SO.CRATES - Malcolm After Mecca 2xLP

Label:Music in Exile

Beloved,

This is a warning from a certain general. As the introduction of this record clearly states, this record is not explicitly or exclusively about the great legacy of our dear Brother Malcolm. This record is not an ode or a retrospective. Put your ear to Phil Cohran and his Artistic Heritage Ensemble for that proper majesty. No this wax is not that at all.

The Price of Forgiveness.

So then what are we to make of this record with a heavy name? In my humble opinion it is at its heart two artists beginning the exploration of a PROGRAM. Malcolm After Mecca is indeed a program of self-actualization. The function that takes A to Z. The unpacking of what made the A in the first place and why it should aspire to that distant, hard knock, got-to-see-it-to-be-it Z.

“Observe the absurd parallel life-lines…” That all black rubiks cube I tend to call here and now. So true, we will all go back to the stars eventually. But what do we bring back with us to the hereafter? What becomes of the lessons in the mean between? Lord knows these cats don’t have a clue and yet they still reason over beats and I can dig that.

Cross the fader.

One inner G states, “I know who I am because I believe it.” Him gone. Another young blood drunken, fine and on fire states, “I’m here but I’d rather be in Atlanta shooting [redacted]! How sad is that?” Cold as a San Francisco Holiday but we can’t forget it. We have to find a better way for his sake.

We need a program.
As we proceed.
Prof. Marcell Birmingham Shipp