3/02/2021

ADRIAN YOUNGE - 'THE AMERICAN NEGRO' Out Now | Powerful "Best Album of the Week..." (Pitchfork, NPR & More)

ADRIAN YOUNGE
‘THE AMERICAN NEGRO’

Multi-Instrumentalist, Composer, Producer and Former Law Professor
Shares Powerful New Album featuring Music & Spoken Word Out Now

Takes an Unapologetic Critique Detailing the Systemic & Malevolent Psychology Afflicting People of Color

‘Invisible Blackness’ Podcast Also Available Now via Amazon Music
& ‘T.A.N’. Film Due Next Week via Prime Video

VULTURE / SWITCH ON POP“In Adrian Younge’s Ambitious New Project, James Baldwin Meets Marvin Gaye”

NPR MUSIC ("ALL SONGS CONSIDERED" - NEW MUSIC FRIDAY)"It all warrants a lot of deep study and consideration... a very impactful project... it felt like being taken to school with this record."

THE NEW YORK TIMES"a hardheaded manifesto, in spoken words and 1960s-rooted music, about the pervasiveness of racism."


ESSENCE"Unapologetically Black, bold, and beautiful are just a few notes to share about Adrian Younge’s new song."

THE GUARDIAN: “Younge’s album puts luscious orchestral arrangements and spoken-word interludes to use in creatively unfurling the development of structural racism in the US” 

PITCHFORK"6 New Albums You Should Listen to Now"

WNYC NEW SOUNDS"an unflinching, provocative album... nod to Blaxploitation film scores, classic soul, and Younge’s own work with artists like Jay Z and Wu-Tang Clan.

SPIN: "composer/producer Adrian Younge who gives an impassioned speech and takes you through a dreamy jazz sequence in 'The American Negro'"

BROOKLYN VEGAN: "The very talented psychedelic soul/jazz/hip hop/etc musician Adrian Younge..."

FLOOD MAGAZINE: "More down to earth, dirtier, politicized, riveting, and sad in regard to its wrenching emotive politicized outlook is Younge’s bold, new The American Negro." 

VANCOUVER SUN: "an important contribution to the canon of African-American political music and a heavy listen."

Read More Interviews with Adrian Younge:

Adrian Younge just released The American Negro via his Jazz Is Dead label. The powerful album features music and spoken word from Los Angeles-based former law professor turned multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer, and sees Younge sharing an unapologetic critique detailing the systemic and malevolent psychology that afflicts people of color. Younge not only wrote, but played every instrument of the album’s rhythm section; he also orchestrated a 30-piece orchestra and recorded them in his analog studio. Hear previously released singles “The American Negro” and “Revolutionize,” and stream The American Negro here: https://jazzisdead.lnk.to/AdrianYoungeTAN

The album is part of his multi-multimedia project released in conjunction with Black History Month -- his most ambitious and deeply personal project to-date. To better explain the intricacies of the album’s message, he has released the Amazon Music-exclusive podcast Invisible Blackness with Adrian Younge including episodes featuring Chuck D, Digable Planets’ Ladybug MeccaKeyon Harrold, and more; and short film T.A.N., which will be available on the Amazon Music mobile app and Prime Video.

The American Negro is a powerful, multifaceted statement that reflects perennial injustices and serves to act as a lever of change during a time of mass disillusionment: an album for the people that details the evolution of racism in America. The American Negro is not for the faint of heart, including the album cover art--a recreation of “Lynching Postcards” that became celebrated the murder of African Americans at the hands of White Americans as vigilante justice at the turn of the last century, with no judicial reprisals. Modernly, death by asphyxiation is a tool Police officers have used in killing innocent Black Americans: the lynching of the Black Americans has to stop. 

Adrian Younge is a member of The Midnight Hour and has produced for entertainment greats ranging from Jay Z, Kendrick Lamar and Wu-Tang Clan. He’s composed for television shows such as Marvel’s Luke Cage (with Ali Shaheed Muhammad), and films including Black Dynamite. He owns the Linear Labs boutique record label and analog studio, and is co-owner of Jazz Is Dead. When he’s not working on scores for major studios or networks, he’s making albums that speak to his own artistry. 
‘The American Negro’ 


'THE AMERICAN NEGRO' TRACK LISTING
01 - Revisionist History
02 - The American Negro
03 - The Black Broadcast
04 - Revolutionize
05 - Double Consciousness
06 - Watch the Children
07 - Dying on the Run
08 - Intransigence of the Blind
09 - James Mincey Jr
10 - Disadvantaged Without a Title
11 - Mama (You Will Make It)
12 - The Black Queen
13 - Margaret Garner
14 - Race is a Fallacy
15 - Light on the Horizon
16 - A Symphony for Sahara
17 - America is Listening
18 - The March on America
19 - Paradox of the Positive
20 - The Death March
21 - Black Lives Matter
22 - Rotten Roses
23 - Jim Crow's Dance
24 - Patriotic Portraits
25 - George Stinney Jr.
26 - Sullen Countenance
HEAR "REVOLUTIONIZE" VIA YOUTUBE
"Revolutionize" - Adrian Younge

HEAR "THE AMERICAN NEGRO" VIA YOUTUBE
"The American Negro" - Adrian Younge

FOLLOW ADRIAN YOUNGE & JAZZ IS DEAD 
 Adrian Younge: Instagram * Twitter * Facebook 
Jazz Is Dead: Instagram Twitter * Facebook * YouTube * Bandcamp

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