Fullasoul Spins: Choklate - "To Whom It May Concern"
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Soul music fans old enough to remember 12-inch remixes are these days being frequently hit with terms like "neo soul", "hip hop soul", "indie soul" and, most to-the-point, "grown folk's music". It's interesting because one of the supposed benefits of being "grown" is not having to keep up with the newest way of referring to something old. Labels aside, what we're having a harder time finding these days is GOOD music...music that comes FROM the artist's soul and manages to touch the soul of it's listeners. With her sophomore album, "To Whom It May Concern", Choklate has once again managed to give us what we're looking for...GOOD music.
Choklate picks us up right from the get go and takes us "knee deep into some good ol' goodness" with "Sun's Out". Shining of the same positive spirit that tracks like Omar's "I'm Still Standing" or Incognito's "Positivity" do, it's difficult to not feel ready to make good things happen when this song's playing. Choklate manages to inspire again on "The Tea", a track that uses some clever samples to create a genuine disco groove that will have you looking up for a mirror ball.
Things get a bit more sensual on "Grown Folks". Reminiscent of a mid-90's Keith Crouch production, a melodic bass line laced with wah-wah guitar licks melts underneath Choklate's smooth vocals. A smart vocalist, Choklate's delivery changes to reflect the emotion she wants to convey. When she's clearly finished pretending a relationship is what it should be ("I'm Sorry"), the delivery becomes far more aggressive. Almost recalling a Dre-era hip hop track, A dark piano line creeps beneath heavy drum sounds to further paint Choklate's frustration. The instrumentation reflects the emotion again when Choklate shows her vulnerable side. On "The Blues", the horns are not unlike a smile trying to hide the inner pain that the stirring chord progression so clearly emotes.
The production, mostly provided by Derrick "Vitamin D" Brown, is top notch. Brown's ability to make those swirling 70's synth sounds work over heavy, hip hop flavored beats is well worth taking note of.
Choklate takes advantage of the freedom that being an independent artist allows. An artist working inside the big machine (ie signed to a major record label) could never fuse hip hop, R&B, classic soul and even (gasp) disco and still manage to have their album actually hit a store shelf...even if it were done as well as on "To Whom It May Concern". For that reason, it would almost be unfair to call out any of the few major label artists making soul music today. However, since one or two of them have really taken to trying to sell us "grown folk's music" lately (and some of it sounds closer to elevator music than soul music), they should most certainly be taking notice of Choklate after this second album. I AM "grown folk", and THIS is my music.
If you'd like to comment on this review, please feel free to drop by the Fullasoul Music Community and do so!
About the Author:David Damato has applied his knowledge and understanding of soul, funk and R&B music to a variety of different music business endeavors since 1987. He's worked for major record labels, written and produced music for radio and television, involved himself in music video production, and most things in between. He is the founder of Fullasoul Music, and currently maintains the online music community at fullasoul.com.
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