Philadelphia’s DJ Rich Medina has amassed a mighty collective of new-soul talent to help him deliver his debut artist LP. Not surprisingly, given the LPs ‘dot joining’ ambitions, we’re left with a comprehensive encapsulation of the genre-crossing compositions that have been echoing from Jazzy Jeff’s hometown and reverberating through the global pockets of the soul/ jazz/ broken beat dance world. Medina’s sound is part hip hop, part Eighties jazz funk, part house, part broken beat. Featuring several Gil Scot Herron references, such as the LP opener ‘Delerium’ and ‘Weight’, there are lush soulful tracks, such as ‘Happiness’, house meets Blackbyrds moments, ‘Out Of Nothing’, jazz hop, ‘Official’, and a smattering of out-there interludes. Showing the soulful way forward.
Three stars
