“Are you mad? Yes, I’m mad.”
As an African American woman born and raised in the turbulent city of Chicago, imagination doesn’t have to wander too much to find the all-too-real sources of frustration to this neo-soul singer-songwriter Jamila Woods. Extracting historic themes of African lineage from her Bachelor of Arts degree courtesy of Brown University, Woods has notably poured this burning expression into her repertoire - particularly of late with her recent 2nd LP, Legacy! Legacy! With prior collaborations tied to Chance The Rapper, Noname, and Saba, this rising soulful artist established a preliminary platform from which to showcase one hell of an impassioned gig.
Yet it was Woods’ sumptuously smooth vocals which welcomed us into the fray of her 2nd LP, fulfilling a respectively upbeat, electronic sheen to the neo-soul tropes encompassing such tracks as ‘Betty’, ‘Zora’, and ‘Giovanni’. Given Woods' background, it came as no real surprise that the former track imminently exuded such self-empowering lyricism against ‘masculine energy’ exclaiming “I’am alive, I’m alive”, whilst the latter remained anchored to its roots of the seminal African American poet, Nikki Giovanni.
This inter-connected theme between Woods and her influential peers of the past purely continued as this evening’s set unfolded. Testifying a more experimental facade than that of its predecessor, the tracks taken from Woods’ latest LP featured well-constructed hooks at its very essence, offering her lyrical tongue an apt platform from which to orate. However, as Woods’ empowerment grew further with the various ties to seminal musicians Muddy Water and Miles Davis, her musical style barely stood toe-to-toe with her idols. Whilst the impressive backing band admirably showcased their musical prowess by virtue of various soloing, Woods’ vocal range and melodies remained stagnant and consequently stale.
This stagnancy only further soured the set’s conclusion, with Woods’ detour into her debut LP of 2017, Heavn. With the aforementioned evolution of her overall sound to present day, it felt as if this empowered singer-songwriter ended on a notably mediocre note with ‘Blk Girl Soldier’ and ‘LSD’. Once again name-dropping previous influential activists of their time within the former track, from Ella Fitzgerald to Rosa Parks, Woods conjured a fairly standard set of expressionism with her candid neo-soul sheen we’d all become well accustomed to by now. Whilst the latter track provided a satisfiably upbeat ending on this ‘impassioned’ evening, the underwhelming feeling to these tracks of old lingered all too precariously as Woods departed the stage.
For the 30-year-old songwriter hailing from the tempestuous midwest American city, her lyrical content proved to be thought-provoking, pertinent, and emotional, admirably bundled into her renowned neo-soul repertoire. However, for all her ‘madness’ strewn throughout this set, little did we see it burgeon itself to the surface, for it only acted as a shy child unwilling to stand up to its school bullies despite her hefty entourage. Compared to her contemporaries challenging similar societal issues within their respective sonic avenues, Woods must look musically deeper into her soul to find new heights to soar to during her live performances - I can only hope the rumbling madness churning inside her will spill over soon.
6/10
Jamila Woods' latest LP, Legacy! Legacy!, is out now and can be found here.
All photos are courtesy of James Walker, whose work can be found here.
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