Robert Glasper speaks on the making of Black Radio
ROBERT GLASPER - BLACK RADIO TRACK-BY-TRACK RUNDOWN:
1. Lift Off (featuring Shafiq Husayn)
“A lot of people just came to hang out. Shafiq was one of those people. He wrote some
shit, went to the both and put it down. This is kind of like an intro to the album.”
2. Afro Blue (featuring Erykah Badu)
“Erykah loves flutes, so I arranged this song with flutes in it. This song was recorded
during the time she was on the Rock The Bells tour. Luckily she was able to come in and
do the song.”
Robert Glasper Experiment ft Erykah Badu - Afro blue
3. Cherish The Day (featuring Lalah Hathaway)
“I had never heard Lalah perform live. She had a gig the day before I was scheduled to
go in and produce an album on Gretchen Parlato, so I went to see her. I was floored. I
went backstage and asked her to sit in at one of my Blue Note jam sessions. Afterwards, I
asked her if she would sing on my album. This take was actually the first take. We didn’t
actually know the tape was rolling. It was done in one take when we were just rehearsing.”
Robert Glasper Experiment featuring Lalah Hathaway - Cherish The Day
4. Always Shine (featuring Lupe Fiasco & Bilal)
“Lupe randomly called me one day. After he heard my music on some in flight
programming, he found out that I played with Q-Tip and asked him for my number. From
then, we had been texting back and forth for about a year. He was one of the artists that
sat in at my Blue Note jam session. It was Wednesday. I was in Los Angeles at King’s
house writing a song. I told him to come through and he did. I gave him a CD of the song
so he could write his verses to it. When he came to the studio to record it, it was a whole
other song. He had to rewrite his verses, but it only took him like 30 minutes. Bilal was
there too, so I asked him to sing the hook. At the end, there’s an interlude with us at the
kitchen table playing forks and knives with Derrick on bass. Then my son Riley comes in
singing a little of the next song.”
Robert Glasper Experiment ft Lupe & Bilal - Always shine
5. Gonna Be Alright (F.T.B.) (featuring Ledisi)
“I’ve known Ledisi for years. I used to be in her band. I asked her to be on the record
and she agreed. I had sent her a song, but she wasn’t really feeling it. I was on tour and
couldn’t write anything. I couldn’t get my creative juices flowing. So she eventually
came to the studio at like 2 am and we didn’t know what we were going to do. There was
a song on my album In My Element called “F.T.B.” She liked it and asked me to keep
playing it. After a few plays, she finished the lyrics.”
6. Move Love (featuring KING)
“I’ve known Paris [Strother] for years, but didn’t know she was in a group. Then all of a
sudden, I hear all this buzz about a group called KING and find out she’s in it. I was on
tour in Europe and flew back to the States just to record this album. Then I had to go back
to Amsterdam to finish the tour. I went to KING’s house and I had all these dirty clothes
from being on tour. KING had a washer. So I left them in the room with the music and
went to do my laundry.”
Robert Glasper Experiment - Move Love
Download: Robert Glasper Experiment - Move love (More 6/8th's Love Tall Black Guy Remix)
Download: Robert Glasper Experiment - Move Love (Bossa Soula Remix)
7. Ah Yeah (featuring Musiq Soulchild & Chrisette Michele)
“This one was co-produced by my good friend Brian Michael Cox. Musiq was in Atlanta,
so that’s where the vocals were recorded. After I sent him the track, a friend convinced
me to come down to check out a music festival that was going on. Chrisette Michele was
there. She told me that she was stranded in ATL because her flight to New York had been
cancelled. So I asked her if she wanted to come by the studio and sing on the song. That’s
how the song became a duet.”
Robert Glasper Experiment - Ah Yeah (feat. Musiq Soulchild & Chrisette Michele)
8. The Consequences Of Jealousy (featuring Meshell Ndegeocello)
“This was actually the third song I sent Meshel. I sent her two songs before and luckily
she said yes to this one. You’ll hear some weird, random sounds in there. That’s Jahi
Sundance on the turntables.”
9. Why Do We Try (featuring Stokley Williams)
“This is a song Stokely recorded with his band [Mint Condition]. We just changed the vibe
up a little bit. Added a Fela [Kuti] vibe to it. Stokely’s also playing percussion on it.”
Robert Glasper Experiment ft Stokley Williams - Why do we try
10. Black Radio (featuring Yasiin Bey a.k.a. Mos Def)
“We’ve been doing this song for about two years. Mos’ concept was centered on the fact
that the black box is the only thing that survives a plane crash. He was like, “Why don’t
they just make the whole plane out of that?” Good music always survives, even amongst
all the bullshit. With everybody trying to sound like one another, we’ll always go back to
people like Donny Hathaway. That’s why we call it ‘Black Radio.’”
Robert Glasper Experiment ft Mos Def - Black Radio
11. Letter To Hermione (featuring Bilal)
“This is a David Bowie song. I’ve always loved this tune. Then one day, it came up on my
iTunes at random. But I couldn’t think of who could get on this. Then I thought of Bilal.
He’s a brilliant singer. He can interpret anything. This song was done in one take.”
Robert Glasper Experiment ft Bilal - Letter to Hermione
12. Smells Like Teen Spirit (featuring Lalah Hathaway)
“A song I’ve loved since high school. We did a new arrangement, the dopest ever. Lalah
was hanging in the studio when we were doing it, so I asked her to jump on it.”
Here's a live version of this last Lalah Hathaway track recorded at a session at the University of North Florida last year.
Robert Glasper Experiment - Smells like teen spirit (Live @ UNF)
13. Fever+/A Love supreme* (+CD bonus track/*mp3 bonus track)
As if that wasn't enough Robert and the crew added a few bonus tracks that differs between what format you purchase (CD, mp3 - the 180 g vinyl release came with two album cover slipmats). A Love Supreme is their vocoder funk cover of John Coltrane's classic track. The Fever track features the Franco-Maroccan singer Hindi Zahra. Check out the bonus tracks below:
Robert Glasper Experiment - Fever Ft. Hindi Zahra (CD bonus track)
Robert Glasper Experiment - A Love Supreme (MP3 bonus track)
Robert Glasper Experiment interview:
If you haven't checked it already, as a bonus, here's our interview with Robert Glasper and Chris Dave at the Stockholm Jazz Festival: The Beathearts-Robert Glasper Experiment sit-down
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