Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina emcee Rapsody is back for her 5th studio LP. Rising to prominence last decade with a handful of mixtapes & EPs, her 2012 debut album The Idea of Beautiful continued to show her potential until the Roc Nation Records-backed Laila’s Wisdom in 2017 truly refined her style & sound almost perfectly. 2 years later, she signed to Def Jam Recordings releasing EVE to similar acclaim, coming off Please Don’t Cry to explain God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops.
After the “Peace, God!” intro, “Free Yo’ Mind” produced by mR. pOrTeR kicks things off on a funky note suggesting maybe she’s too humble or has too much ego & trauma in her search for freedom whereas “No Way” goes for a tropical vibe instrumentally dissing DJ Vlad & No Jumper for being culture vultures. The 2nd & final single “Apple Juice” blends neo-soul & jazz rap for an ode to the late D’Angelo leading into “Never Break” shifts towards a drumless approach showing us an indestructible heart.
We have the lead single “God Gotta Afro” experimenting with industrial hip hop & electro so she can talk about shattering dreams & duckin’ schemes just before “OMG! (Love to Sun Ra)” presents us a psychedelic love letter to none other than the late avant-garde jazz icon himself. “Black Love” featuring No Malice discusses Afrocentrism over some soulful background vocals & finger snaps while “Pick a Side” featuring Amanda Reifer hits the midway point talking about individuals hiding the truth away because they have privileges they ignore.
“Abandoned Me” kicks off the 2nd half on a cavernous synth-driven beat clapping back at a guy who’s angry because she put up boundaries he can no longer get around while “The Peejays” by MadRaps talks about about the projects on top of this heavenly Madlib instrumental. “You!” proves to the crowd who doesn’t like trap that she can very much kill it over that sound exemplified by the hunger in her cutthroat delivery while “Black is Beautiful” by MadRaps tackles the Afrocentric subject matter once more.
The song “Pretty Bird” preceding the “Way U R” interlude remembering his niece’s girl who passed away asking to capture a picture of what it’s like beyond the light & singing at her wonder of love lost while the upbeat “Joyful” attempts at making the crowds dance, refuting the claim people don’t do it anymore. “Act II: Bloodline / Growing Older” wraps up God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops with a 6 & a half minute 2-parter talking about having the patience of an old timer.
Conceived when she took a vacation to Ghana, it made Rapsody look at the US rewriting history through whitewashing & that eventually resulted in God Gotta Afro & Gold Hoops landing right behind Laila’s Wisdom for my 2nd favorite album in her discography. mR. pOrTeR handling a vast majority of the production other than a few tracks makes me happy as a Detroit native who feels like he can be underappreciated behind the boards, providing the right musical backdrops for Rapsody to preserve African American stories & truths.
Score: 4.5/5
Keep up with @legendswill_never_die on Instagram & @LegendsllLiveOn on Twitter for the best music reviews weekly!
Legends Will Never Die 