If we ain't got no food, ain’t got no bread / Will you go and work, make sure the kids get fed?”
Church organs (or maybe it’s just called organs) are objectively the best way to open a song. That and a Pharrell 4-count beat. This track of the week is from British songwriter/singer Emeli Sandè, “Real Life”, off her new album with the same name. For this playlist, Emeli slides in and offers the counter argument to just up and quitting:
“I know now things are real nice, oh right / What about real life?”
Backed by a choir, Emeli preaches the sobering reality that pins us down in our 9 to 5. The gospel feel makes it sound like the gospel truth, and there’s no denying the voice behind the lyrics. She never yells at us, just a gentle reminder that life comes with ups and downs. Being dependable and reliable isn’t always what we dream about, but it’s a necessary part of making the dream reality.
Emeli started out as a hook singer for British rappers like Wiley and Chip. With writing credit for artists like Alicia Keys and Rihanna, she established herself as a dual threat. A strong vocalist with strong lyrics, this song showcases both well. Real facts. Real life.
You can learn more about Emeli Sandè here:
About the Curator - Ben Young:
Ben Young lives a life of polarity. He has split his life between the coasts: half his life on the West (California) and half on the East (Georgia and Virginia). He has pursued careers in the art world (film school graduate) and the corporate world (executive with Fortune 500 companies). And he is Biracial, the personification of being two things at once.
Ben’s musical influences were formed by music loving parents, raised in a world of John Coltrane and John Lennon, James Taylor and James Ingram, Huey Lewis and the News and Prince and the Revolution. Saxophones, electric guitars, synthesizers, and breakbeats filled the air Ben breathed from birth. And being born one year after the birth of Hip Hop, Ben has been joined at the hip with the genre his entire life.
Check out Ben’s blog where you can get more recommendations on great music, presented from a Biracial point of view: www.khameleonkurator.com.
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