ALBUM REVIEW: Abiodun Oyewole – Gratitude

Afar Records

Released: 04.02.22

They say age invariably mellows you out, but on his rousing solo debut, Abiodun Oyewole has lost none of his trademark gravelly gravitas. Tempered with reflexive acuity, the Last Poets’ founding member’s mellifluous baritone still rings with the same clarity as when he coined that immortal refrain, “party and bullshit“.

Eschewing charged anthems for inclusive sermons that wed holistic poetics to vivacious beats, Gratitude plays largely to Oyewole’s knack for melding language and rhythm into a distinctly fluid entity. Sonically, the record wears its hip-hop nostalgia proudly – A Poem deftly interpolates the booming funk urgency of De La Soul’s Stakes Is High; elsewhere, Right Here Waiting recalls the wistful lilt of Dilla’s Time: The Donut of the Heart. Get familiar!