Soul heads have known about Philadelphia’s Bilal since his killer debut in 2001, one of the most influential albums in the Neo Soul movement of the early 2000’s. But it wasn’t until his involvement with Kendrick Lamar’s “To Pimp A Butterfly” that he started to gain some universal recognition and also attracted a younger generation to his music.
On, “Butterfly” off his 2013 album “A Love Surreal,” he sings: “Butterfly/The struggle makes you beautiful/The struggle makes you fly/Spread your wings and be new again.” Bilal was ahead of his time.
On his new album “In Another Life” (released on BBE Music) Bilal explores the struggles of racism, love, materialism, and freedom providing us with a soulful body of work, which is as good as anything Bilal has released in the past. Kendrick Lamar and Big K.R.I.T also appear on the album with some fantastic verses. While this release has gone slightly under the radar, it is an undeniable future classic which deserves every bit of praise it gets.
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