No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | August 2, 2024 | |||
Length | 76:25 | |||
Label | Blue Note | |||
Producer |
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Meshell Ndegeocello chronology | ||||
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"Sadly, I didn't get his work until much later in life. Imagine if I had gotten this as a child. That's what we work on now, especially Paul Thompson, who's featured on the record. We try to have this taught in high school, to give some idea of the systematic racism that has been imposed on people of color since the beginning of this country. He's very prophetic in the sense that we're at a breaking point, and I think much like mental illness in the individual, if you build your house on a foundation of sand, it's bound to fall apart. I think that's what's happening in America. The delusion and the illusions are falling to the wayside. I'm just hoping we create something much better."
Contents
—Meshell Ndegeocello on discovering James Baldwin and his relevance to contemporary America [1]
No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin is a 2024 studio album by American singer-songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello, released on August 2, 2024, by Blue Note Records. It is a tribute album to African-American thinkers and writers, including namesake James Baldwin and Audre Lorde. [2] The album was preceded by songs "Raise the Roof", "Thus Sayeth the Lorde", and "Travel". [3] [4]
Chart (2024) | Peak position |
---|---|
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [5] | 67 |
UK Album Downloads (OCC) [6] | 59 |
Meshell Ndegeocello is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her mid-career work. Her music incorporates a wide variety of influences, including funk, soul, jazz, hip hop, reggae and rock. She has received significant critical acclaim throughout her career, being nominated for eleven Grammy Awards, and winning two. She also has been credited for helping to "spark the neo-soul movement".
Kish Kash is the third studio album by English electronic music duo Basement Jaxx, released on 20 October 2003 by XL Recordings and Astralwerks. After a lengthy tour which caused them exhaustion and homesickness, they settled in their new studio and wanted to develop a fresh new approach, less reliant on grooves and samples and more focused on songwriting.
Joseph Lee Henry is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. He has released 15 studio albums and produced multiple recordings for other artists, including three Grammy Award-winning albums.
Standing in the Shadows of Motown is a 2002 American documentary film directed by Paul Justman that recounts the story of the Funk Brothers, the uncredited and largely unheralded studio musicians who were the house band that Berry Gordy hand-picked in 1959.
Doyle Bramhall II is an American guitarist, producer and songwriter best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Roger Waters. He is the son of the songwriter and drummer Doyle Bramhall.
Drop Kick is an album by saxophonist Steve Coleman and his band Five Elements recorded in 1992 and released by Novus.
Plantation Lullabies is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter and bassist Me'shell NdegéOcello. It was released by Maverick Records in 1993 to widespread critical acclaim and has since been viewed as a landmark neo soul record.
Elizabeth LaCharla Wright professionally known as Lizz Wright, is an American jazz and gospel singer.
Tales is an album by the American musician Marcus Miller, released in 1995. He supported it with a North American tour.
Peace Beyond Passion is the second studio album by American musician Me'shell Ndegeocello, released on June 25, 1996, on Maverick Records. The album peaked at No. 63 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and No. 15 on the Top R&B Albums chart in 1996. It went on to become Ndegeocello's most commercially successful album. Widely acclaimed at the time of its release, the album received numerous awards and accolades including a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 39th Grammy Awards in 1997.
Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape is the fourth studio album by American soul singer and rapper Meshell Ndegeocello, released on June 4, 2002 by Maverick Records. Following the commercial underperformance of her third studio album, Bitter (1999), her label encouraged her to return to her earlier sound and record an album that sounded more "black". Ndegeocello collaborated with a number of prominent Black musicians, including Talib Kweli, Missy Elliott, and Tweet, as well as her backing band, the Conscientious Objectors, and recorded the album during the summer of 2001. The record, which Ndegeocello modeled on the mixtapes of her childhood, adopted a hip-hop and R&B-influenced sound and political lyrics similar to that of her debut album, Plantation Lullabies (1993), focusing on themes such as consumerism, revolution, religion, and same-sex attraction. Throughout the album, Ndegeocello also features samples of recorded speeches by Black activists, poets, and musicians, such as Angela Davis, Gil Scott-Heron, Countee Cullen, and Etheridge Knight.
Comfort Woman is the fifth solo album by Me'shell Ndegeocello. It was released on October 14, 2003, on Maverick Records. The album peaked at No. 150 on the Billboard 200 list that year. The album also peaked at No. 43 on Billboard's R&B Album chart. The LP was the final record released by Maverick, ending her ten-year contract.
The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams is the seventh studio album by the American musician Meshell Ndegeocello. The album was released in August 2007. Five of the tracks were previously released on Meshell's 2006 EP, The Article 3.
Interpretations: Celebrating the Music of Earth, Wind and Fire is a tribute album to the R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire produced by Maurice White and released in March of 2007 on Stax Records. The album reached No. 28 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
David Gamson is an American keyboardist/musician. Originally hailing from New York, he has worked with, among others, Kesha, Kelly Clarkson, Jessie J, Adam Lambert, Chaka Khan, Charli XCX, Meshell Ndegeocello, Green Gartside, Sheila E., George Benson, Luther Vandross, Donny Osmond, Miles Davis, Al Jarreau, Tony LeMans, Roger Troutman, Eden xo, Quinn XCII and Hannah Diamond.
Devil's Halo is the eighth studio album by American singer-songwriter and bassist Me'Shell Ndegéocello. It was released by Downtown Records on October 6, 2009.
Fellowship is the fourth studio album by an American singer Lizz Wright, which was released on 28 September 2010 on Verve Forecast. Guest performances on the album include Meshell Ndegeocello, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Joan as Policewoman and Angélique Kidjo. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Jazz Album chart, and has sold 17,000 copies in the United States as of August 2015.
Pour une Âme Souveraine: A Dedication to Nina Simone is the 10th studio album by American singer Meshell Ndegeocello, released in October 2012 on Naïve label.
Creating Can I Get a Witness? The Gospel of James Baldwin is a 2016 musical theatrical tribute to writer James Baldwin created by musician Meshell Ndegeocello, it debuted in December 2016 at the Harlem Stage in Harlem, New York.
The Omnichord Real Book is a 2023 studio album by American musician Meshell Ndegeocello. It was met with acclaim from critics and became the first recipient of the newly created Grammy Award for Best Alternative Jazz Album, at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards.