M.anifest “The Birds and The Beats” Review

In 2007, then rookie and Minneapolis transplant (from Ghana) M.anifest released his debut album Manifestations to widespread critical acclaim. It was smart, retro and refreshing; as Prince said “All the critics love you in NY,” and in Minneapolis they did too. Since then M.anifest has stayed busy, releasing the A.R.M. EP with Ugandan native Krukid, writing with the Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Sarah White, and releasing a variety of other collaborative efforts including songs with Brother Ali and Muja Messiah. For the follow-up to his debut, M.anifest expands both his music and his writing, incorporating Afro-beat, hip-life, and American soul into his own unique version of hip hop with a global radar.

The album opens with the stutter-step R&B of “Born Free” which also features the sultry MC/vocalist Sarah White. The Fela-inspired “How I Used To Be” finds Mandi joining M.anifest on the chorus, “Broken memories of how I used to be…” M.anifest rolls on by flipping back and forth from English to his native languages over the course of the album. The Birds and The Beats continues with the bouncy “Golly Gosh” where he’s dropping jewels all over the place, “Make Mahmoud Ahmadinejad go bow wow/Rap game Mad Cow/Music held my freedom like immigration did Shyne.” He covers psychedelic soul-man Shafiq Husayn’s (Sa-Ra) “The U.N. Plan” on “Get Away (Shafiq Husayn Re-Fix).” Then there’s the seriousness of “Hubris” which is accompanied by lively horns and anchored by a sample of the Donny Hathaway classic “Little Ghetto Boy,” “Blinded by excitement, seeking new enlightenment, Ghana mind original, cynical these are fragments, our thoughts are lost, maybe homeless on the park bench.” The thoughtful, uptempo track “Walk Away” is a neo-soul joint with a scene stealing performance by Sarah White where she rhymes “Now you’re walking all over me… this will never be, you and me are just a melody, a song that’s never sung.”

The ladies get another shout out on the Common-like “My Lady” with Dodi Phy. M.anifest then declares himself an “African playwright,” on the sterling “Just Like A Lion.” The celebratory “Ghana, 52″ finds the MC blasting “Success is a stripper on a pole, just a tease,” while he continues the track by pondering what it means for his country to be “free,” yet still ravaged by crooked leaders, capitalism and colonial overview. On the most straight forward hip hop track, “Slow Your Roll,” Krukid (and fellow A.R.M. member) warns “This is the African Rebel Movement.” M.anifest then closes with a risky take on D’Angelo’s somber “Africa” with “D’Angelo Said (Africa Re-Fix).” Despite the off-the-mark and over-reaching “Still Hungry,” which sounds like Lupe Fiasco doing N.E.R.D., M.anifest still comes through as curious and talented new voice however.

The Birds and The Beats is loaded with bangers including “How I Used To Be,” “Hubris,” “Walk Away,” “Ghana 52,” and “Slow Your Roll,” which alone makes for a perfect companion to Most Def’s eclectic Ecstatic and K’naan’s sprawling Troubadour; both ambitious records based in hip hop with international perspectives. M.anifest is a true original, with a love for the genre that many take for granted while also being aware that he has a responsibility to say something; though he’s not afraid to show some vulnerability too. With a few more artists of African decent coming into the mainstream of the hip hop game and serving as ambassadors, it only makes sense that the ever-diversifying city of Minneapolis would help produce a first class artist in the Ghana native.

[Review by guest contributor Jon Jon Scott.]

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Also: Interview with M.anifest