Spencer Badu is taking homegrown fashion global - CBC

Sometimes, this comes off slightly rambly—only Badu can get away with a polemic like “Black Box,” which compares cell phones to “crack rocks” with lines like “Too much dopamine can make a man mean,” or a song like “Witch Doctor,” which likens the media to a medium. In such moments, Badu and the Alchemist’s co-production, featuring some of his best work in years, still reels you back in, shrouding whatever car, living room, or bedroom you’re in with sedate and haunting beats peppered with mystical Badu motifs—luminous chimes, zaps meant to launch you into a higher state of consciousness. Even the toughest instrumentals the Alchemist and Badu reimagine for a seductive suite in the sky. “Next 2 U”’s production will sound familiar to Mobb Deep fans, because it’s taken from 1999’s gritty underground anthem “The Realest.” Flipping the OG’s story of street politics, Badu glides across the iconic electric bass riff with a little freaky Auto-Tune, singing about the great pleasure of sharing a blunt and a shot of something warm with someone you have googly eyes for.