Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Album Review: Gary Clark Jr.- Blak and Blu The Mixtape

Gary Clark Jr. 
Blak and Blu The Mixtape
**and1/2 out of *****
Bursting on the scene playing electric blues made Gary Clark Jr. famous and a Grammy winner but from his very first interviews he tried not to pigeon hole himself as a one trick pony. He constantly  name dropped hip-hop, pop, soul and rock artists as influences. This remix album is a common extension of that, as well as one that he hopes expands his fan base.

Blak and Blu The Mixtape is to be listened to straight through with various producers and MC's contributing to Clark's tunes. The work is a presented by D-Nice and is a free download acting as a extension/placeholder between albums. Big KRIT comes out for a verse off of the relaxed title track and provides his remix skills to swamp up "When My Train Pulls In" winningly moving things into a different, intriguing, direction from the original.

The vibe gets deep and the voodoo shakes for "Numb" as Bilal helps out with some vocals/playing and the disk closer sees Alice Smith spice up "Please Come Home" with some incredibly sultry vocal work.

Talib Kweli returns the favor of Clark playing on his last release by stopping by and dropping the most energetic rhyme on this digital mixtape during Clark's "Bright Lights". A bonus track called "Soul" is a slow jam outtake strictly from Clark and it is a pleasant journey with some delicate bass work proving Clark has more to offer then just the blues.   
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When we posted a live show from Gary a few weeks ago we found out about this April release.

Support the Artist here, download this album here and peep some video below:


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