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| tracklisting |
| 1. Earth Tones |
| 2. Playstation feat. King Negus |
| 3. Queen In Exile |
| 4. Dawtah Of The Water w/ Survival Soundz |
| 5. Use What We Got |
| 6. Dreams Of Sunshine w/ Survival Soundz |
| 7. Summertime w/ Survival Soundz |
| 8. Rivers Run Deep |
| 9. Beats & Lyrics 4 Life w/ Baba, Zion I, Shoshana, MB2000 |
| 10. Estragen feat. Lyric, Helixx C. Armeggeddon, Ayanna Soyini, Jean Grae, Pri Da Honey Dark, Heroine, Apani |
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| Back when this new wave of independent thing was still kinda young on its feet, there was Apani B-Fly Emcee's 12" "Estragen" (also featuring her classic "Women In Me"). What by itself might not grab your attention,
but when you look at who's featured on the track, well then. Cause it features everyone. Yip, everyone. At least every relevant woman of that time, making this the Anthem: Lyric, Helixx C. Armageddon and Pri Da Honey Dark of the Anomolies, Ayana Soyini of Natural Elements, Jean Grae then still What?
What? of Natural Resource, Heroine of the Juggaknots and Yejide The Night Queen. So for many that was the first track we heard Yejide on. And apart from "Estragen", we now finally get the chance to hear her on nine more tracks. |
| A quick quote from the bio explains a lot about the music and her overall approach: "Yejide The Night Queen represents the power of Umi (Universal Mother Intelligence) through her word sound power. She's a Brooklyn-born, Hip Hop Spoken Word lyricist, with a smooth and articulate
delivery. As a multi-cultural dancer and instructor, Yejide eminates mad skills on the dancefloor. Yejide has birthed her Sun (Koyami) & Earth (Tajh); Directed the International African Islamic Ballet; obtained her Undergraduate Degree in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice;
and has been honored with the WERISE Woman Award. She is also the CEO/Executive Director/vendor of We Manifest; Creator/Producer of the D.A.W.T.A.H.Z. series; Owner/natural hairstylist for Hair By Nature; and CEO/President of Taj-Ko Publishing." |
| So you see, there's a lot of culture and art that comes with this artist. Culture that's running strongly through the introductionary "Queen In Exile", where her poetry meets her in a trying to define herself song. The Lil
Scienz beat backs this up with throwing in some Word music instruments. And instruments in general are important, so on "Dawtah Of The Water", performed by Survival Soundz. The concentration on jazz allows this song to work, while Yejide sings the hook, but carries the rest of the lyrics
through the middleground of speaking and rapping. Survival Soundz is also behind "Dreams Of Sunshine" (where she thanks the special someone) and "Summertime", with neither of the two really feeling behind, but only showing
more of the musical side of the troupe. The latter is dipped into reggae flavor, that is so smooth, Yejide decides to just sing. |
| But more on the traditional hip hop tip, there's the excellent "Earth Tones" and "Use What We Got" by Mic One. There's however also the Evil D & Butta L produced
"Rivers Run Deep" and "Playstation". The latter is simple what's not just doing Yejide good, but gets her braggadocio, while the first captures the musicality much better. And finally there's "Beats & Lyrics 4 Life"
a beatbox track performed by Baba and MB2000, with Zion I and Shoshana also contributing to the track. And well, as said, there's "Estragen". |
| Which brings us to a theme that runs through this record thickly: the pride and confidence in being a women. What also brings us to her name, as Yejide is a name of the Yoruba, loosely meaning, 'In the image of her mother'. And this women is proud. But she also has the music, the
skill, the talent, the intelligence, the goods, the hunger, the messages to back her up. If anything, this record is close to flawless. |
| review: tadah |
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