Georgia Anne Muldrow: Umsindo

Georgia Anne Muldrow has fans in high places. She was the first female artist signed to seminal West Coast underground label Stones Throw; she’s collaborated with Oh No and Madlib; and Mos Def liked “Roses”—a standout track from Muldrow’s new album Umsindo—so much that he borrowed it for his nifty comeback album The Ecstatic. Def has compared Muldrow to Amy Winehouse and J-Dilla, but while those comparisons are flattering, they don’t do justice to the singer’s utter singularity. Muldrow writes, produces, raps, composes, plays multiple instruments, and layers her intricate background vocals atop one another until she’s backed by an army of Georgia Anne Muldrows. Umsindo takes the retro Afrocentric vibe, freeform social consciousness, and organic, laid-back grooves of her breakthrough album Olesi: Fragments Of An Earth in thrilling new directions. On “Daisies,” a hypnotic five-minute slab of greasy Sly And The Family Stone funk, Muldrow even manages to make death sound fun and liberating, while “Kids” is a space-cadet version of Ed O.G. and Da Bulldogs’ “Be A Father To Your Child.” Muldrow’s optimism and idealism are infectious: The world looks a whole lot more magical when seen through her eyes.