Bilal is a real singer…

Posted by Maximum Fun on 3rd June 2006

For the most part, the folks who came along during the Neo-Soul boom (as opposed to before) were lame. D’Angelo? Great. Musiq? Lame. Erykah? Great. India Arie? F’ing awful.

There are only a couple of exceptions, the biggest of which was/is Bilal. People have compared B’s voice to Prince, which I think is fair, but Bilal is a real singer in a way that Prince never was. Prince’s singing compliments his everything else quite well — but as much as I love him, his singing has never been interesting enough to be great.

Bilal, in contrast, is nothing but interesting. As ?uestlove points out in this great blog post, he’s the rare jazz-based singer who is willing to lay his heart on the line like a gospel singer. Sometimes his choices are wrong, sometimes his odd tonal choices (and they are choices) are tough to hear, but he lays it out every time. The result is often amazing.

On his first LP, First Born Second, he worked with a range of R&B and soul’s best producers, from Raphael Saadiq (“Soul Sista“) to Dr. Dre (the awesome “Sally” and “Fast Lane“). The rawness of his vocals complimented both of those producers perfectly.

His next record has been promised for quite some time, but it still hasn’t come. I can’t wait. ?uest’s myspace page currently has an amazing jam from the Roots’ Radio City Music Hall dates a couple weeks ago… a couple of great Bilal songs including one of the best smooth ones, “Sometimes.”

Here’s the wildest track from his original demo, now about five years old:
Hand Me Down (on the album it was called “Second Child”)

Here are a couple tracks from his upcoming record:
High and Dry (yes, it’s a Radiohead cover)
Something to Hold On To

*edited to add*

Bilal F. Dr. Dre & Jadakiss – Fast Lane