The American Negro by Adrian Younge

Best Tracks: Watch the Children
Genre: Spoken Word, Jazz Funk
Year: 2021

Adrian Younge is behind some of my favourite jazz albums to come out since the ’70s, but this album is an exception. The songs are decent, combining jazz-funk with gorgeous, string-backed soul. That being said, my biggest issue is with the pacing. Almost every other track on here is a <1 min spoken-word interlude. These interludes aren’t filler, the message they convey is the conceptual core of this project, but they aren’t great to listen to either. The American Negro has a very stop-and-go feeling, leaving the album without a satisfying climax or ending. Even the musical tracks here are short. The album never gets a chance to build on itself before it ends. I understand the goal of this project is discomfort, but Younge doesn’t have to create a musically unsatisfying album to go against the status quo.

I wanted to like this album. If the interludes were more musical, maybe with some soft background instruments, they might work better to bridge between tracks. Some pitch-shifting or psychedelic effects would also go a long way in making the speaking more musical. If not, the project simply needs more captivating poetry with more care put into pacing. As Toni Cade Bambara said, “the goal of the artist is to make the resistance irresistable.” When there are issues with pacing, it actually ends up harming the power of the message.