Heavn | Mint (M) Mint (M) Get Cheap Vinyl

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Label:    Jagjaguwar – JAG312, Closed Sessions – JAG312
Format:    Vinyl, LP, Album
Country:    US
Released:    Oct 5, 2017
Genre:    Hip Hop, Funk / Soul
Style:    Contemporary R&B

A1        Bubbles
A2        Vry Blk
Featuring – Noname (18)
A3        Popsicle
A4        Lonely
Featuring – Lorine Chia
A5        Heavn
A6        Eve
A7        In My Name
A8        Assata's Daughters
A9        Blk Girl Soldier
A10        LSD
Featuring – Chance The Rapper
A11        Still
B1        Emerald Street
Featuring – Saba (14)
B2        Lately
B3        Always Loving
B4        Breadcrumbs
Featuring – Nico Segal
B5        Stellar
B6        Good Morning
B7        Holy
B8        Way Up
B9        Holy (Reprise)

Bass – Carter Lang (tracks: B7)
Drums – Greg Landfair Jr. (tracks: B7), Ralph Gene (tracks: B5)
Graphics – Swopes
Guitar – Matt Gold (tracks: A10)
Horns – Irvin Pierce (tracks: B7), J.P. Floyd (tracks: B7)
Mastered By – Hans Dekline (tracks: A9)
Mixed By – Matt Hennessy (tracks: A9)
Mixed By, Mastered By – Mike Kolar* (tracks: A1, A2, A4, A5, A7, A10, B1, B2, B4, B5, B7, B8, B9)
Photography By – Bradley Murray
Producer – Ayanna Woods (tracks: A1), Carter Lang (tracks: A4), Carter Lang (tracks: B2), Dee Lilly (tracks: B9), Jus Cuz (tracks: A9), Jus Love (tracks: B5), Loshendrix (tracks: A7), Nate Fox (2) (tracks: A7), Oddcouple (tracks: A2, A10, B4, B8), Peter Cottontale (tracks: A4, B1, B7), Phoelix (tracks: A5)
Producer [Additional] – Kweku Collins (tracks: A2)
Producer [Additional], Arranged By – Dee Lilly (tracks: A1)
Producer [Addtional], Arranged By – Saba (14) (tracks: A9)
Trumpet – Nico Segal (tracks: B4)
Violin – Amanda Bailey (tracks: B1, B8)
Vocals [Addtional] – Allie Bradford (tracks: A10), Jabari Rayford (tracks: A10), Lorine Chia (tracks: A4), Tramaine Parker (tracks: A10)
Written-By – Chance The Rapper (tracks: A10), Jamila Woods (tracks: A1 to B9 (all)), Noname (18) (tracks: A2), Saba (14) (tracks: B1)
Written-By [Co-written] – Donnell Jones* (tracks: A10), Kyle West (tracks: A10), Paula Cole (tracks: A4)
Barcode (Scanned): 656605231211

Before it was given a proper showcase on this debut solo album, the voice of Jamila Woods was heard fronting the "adventure soul" of Milo & Otis and supporting tracks by fellow Chicago artists including Chance the Rapper, Saba, Donnie Trumpet, and Kweku Collins. In early 2016, Woods helped close out Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "White Privilege II," courageous enough to assert "Your silence is a luxury" at the pair's overwhelmingly white fan base. Around the time that song came out, Woods released her own "Blk Grl Soldier." A muscular Jus Cuz production served as the backdrop for a characteristically soft and sweetly melodic vocal, rich in pride and fortitude, with substance packed into each line: "Look at what they did to my sisters -- last century, last week/They make her hate her own skin, treat her like a sin/They love how it repeats." Months later, the perseverance anthem appeared smack in the middle of the sanguine HEAVN. On the title song, Woods floats over a rolling groove, quoting the Cure's "Just Like Heaven" and then twisting it a bit, beaming "I don't wanna run away with you/I wanna live our life right here." She later sings "I don't belong here" and "I'm an alien from inner space" in "Way Up," and dreams of leaving this planet in "Stellar," but Woods otherwise isn't one to promote escapism, not when she's sustained by friends, family, and fellow musicians -- including most of the above-mentioned -- who inspired and/or helped create this album. Some moments regard an intimate relationship and independence, occasionally both at once, like when she affirms "Nobody completes me" in "Holy." A larger portion concerns communal matters like survival, resistance, sisterhood, and how to thrive in conditions designed to perpetuate oppression. The resolutely nurturing and buoyant qualities make it easy to miss out on some of the wisdom and stirring lines such as "Grandma loved granddaddy even after he forgot our names," related over Nico Segal's trumpet and the kaleidoscopic swirl of Stereolab's "The Flower Called Nowhere." Originally a digital-only release from Closed Sessions, HEAVN was expanded and reissued a year later by Jagjaguwar, made available on physical formats with a track list that added six interludes and a thick reprise of "Holy." The interludes, especially the one in which children recite an Assata Shakur quote -- inserted as a brilliant setup for "Blk Grl Soldier" -- are not extraneous. ~ Andy Kellman

• Media Condition: Mint (M)
• Sleeve Condition: Mint (M)
• Format: Vinyl
• Genre: HIP HOP
• Format Type: LP
• Released: 10/06/2017