Georgia Anne Muldrow and DJ Rome
Fresh off the impressive Seeds album (produced by Madlib), Georgia Anne Muldrow returns with her latest project, a collaboration with DJ Romes entitled Blackhouse.
Taking a somewhat different path than the aforementioned Seeds, Blackhouse is a diversely-influenced collection of dance cuts, which by all accounts finds Georgia making beats along side DJ Romes' B-Boy cuts. Influenced by the likes of Kraftwerk, Afrika Bambataa and The Soulsonic Force the duo doesn’t hesitate to revisit what worked for others in the past. Going a step further, this album approaches the dance floor via house, electronica and funk, keeping straight-up old school b-boy hip-hop firmly at the center.
While some may see this as a departure for Georgia Ann Muldrow, I see it as an impressive next step in her musical journey. This album is a welcome excursion that is sure to take listeners back to a time and place where hip-hop fused elements of house and funk, a time when it was the norm for DJ’s to challenge each other--and themselves--for dancefloor supremacy.
On the whole the album feels like a time traveling house party, folks pop-locking in one room to joints like “Modulating (TUTANKHAMUN)”, “84 RAP HIT” and “Overweight”, while sweating it out, Chicago house style to “Fonkie Journey” and “Blackhouse.” Definitely something for most folks here. Further proof of this is the fact that fans of Georgia Anne’s thoughts and ideals remain intact, as she effectively uses “Blackhouse” and “Somali” to deliver thought-provoking concepts while keeping the party going.
Personally this album is making my top ten list for 2012. It would be a shame if more people don’t get to hear or discover the brilliance of this album. A definite must-have in my opinion.
- Enyi Emesih
