Esthero ended her post-Breath From Another hiatus in 2004 with the "O.G. Bitch" single and an EP called We R in Need of a Musical Revolution that skewered radio and MTV for overexposure and homogeny, not to mention misogyny and the promotion of R. Kelly. She doesn't slow down on Wikked Lil' Grrrls, her first full-length in seven years. But Esthero also spends a little too much time in a drifty place between modernized rip-hop, mild R&B, and frilly, dizzily in love lyrics. The percussive, Björk-like "Musical Revolution" kicks things off, followed by an interlude from spoken word poet Jemeni. "Blanket Me in You (Never Is So Soon)" is a little too gauzy, as is "Thank Heaven 4 You," but anyone who heard the EP will recognize the irresistibly brassy chamber pop of "Everyday Is a Holiday (With You)" (a collaboration with Sean Lennon), and "Wikked Lil' Grrrls" itself lives up to its disclaimer -- "Warning: may cause ass to shake!" -- it's a soul sister to Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B.. There are personal messages sprinkled throughout the record, in answering machine recordings and parenthetical shout-outs. And Esthero's rich, honeyed vocals give weight to her love proclamations and assertions of self-confidence. So you know Wikked is a personal statement, if not a labor of love considering how long it took to come out. But it still has some trouble finding its legs. "My Torture" is a sketch of faraway muted trumpet and skittering electronic percussion, modern and moody and glimmering like rain drops in the big city. And yet that very mood seems like a representation of something; it doesn't feel real. "Fastlane" too is lost in chattering drum'n'bass-lite spoken word and an eager but too busy Jelleestone rap. Fortunately "Bad Boy Clyde" is better with its touches of brass, and "If tha Mood" condenses the album's intimacies and "sex speak" into one track that's both sultry and audacious. Wikked Lil' Grrrls occasionally gets lost between songwriting, thematics, and stylistic flow. Nevertheless it's good to have Esthero back. She's furiously honest about what she wants, likes, hates, and loves, and that's something that can be quite a rarity in the 21st century.
Hey all my Mog-Loves. Haven't been around in a while, but today the feeling's got me.Don't you love it when you have Winamp on random and a song from your collection plays that just grabs you and makes you think, "Damn, this is a GREAT song! Where did this come from?" It's usually a song from an album you downloaded but really didn't give the proper attention. Or a song from an older album....
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Hey all my Mog-Loves. Haven't been around in a while, but today the feeling's got me.Don't you love it when you have Winamp on random and a song from your collection plays that just grabs you and makes you think, "Damn, this is a GREAT song! Where did this come from?" It's usually a song from an album you downloaded but really didn't give the proper attention. Or a song from an older album....
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Have you ever wanted to make love to someone's voice? To be honest, I don't even know what made me start playing this CD today. I haven't listened to it in some months. But, I'm in love with it all over again. I've listened to this particular song a gazillion times today. Really. I counted. It was exactly ONE GAZILLION!This is one of Esthero's more vocal tracks on Wikked Lil' Grrrls. If...
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...you last fell in love with an album?It occurred to me recently that whether you can really sink your teeth into a particular piece of new music has a lot to do with what you're doing when you hear it for the first time.Zum Beispiel (German for "for example"), I find it really hard to get into music while I'm sitting at my computer at work. Which is a shame because that's where I do most of ...
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Since I'm on my Esthero kick today...I think of all my fellow Moggers every time I listen to this song. Listen to the first 10 seconds, and you'll know why. :)
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For years, Esthero has been hip-hop's best friend behind the scenes. Whether co-writing "Love Lockdown" with Kanye West, singing hooks for Mos Def and Goodie Mob, or getting name-dropped by Talib Kweli ("Some Kind of Wonderful"), the girl's a streetwise stamp of quality.But on 2005's Wikked Lil' Grrrls, Esthero teamed up with Sean Lennon (who knows a bit about catchy tunes) for this bouncy ser...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 We R in Need of a Musical Revolution |
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| 2 Dragonfly's Intro |
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| 3 Blanket Me in You (Never Is So Soon) |
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| 4 Everyday Is a Holiday (With You) |
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| 5 Thank Heaven 4 You |
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| 6 If Tha Mood |
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| 7 Bad Boy Clyde |
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| 8 Beautiful Lie |
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| 9 Junglebook |
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| 10 My Honeybrown |
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| 11 Wikked Lil' GRRRLS |
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| 12 Gone |
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| 13 My Torture |
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| 14 Melancholy Melody |
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| 15 Fastlane |
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| 16 Dragonfly's Outro |
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| 17 Brave Bear Woman |
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Click to purchase…
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "Wikked Lil' Grrrls")
