I feel like the best gospel-R’nB comes out of the UK. Maybe it’s their distance from the source and religious origins of the music that makes it palatable to a secular, pop audience. I’m not entirely sure. All I know is that Jonah Mutono is doing it right. Formerly known as Kidepo, the London Born, US and Ugandan raised singer embraces his heritage and wrestles with saints and demons alike on his latest project
GERG. The album is a lovingly patient and emotionally insistent album that seeks to engage the listener in a sonorous interchange about loving your fellow men (both platonically and romantically) while reckoning with the scorn of some who claim their anger flows from the almighty themself. Mutono clearly believes that he is not put here on this Earth to be hated though, and his faith in himself and his place in the universe is a loving rebuke of the aspersions placed on him. With weighty, blissed-out production and a soothing presence, Mutono allows his personality to flourish on the track “Smith Johnson Williams Brown,” a soft and loving spiritual about the brotherhood of men with a title that combines the three most common last names of men in the United States. Other noteworthy cuts off
GREG include, “Shoulders” with its swinging, deep grooved, classic ‘80s vibe, as well as the urgent call-and-response of the neon-tinted, romantic root-kit “Circulation” which dips a toe in ‘90s trip-hop to great effect. See also, “South Bank,” a sober-minded break-up song wrapped in a ‘90s club jam, capturing the lonely rush of realizations that culminate in the death of a relationship, also the jaunty gospel-hop styled entreaty “The Low,” and the scintillating soul-extending caress of “I’ll See You” serve to variety to the seven-course serving of sex appeal the album dishes up. While some believe we each contain a spark of the divine, the dignity of each of our humanity is undeniable with or without deific intervention. The world may find reasons to disregard or shame you, but if there is one message you can take from Mutono’s
GREG, it is that you are worthy of love regardless of how others may see you.
Get a copy of
GREG from True Panther
here.
