Erykah Badu: New Amerykah: Part One (Fourth World War)

New Amerykah is where muted funk meets digital hip-hop, as Badu shifts from fluid songs to ethereal chants over eleven tracks. Devised as the entry to a four-part series, New Amerykah feels (oddly) like the visions of the future from the '80s sci-fi era. It seamlessly keeps one foot in the past, while pushing forward into the future. The album finds Badu working through issues of social ills and situating hip-hop as a healing and uniting force.

"Healer/Hip-Hop" pristinely promotes the aforementioned ideal of using hip-hop to heal. It is only the second track on the album, yet it sets the scene for the entire opus. Thematically, the song starts the conscious awakening that the album intends to push, allowing the listener to see beyond societal definitions and ask the "important" questions of life. It's a lovely thought, but can it last through the rest of the recording?

For the most part, the impact of New Amerykah is minimized by the smooth nature of which it all comes together. It certainly isn't background music, but it can easily lull listeners, its words and music melting together to form a sedative sound. Perhaps, this is actually Badu's intent. By making us comfortable, she hopes that her ideas will just naturally seep in.

"My People" exemplifies this plan. Over a seductive beat, the lyrics float into your conscious meditatively. In contrast, the next track, "Soldier," fits more cleanly into the descriptive tales that Erykah excels at. There is clarity to her intent here, as she directly takes on issues -- fighting for rights in the wake of 9-11 and Katrina -- with a people vs. the machine type charge.

While there is a versatility displayed on New Amerykah that Erykah should be praised for, the sporadic moving from clear song structure to extended chant sessions can come across as chaotic at times.

The album's production is handled by legends old and new, helping build a forward thinking sound with a nod to past sonic glories. Names that are impossible to ignore like Roy Ayers, Madlib, ?uestlove and 9th Wonder are joined by vets like Shafiq Husayn, who also handles some of the writing. The myriad of production prowess forms a broad but connected team. Though ambitious in scope, the sound is pretty cohesive, helping the record to move fluidly, despite the shifting nature of the lyrical approach.

New Amerykah is one of those albums that grows on you with each listen; it is a bit difficult to get into initially, but once the code is cracked, the full scope proves to be an admirable effort. The thoughts may not be "new," strictly speaking, but they're valid. There's a tinge of the conspiracy theorist, but for the most part, not enough to diffuse the key points. The overall style of the record, however, does that. As a concept album with a clear agenda, New Amerykah fails. As an exercise in exploring sounds and methods, it becomes an enticing appetizer for the next steps in the series.

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