Ventriloquism | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 16, 2018 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 53:34 | |||
Label | Naïve | |||
Meshell Ndegeocello chronology | ||||
|
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.6/10 [1] |
Metacritic | 80/100 [2] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Exclaim! | 7/10 [4] |
Financial Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Independent | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Mojo | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pitchfork | 7.8/10 [9] |
PopMatters | 8/10 [10] |
Slant Magazine | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Times | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Ventriloquism is the 12th studio album from Meshell Ndegeocello, released on March 16, 2018. The album covers eleven R&B and pop tracks originally recorded in the 1980s and 1990s. It was nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 2019 Grammy Awards.
A portion of the profits of the album will go to the ACLU. [13]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original artist(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "I Wonder If I Take You Home" |
| Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam featuring Full Force | 4:44 |
2. | "Nite and Day" |
| Al B. Sure! | 5:00 |
3. | "Sometimes It Snows in April" | Prince | 7:05 | |
4. | "Waterfalls" |
| TLC | 4:34 |
5. | "Atomic Dog 2017" |
| George Clinton | 6:27 |
6. | "Sensitivity" |
| Ralph Tresvant | 3:43 |
7. | "Funny How Time Flies (When You're Having Fun)" |
| Janet Jackson | 4:33 |
8. | "Tender Love" |
| Force MDs | 2:41 |
9. | "Don't Disturb This Groove" | The System | 4:38 | |
10. | "Private Dancer" | Mark Knopfler | Tina Turner | 4:51 |
11. | "Smooth Operator" | Sade | 5:18 | |
Total length: | 53:34 |
Chart (2018) | Peak position |
---|---|
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [14] | 86 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [15] | 62 |
Meshell Ndegeocello is a German-born American singer-songwriter, rapper, and bassist. She has gone by the name Meshell Suhaila Bashir-Shakur which is used as a writing credit on some of her later 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 one. 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 and Astralwerks. After a lengthy tour which caused them exhaustion and homesickness, they settled in their new studio and wanted to develop a new fresh approach with less reliant on grooves and samples and more focused on songwriting.
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.
"Private Dancer" is a song first released and made famous by American singer Tina Turner in 1984. The song was written by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, but never fully recorded or released by his band. Turner's recording was produced by John Carter for her fifth solo album of the same name and released as the album's fifth single. The track reached number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the US R&B chart. The song had moderate international success, reaching number 26 on the UK Singles Chart.
Jazzmatazz, Volume II is the second solo studio album by American hip hop musician Guru. It was released on July 18, 1995, through Chrysalis Records as the second installment of the rapper's Jazzmatazz album series.
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.
"Nite and Day" is the debut single by Al B. Sure! from his debut album In Effect Mode (1988). It reached number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Hot Black Singles chart. The B-side of the record is the French version of the song, "Nuit et Jour".
Lungs is the debut studio album by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine, released on 3 July 2009 by Island Records. After working on various projects, Florence Welch formed a band which included Robert Ackroyd, Chris Hayden, Mark Saunders, Tom Monger, and former collaborator Isabella Summers. The album features production from James Ford, Paul Epworth, Stephen Mackey, Eg White and Charlie Hugall, with additional production by band member Isabella Summers. The album has been reissued several times: an expanded version titled Between Two Lungs (2010), a digital EP subtitled The B-Sides (2011), and a Tenth Anniversary Edition (2019).
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.
Believe is the third studio album by Canadian singer Justin Bieber, released on June 15, 2012, by Island Records. Looking to transition from the teen pop styles of his two-piece debut effort My World (2009) and My World 2.0 (2010), Bieber opted to create a follow-up record that featured more prominent elements of Eurohouse, dance-pop and contemporary R&B. As executive producers, mentor Usher and manager Scooter Braun enlisted collaborators including Darkchild, Hit-Boy, Diplo and Max Martin with the intention of creating a mature-sounding project.
Comet, Come to Me is the 11th studio album by U.S. singer Meshell Ndegeocello, released 2 June 2014, on Naïve Records.
Weather is the ninth studio album by American singer Meshell Ndegeocello, released on November 15, 2011, on the Naïve label.
All Rise: A Joyful Elegy for Fats Waller is an album by Jason Moran paying tribute to pianist/composer Fats Waller which was released on the Blue Note label.
Views is the fourth studio album by Canadian rapper and singer Drake. It was released on April 29, 2016, by Cash Money Records, Republic Records, and Young Money Entertainment. Recording sessions took place from 2015 to 2016, with both Drake and his longtime collaborator and record producer 40 serving as the record's executive producers. 40 also primarily handled the production on the album alongside Nineteen85, Maneesh Bidaye, Kanye West, and Jordan Ullman, among others. Featured guest appearances include PartyNextDoor, Pimp C, Dvsn, Wizkid, Kyla, Future, and Rihanna.
"Sometimes It Snows in April" is a song by American musician Prince. It was included on his eighth studio album Parade, which was also the soundtrack to his film Under the Cherry Moon (1986). Prince wrote, performed, and produced the song alongside Wendy & Lisa, who co-wrote the music.
Blonde is the second studio album by American singer Frank Ocean. It was released on August 20, 2016, as a timed exclusive on the iTunes Store and Apple Music, and followed the August 19 release of Ocean's video album Endless. The album features guest vocals from André 3000, Beyoncé, and Kim Burrell, among others. Production was handled by Ocean himself, alongside a variety of high-profile record producers, including Malay and Om'Mas Keith, who collaborated with Ocean on Channel Orange, as well as James Blake, Jon Brion, Buddy Ross, Pharrell Williams, and Rostam Batmanglij, among others.
24K Magic is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars. It was released by Atlantic Records on November 18, 2016. Mars reunited with Philip Lawrence and Christopher Brody Brown, who composed the album under their joint alias Shampoo Press & Curl. Mars enlisted new composers including the Stereotypes and James Fauntleroy. Recording sessions for 24K Magic took place between late 2015 and September 2016 at Glenwood Place Studios in Burbank, California.
Ash is the second studio album of French-Cuban R&B duo Ibeyi, consisting of twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz. It was recorded in November 2016 and produced by Richard Russell. Ash differs from their self-titled first album for its more societal themes, features from high-profile artists such as Kamasi Washington, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Chilly Gonzales, and its upbeat tone. Ash has themes similar to those on Beyoncé's Lemonade (2016) and Solange's A Seat at the Table (2016) regarding racism, empowerment, and female problems. In presenting them, it uses samples from writings such as Claudia Rankine's Citizen: An American Lyric (2014), a diary by Frida Kahlo, and Michelle Obama's speech about Donald Trump and his sexual misconduct.
Black Radio 3 is an album by American musician Robert Glasper. It was released on February 25, 2022, via Loma Vista Recordings, serving as the follow-ups to 2012's Black Radio and 2013's Black Radio 2. It was produced by Glasper along with co-producers Terrace Martin, Bryan-Michael Cox and Jahi Sundance, and mixed by Qmillion.