Airtight's Revenge
Encyclopedia
Airtight's Revenge is the second studio album
by American recording artist Bilal, released September 6, 2010, on independent record label Plug Research
. Production for the album took place during 2007 to 2010 and was handled by Bilal, Steve McKie, Nottz
, Shafiq Husayn, Conley "Tone" Whitfield, and 88-Keys. The follow-up to his debut album 1st Born Second
(2001), it was conceived following the shelving of Bilal's Love for Sale project in 2004 and conflicts with his former label Interscope Records
.
The album debuted at number 101 on the US Billboard 200
chart, selling 4,600 copies in its first week. Although it charted modestly, Airtight's Revenge was well-received by music critics upon its release. PopMatters
ranked the album number 61 in its year-end list of best albums for 2010, calling it a "wildly inventive, wildly enjoyable album".
Bilal worked on the album for three years, according to an interview with The Root in September 2010. Bilal said, of Airtight's Revenge: "The concept beyond this album was really just to write short stories and dark tales of life in general. I used a lot and drew a lot from my own life and my own experiences, but I also took a lot of things from fiction and tried to make certain statements, from a love standpoint."Bilal said that his experiences with his leaked, unreleased album Love For Sale and the ensuing conflict with his then-record label (Interscope) led him to the "dark underworld" storytelling showcased in Airtight's Revenge. The track "Little One" references Bilal's eldest son's autism
. The album features Bilal's famous falsetto
and Afro-futuristic sound. The album was released earlier in the United Kingdom on September 6, 2010.
The album's cover art is a reference to the iconic photo of Malcolm X
peering through his window while holding a M1 carbine
rifle. Instead of a rifle, Bilal is holding a microphone, and instead of peering through his beadroom curtain, Bilal is peering through a heavy red curtain, the kind you might find on stage. In an interview with Parlour Magazine, Bilal elaborated on the message behind the album's cover art, stating:
chart, with first-week sales of 4,600 copies. It peaked at number 21 on Billboard
s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
and at number 23 on its Independent Albums
chart. Airtight's Revenge has 4,800 copies in the United States.
s. At Metacritic
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 87, based on 8 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". Allmusic writer Andy Kellman gave it four-and-a-half out of five stars and called it "one heavy, messy, dynamite album — one that could take a decade to be fully processed". BBC Online's Louis Pattison commended Bilal's lyrical substance and described the album as "often more experimental, albeit still steeped in the history of jazz and soul". Tyler Lewis of PopMatters
cited the album as "a generation-defining masterwork of unflinching vision" and wrote that it is "all about texture and musicality. Songs more than shout or intimate their ideas, they envelop you fully, so you feel the full weight of what it is Bilal is talking about". Steve Jones of USA Today
gave it three-and-a-half out of four stars and complimented Bilal's "artistic breadth and emotional depth", as well as "his intoxicating blend of funk, blues, old-school R&B, prog rock and anything else from his sonic palette". Los Angeles Times
writer Jeff Weiss noted its "formless floating funk" and praised Bilal as "ludicrously soulful and endearingly experimental", calling the album "a soothing anodyne to the often over-processed come-ons that pass for contemporary R&B".
Mikael Wood of Time Out found it overlong and commented that "the second half especially bogs down with an abundance of noodly slow jams. But the strong stuff here is very strong". URBs Anupamistry wrote that it lacks "the cut-loose, flailing vocal work" of Bilal's previous work, but ultimately complimented its "more progressive, less structured, arranging" and called it a departure from "the Jazzmatazz
, Soulquarian
-styled neosoul of the early 00’s". NPR
writer Frannie Kelley called it "more electronic" than the Soulquarians' work and stated "A lot of care went into the construction of these songs, but little things [...] reveal a melancholy, romantic heart at the center". The A.V. Club
s Nathan Rabin perceived a "brooding, airless intensity" and praised its "claustrophobic introspection and soul-searching". Sputnikmusic
's Nick Butler it three-and-a-half out of five rating and found Bilal's songwriting as its strength, stating "musically, there are dozens of neo-soul records in the past three or four years that reach far beyond the limits of most of Airtight's Revenge [...] but nobody is writing or delivering lyrics like this. Emotionally, [it] is so revealing that it gets difficult to listen to". Mosi Reeves of Spin
complimented his "rambling confessions" and wrote that the album "has its soul affectations, but even standard fare like 'Little One' bears Bilal's impressively reedy, insistent voice. He sounds like a man unburdening himself".
