Raphael Saadiq - Jimmy Lee

2019 release from the the Grammy Award- winning musician, songwriter and go-to collaborator/producer. This collection is Raphael's first new album in eight years, and is the follow-up to 2011's Stone Rollin.' Jimmy Lee is a deeply personal, musically ambitious work inspired by his brother's struggles with addiction that explores the razor's edge people walk as they pursue pleasure that leads to pain - a brilliantly incisive and empathetic work from a master at the peak of his art. The album takes the listener from Saadiq's native Oakland to Rikers Island as he traces the everyday struggles of addiction and incarceration, taking in both the thrills and pitfalls he witnessed throughout his brother's life. Comprising narcotic funk, steely gospel affirmations, and quaking protest soul, Jimmy Lee is a resonant examination of modern life, in all it's exuberance, destruction and consequence.