Mama's Gun

the take

Erykah Badu's debut album "Baduizm" is one of those classic albums that helped shape my music taste to what it is today. Since then, I perhaps listened to certain songs from Badu's preceding albums, but none from her sophomore album "Mama's Gun". And to be quite honest, I can't really explain why I haven't given this album a complete listen until recently. I think maybe it's because I don't want to be disappointed in comparison to how much I love "Baduizm". If anything, "Mama's Gun" is almost as good. The neo-soul sound is refined and perfected on here, as the production on here sounds a bit more complete and refined. The jazz and funk influences on here are a bit more evident on here than before, which helps elevate the album to a higher status. Add in Erykah's smooth vocals coupled with great songwriting and you have almost an evolved "Baduizm". I say "almost" because even though this has the classic "Didn't Cha Know", as well as other favorites like "Cleva" and "Orange Moon", it's kind of hard to overcome my #1. Even still, this is an amazing step forward into the neo-soul sound in the 21st century. I just hated that it took me literally forever to appreciate the second consecutive masterpiece Erykah Badu had released up to that point in her career.