Philadelphia Daily News
writer Jonathan Takiff gave the album an A rating and commended Bilal for "taking neo-soul to a higher plateau", but commented that "this music has considerable appeal - as the next leap forward for those who've admired soul pioneers like Stevie Wonder
, Prince
, Gil Scott Heron and Curtis Mayfield
with a knack for speaking their minds and drawing in disparate segments of the population". The Philadelphia Inquirer
s A.D. Amorosi gave the album three-and-a-half out of four stars and stated "Bilal - the vocalist - opens the valves and bleats, glides, coos, and cajoles like Coltrane
at his freest". Despite perceiving "a few overcooked rock guitar histrionics", David Dacks of Exclaim!
viewed that the album "has something for everyone who appreciates the entire spectrum of soul", writing that "At its heart is the classic, album-oriented prog soul of the '70s, with a strong, jazzy undercurrent, but it's much more than that. Bilal's reedy, Sly-meets-Prince voice runs down metaphysical and personal subjects overtop a continuously changing musical landscape". In a year-end article on overlooked albums in 2010, Edna Gundersen of USA Today described Airtight's Revenge a "buried jewel that really deserved a wider audience", commenting that "It's personal, idiosyncratic, complex, dense, sophisticated and messy, a thoroughly contemporary soul record with a defiant indie-rock sensibility, which is why it never found a home on radio".
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American recording artist Bilal, released September 6, 2010, on independent record label Plug Research
Plug Research
Plug Research is an independent record label, based in Los Angeles, California, USA.-Artists:*Damon Aaron*Adventure Time*AmmonContact*Bilal*David Thomas Broughton*Calamalka*Camping*Chessie*Daedelus*Dntel*Thomas Fehlmann*Flying Lotus*Headset...
. Production for the album took place during 2007 to 2010 and was handled by Bilal, Steve McKie, Nottz
Nottz
Dominick Lamb better known by his stage name, Nottz is a music producer, writer and rapper from Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. He sometimes extends his executive name to Nottz Raw.-History:...
, Shafiq Husayn, Conley "Tone" Whitfield, and 88-Keys. The follow-up to his debut album 1st Born Second
1st Born Second
1st Born Second is the debut album of American neo soul musician Bilal, released July 17, 2001 on Interscope Records. Production for the album was handled primarily by Bilal and Aaron Comess. Bilal's mononymous stage name also serves as an acronym for "Beloved, Intelligent, Lustful and Livin' It"...
(2001), it was conceived following the shelving of Bilal's Love for Sale project in 2004 and conflicts with his former label Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
.
The album debuted at number 101 on the US Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, selling 4,600 copies in its first week. Although it charted modestly, Airtight's Revenge was well-received by music critics upon its release. PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
ranked the album number 61 in its year-end list of best albums for 2010, calling it a "wildly inventive, wildly enjoyable album".
Background and recording
Bilal worked on the album for three years, according to an interview with The Root in September 2010. Bilal said, of Airtight's Revenge: "The concept beyond this album was really just to write short stories and dark tales of life in general. I used a lot and drew a lot from my own life and my own experiences, but I also took a lot of things from fiction and tried to make certain statements, from a love standpoint."Bilal said that his experiences with his leaked, unreleased album Love For Sale and the ensuing conflict with his then-record label (Interscope) led him to the "dark underworld" storytelling showcased in Airtight's Revenge. The track "Little One" references Bilal's eldest son's autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
. The album features Bilal's famous falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
and Afro-futuristic sound. The album was released earlier in the United Kingdom on September 6, 2010.
Title significance
In an interview for The Root, Bilal elaborated on the album title's meaning, stating:Cover artwork
| The album cover (left) juxtaposed to the 1964 Malcolm X photo (right). | |
The album's cover art is a reference to the iconic photo of Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
peering through his window while holding a M1 carbine
M1 Carbine
The M1 carbine is a lightweight, easy to use semi-automatic carbine that became a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and was produced in several variants. It was widely used by U.S...
rifle. Instead of a rifle, Bilal is holding a microphone, and instead of peering through his beadroom curtain, Bilal is peering through a heavy red curtain, the kind you might find on stage. In an interview with Parlour Magazine, Bilal elaborated on the message behind the album's cover art, stating:
Commercial performance
The album debuted at number 101 on the US Billboard 200Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, with first-week sales of 4,600 copies. It peaked at number 21 on Billboard
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
and at number 23 on its Independent Albums
Independent Albums
The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels...
chart. Airtight's Revenge has 4,800 copies in the United States.
Critical response
Airtight's Revenge received general acclaim from most music criticMusic criticism
See also Music journalism for reporting on classical and popular music in the media.The Oxford Companion to Music defines music criticism as 'the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres'. In this...
s. At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 87, based on 8 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". Allmusic writer Andy Kellman gave it four-and-a-half out of five stars and called it "one heavy, messy, dynamite album — one that could take a decade to be fully processed". BBC Online's Louis Pattison commended Bilal's lyrical substance and described the album as "often more experimental, albeit still steeped in the history of jazz and soul". Tyler Lewis of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
cited the album as "a generation-defining masterwork of unflinching vision" and wrote that it is "all about texture and musicality. Songs more than shout or intimate their ideas, they envelop you fully, so you feel the full weight of what it is Bilal is talking about". Steve Jones of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
gave it three-and-a-half out of four stars and complimented Bilal's "artistic breadth and emotional depth", as well as "his intoxicating blend of funk, blues, old-school R&B, prog rock and anything else from his sonic palette". Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
writer Jeff Weiss noted its "formless floating funk" and praised Bilal as "ludicrously soulful and endearingly experimental", calling the album "a soothing anodyne to the often over-processed come-ons that pass for contemporary R&B".
