Since 2015 multi-instrumentalist Rasheed Ali from
Altadena, CA, has released a series of six albums under the moniker
1968 feat. Rasheed Ali who are, in reality, himself and
his nephew Emile Martinez.
The rationale behind 1968 is that is when, he says, young people woke
up the world. The six albums so far are "Soul Power!" (2015), "Black Power!" (2016), "Love Power!" (2017) "The Other Side of Town" (2019), "LSD (Love, Soul & Devotion)" (2020) and "Hindsight is 20/20 Vol. One" (2021). The next which, he tells us, will be the last in the series is
"Out The Darkness".
They were all albums with messages which fused classic and
contemporary soul and his latest 18 tracker is no different.
It is the end of the 1968 project and Raheed, having written a novel
"1968 Soul Power" during the pandemic, is going to focus on a jazz
project Rain People.
The tracks that have been picking up airplay from promo, so far, are
"When I Think Of You" and "Row Row Row Your Boat". A few of our recommendations include "Home Free", "Mother Mother" (which has more than a passing nod to Marvin's "What's Going On"),
"You're Safe With Me" and "Unspoken Love" (a good song but the vocals we would suggest are not the strongest on this one) but, with
18 tracks to digest, there may be others that emerge after a few more
listens.
To give the album the attention it deserves, it's a concept album and best listened to in it's entirety rather than cherry picking tracks. As we conclude this post, the closing track "Brother Rasheed's Theme", a 70s Blaxploitation themed instrumental, has also just pricked up our ears!
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
Click icons below for further information or to connect with the
artist.
| Rating: | 8.2 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | New Soul |
| Format: | Single |
| Media: | Digital |
| Label: | Digital Rain Factory |
| Cat No: | None |
| Date: | 29/06/2023 |
| Price: | £7.99 |
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