two albums. Parts 1 and 2 are collectively our Songs in the Key of Life.

Every song on this album is great, I've been feeling That Hump lately (no pun intended)

That Hump is the best

"me" is my jam, love that tune so much

"The Cell" is mine.

I had no idea until Al's rundown that Master Teacher had spawned a popular hashtag

Did we ever poll the second? We should. (Or both together, even.)
― dead-trius (Eric H.), Friday, February 17, 2012 4:08 PM (3 years ago)

Nu AmErykah, Poll 1 + 2 (4th World War + Return of the Ankh)

I had no idea until Al's rundown that Master Teacher had spawned a popular hashtag

― the saer returns (Drugs A. Money), Friday, March 6, 2015 7:36 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

stay woke, dawg

for the "That Hump" fans

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMpSpWeYRPA

Thank you, Paul McCartney for writing "Arrow Through Me" so Badu could pilfer it.

xp Lol I always thought that that "day and night, night and day..." part in That Hump was a callback to Didnt Cha Know

No votes for honey is insane, song's pure joy

What a perfect album this is. Can't believe it has already been 10 years!

damn I just realized "Twinkle" uses the drum pattern from "Sucker MCs"

this album is thirteen years old (!)

HOW DOES IT STILL SOUND SO CONTEMPORARY???

She should make another album

fr.

and since we're on the subject of things that will never happen: the world needs that erykah / andre3000 duets album more than ever at this point.

"me" is my jam, love that tune so much

― marcos, Friday, March 6, 2015 9:23 AM (six years ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is what i wdve voted for

i don't think we'll ever hear the badu/andre3000 album but I think we could definitely hear a new album from her at some point

I still think her Tiny Desk show is one of the greatest things I've seen in years - the only real competition is other online shows she's done - and I do wish she'd press it up on vinyl and sell it me

you speak truth, stevie. good man.

+1 for "Me"

Best album ever recorded.

nothing long form since the phone ep, right?

Which itself is like 8 years old now too, right?

OK, I guess only 6. Point is, every year without a new Badu album feels like an eternity.

WILL THEY EVER FIND THE VACCINE??