Mikael Wood of Time Out found it overlong and commented that "the second half especially bogs down with an abundance of noodly slow jams. But the strong stuff here is very strong". URBs Anupamistry wrote that it lacks "the cut-loose, flailing vocal work" of Bilal's previous work, but ultimately complimented its "more progressive, less structured, arranging" and called it a departure from "the Jazzmatazz
Jazzmatazz
Jazzmatazz may be a reference to:An album from the Jazzmatazz series of hip hop and jazz recordings from Guru , including:* Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1* Jazzmatazz, Vol. 2: The New Reality* Jazzmatazz, Vol. 3: Street Soul...
, Soulquarian
Soulquarians
The Soulquarians is a neo soul and hip hop-informed musical collective with members from Philadelphia, New York, Detroit, Richmond, Brooklyn, Chicago, Dallas, and Oakland. The collective formed during the late 1990s, continuing into the early 2000s, and produced several well-received albums...
-styled neosoul of the early 00’s". NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
writer Frannie Kelley called it "more electronic" than the Soulquarians' work and stated "A lot of care went into the construction of these songs, but little things [...] reveal a melancholy, romantic heart at the center". The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
s Nathan Rabin perceived a "brooding, airless intensity" and praised its "claustrophobic introspection and soul-searching". Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic
Sputnikmusic, or simply Sputnik, is a music website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites...
's Nick Butler it three-and-a-half out of five rating and found Bilal's songwriting as its strength, stating "musically, there are dozens of neo-soul records in the past three or four years that reach far beyond the limits of most of Airtight's Revenge [...] but nobody is writing or delivering lyrics like this. Emotionally, [it] is so revealing that it gets difficult to listen to". Mosi Reeves of Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
complimented his "rambling confessions" and wrote that the album "has its soul affectations, but even standard fare like 'Little One' bears Bilal's impressively reedy, insistent voice. He sounds like a man unburdening himself".
Philadelphia Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News
The Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The newspaper is owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Daily News began publishing on March 31, 1925, under...
writer Jonathan Takiff gave the album an A rating and commended Bilal for "taking neo-soul to a higher plateau", but commented that "this music has considerable appeal - as the next leap forward for those who've admired soul pioneers like Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
, Gil Scott Heron and Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
with a knack for speaking their minds and drawing in disparate segments of the population". The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
s A.D. Amorosi gave the album three-and-a-half out of four stars and stated "Bilal - the vocalist - opens the valves and bleats, glides, coos, and cajoles like Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
at his freest". Despite perceiving "a few overcooked rock guitar histrionics", David Dacks of Exclaim!
Exclaim!
Exclaim! is a monthly Canadian music magazine that features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with special focus on Canadian and cutting-edge artists...
viewed that the album "has something for everyone who appreciates the entire spectrum of soul", writing that "At its heart is the classic, album-oriented prog soul of the '70s, with a strong, jazzy undercurrent, but it's much more than that. Bilal's reedy, Sly-meets-Prince voice runs down metaphysical and personal subjects overtop a continuously changing musical landscape". In a year-end article on overlooked albums in 2010, Edna Gundersen of USA Today described Airtight's Revenge a "buried jewel that really deserved a wider audience", commenting that "It's personal, idiosyncratic, complex, dense, sophisticated and messy, a thoroughly contemporary soul record with a defiant indie-rock sensibility, which is why it never found a home on radio".
Track Listing
Personnel
Credits for Airtight's Revenge adapted from Allmusic.- Andrew Lojero – executive producer, A&R
- Miguel Atwood-Ferguson – strings, string arrangements, synthesizer strings
- Allen Avanessian – executive producer
- Junius Bervine – synthesizer, Fender Rhodes
- Stephan Brunner – electric bass
- Damon Bryson – tuba
- Jermaine Bryson – trombone
- Hawk Burns – executive producer
- Lamont Caldwell – saxophone
- Eric Coleman – photography
- DJ 88 Keys – producer
- Robert Glasper – piano, Fender Rhodes
- Jason Goldstein – mixing
- Masayuki Hirano – keyboards
- Derick Hodge – electric bass
- Shafiq Husayn – producer, drum programming
- Leon Jordan, Jr. – trumpet
- Frederick G. McIntosh – producer
- Steve McKie – drums, programming, producer, engineer, drum programming
- Arnold Mischkulnig – mastering
- Nottz – engineer, producer, drum programming
- Ben O'Neil – guitar
- Bilal Oliver – organ, synthesizer, piano, arranger, keyboards, vocals, producer, beat box, string arrangements, synthesizer bass, keyboard synthesizer
- Dan Raaf – engineer
- Mike Severson – guitar, electric guitar
- Tom Spiker – electric guitar
- Chuck Treece – electric guitar, rhythm guitar, effects
- Conley "Tone" Whitfield – bass, guitar, piano, electric bass, drums, bass guitar, producer, engineer
Charts
| Charts (2010) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
101 |
| US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
21 |
| US Billboard Independent Albums Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels... |
23 |
External links
- Airtight's Revenge at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...
- Airtight's Revenge at MetacriticMetacriticMetacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...