Every generation has an R&B album or two that speaks to the Black experience and the challenges that disproportionately impact Black people on a day-to-day basis.
Soul titan Marvin Gaye asked for his seminal 1972 LP What’s Going On, while Janet Jackson caused a revolution with her 1989 landmark album Rhythm Nation. Erykah Badu wielded Mama’s Gun in 2000, before John Legend and The Roots said Wake Up! in 2010 and D’Angelo and The Vanguard called on the Black Messiah in 2015.
On his new album Black on Purpose, released under his own imprint Louder than Music Records, well-versed producer Salaam Remi joins the long list of artists to release a protest and socially-conscious project.
This necessary album takes an in-depth look at today’s America from the Black perspective, exploring everything from systemic racism to oppression to social and political change.
“We couldn’t gather in the way we were used to when we needed each other most,” Remi said in a statement. “Now we are more than likely going to be in for another round of quarantine and we will need each other and music than ever.”
Black on Purpose features collaborations from the late Betty Wright, Jennifer Hudson, Nas, Teedra Moses, Common, Mack Wilds, Busta Rhymes, Bilal, Black Thought, Cee-Lo Green, Anthony Hamilton, and many more. It also contains a spoken word from Sandra Bland, who was found dead in a Texas jail after a traffic stop in 2015.
Listen to Black On Purpose by Salaam Remi below.
