El Michels Affair Join Forces with Black Thought for Cinematic Soul Live Sample-heavy Album Glorious Game & "Grateful" Single (Big Crown Records)
When Leon Michels and his El Michels Affair (EMA) released their first record, Sounding Out The City, in 2005, it was hard to guess what was next for Michels and his then-introduced, now-patented "Cinematic Soul" sound. Now, four EMA studio albums and scores of tribute and remix projects later—all while producing for some of the biggest names in the industry—Michels has trademarked his sound with each project taking audiences somewhere new and pushing the boundaries even further. Michels has racked up both song-writing and production credits with JAY-Z/The Carters, Adele, Kid Cudi, Charles Bradley, Common, Rick Ross, Ludacris, Travi$ Scott, Mark Ronson, Norah Jones, Lizzo, and Mary J. Blige. The man is a river, not a lake, and this time he takes his golden touch into the realm of Hip-Hop laying down a musical bed for one of the greatest to ever rhyme into a microphone: Black Thought of The Legendary Roots Crew. Set to be released on Michels' own Big Crown Records, their collaborative album is called Glorious Game and it is a remarkable debut partnership in more ways than one.
Michels provides his bottom-heavy, Soul-tinged production as a soundbed for Black Thought, who delivers some of the more personal and transparent verses we've ever heard from him. Michels and Black Thought have been in each other's orbits for about the past 20 years. The two first met in the 2000's when Thought was first getting familiar with the Contemporary Soul scene. "Out of that whole world, Menahan Street Band was probably my favorite," Black Thought says, re-calling the Funk & Soul group Michels was a founding member of back in 2007. Fast-forward a few years and musicians from that very same collective—specifically, trumpet player Dave Guy and saxophonist Ian Hendrickson-Smith—are now full-time players with The Roots, as well as Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show Band. This connection, eventually, led Leon & Thought to doing a few fundraising events around NYC & Philly together. "Before long, Black Thought was coming around the studio and would jam with us from time to time," Michels explains. "Then, fast-forward to 2020 and COVID Lockdowns, he just hit me up out of the blue, wanting me to send him stuff to write to. We both were looking to stay busy."
Considering Black Thought's 36 year-long career with arguably the best live Hip-Hop band in the land, The Roots, Michels took a decidedly different approach to Glorious Game; instead of sending pre-recorded tracks of live compositions, he pulled out the sampler and sampled himself, plus, some records from his own collection. For Glorious Game, Michels would hand-craft wholly composed and recorded Soul songs in his studio, sample himself, then, chop and/or loop up his sounds to create fresh instrumentals for Black Thought. Although, on specific tracks, Michels took a more traditional Hip-Hop approach, starting from samples of other people's music, but, then, adding live instrumentation on top. However, for the most part, Glorious Game is Leon Michels re-interpreting his own compositions into something new. The first single titled "Grateful"—a thick, low-end banger with a haunting flute line—gives you a nice sonic peek into how the record will play out. Black Thought's verses lay heavy in the way we've come to love: cadences that walk a line in-between street teacher and poet, explanation and experience, as he pays homage to what's come before him and how it's made him.
"To me," Black Thought recounts about Glorious Game, "these songs are like scenes from a film that is my life. That's the way it evolved." And with his pure lyrical skill on full display and Michels' custom-made approach to making beats, this record is a bit of a rarity in today's Hip-Hop atmosphere: there are no flashy guest features and no attempts to be on-trend. "This is an effing Rap record. He's a story-teller; the point is to listen to the story. It's not a verse-chorus, verse-chorus approach. Listen to what he has to say and the way he has to say it." Leon Michels & Black Thought previously played together on "Conquer & Divide" from 2021's El Michels Affair Meets Liam Bailey - Ekundayo Inversions, which Michels produced, as well as the original version, simply titled Ekundayo, released on Big Crown in 2020. Thought, also, appeared on a digital and 7-inch single-exclusive remix version of Bailey's "Champion," as well. Glorious Game will boast features from Son Little AKA long-time Roots affiliate Aaron Livingston, KIRBY, who co-wrote both K**** W*** & Paul McCartney's "FourFiveSeconds" and "Only One," and Big Crown signees Brainstory. El Michels Affair & Black Thought's Glorious Game will be released April 14, 2023 on Big Crown Records. It's currently available for pre-order from The Big Crown Records Web-store.
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