Cookie: the Anthropological Mixtape

A revolutionary soul singer in the true, society challenging sense, Cookie once again has N'degeocello eloquently pondering her favourite subjects: Black stereo types, sexual fulfilment, religion, social oppression and the evil of multinational corporations are all high on the lyrical agenda. Such socio-political banner waving may not be most people's idea of blissed-out listening, but N'degeocello's genius lies in the delivery.

Borrowing heavily from Gil Scott Heron's blue-print, her spoken word poetry and seductive choruses, sung in the voice of a spaced-out angel to equally hazy soul, jazz and ghetto funk make the civil rights rhetoric of "Dead Nigga Blvd. (Pt. 1)" and "Pocket Book"'s advice for a balanced life, as soothing as they are wise. Better still, the otherworldly sway, hushed melody and graphic murmur of "Trust", depicts sexual ecstasy with a tender beauty that the majority of R&B artists couldn't even begin to imitate. --Dan Gennoe