[youtube id=”mAGYcyd29mA”]Georgia Anne Muldrow releases another video from her Overload album and this one is for “Blam.” Capricorn Clark, who directed the album’s title track, directed the latest video. Muldrow describes “Blam” as “An updated negro spiritual in aesthetic.” The song is about self-defense and Muldrow singing to young people about the relevance of Black people turning the other cheek when faced with racially-motivated violence. 

[youtube id=”fLa7B085rJs”]Georgia Anne Muldrow and Declaime (G&D) have a deadly police stop and come out of it with a winning hand in the video for “Protect Yourself/P.A.L.” The couple is pulled over by a trigger-happy cop and they articulate a scenario that happens too many times and create an unheard-of type ending. The tension and fear are present in the narrative but Muldrow’s vocals soothe the situation. The strength of her artistic resistance expresses something most Black people who have had this experience feel and imagine but know better than to attempt in real life. In seven and half minutes G&D retell an ugly story that has consumed Eric Garner, Oscar Grant III and so many others but the video’s ending somehow conjures hope out of their dream-like miracle. Black Love & War is out now and G&D will perform live in Brooklyn on October 25th at the BRIC Jazzfest Marathon. 

                         A Soulful Missive for Black Survival

Georgia Anne Muldrow and Declaime arrive with Black Love & War just as the country is seeing the term white supremacy enter the mainstream for the first time in the 21^st century. The longtime couple and musical partners have always been aware of racial divisions in their music and they start the album by reintroducing their perspective as Africans living in America with the bombastic “Where I’m From.” They are unapologetic about claiming their Blackness but they also make it known that they are people of the earth, the sun and stars. They course through the atmosphere with the heavy bottom of the drum and the accouterments of celestial synthesizers The foundations of P and G-Funk are interspersed with gospel conviction, soul and early B-Boy and B-Girl styles. Muldrow handles most of the production with additional work from Oh No and Mike & Keys. The heft of their message escapes the needling feeling of being preached to because the songs carry a party vibe like the driving beat of “Peace Peace” whose lyrics promise future contentment when “all them devils is dead.” The references to Black pop of the past expresses itself as guideposts for fresh articulation in the midst of an America that is wearing MAGA hats and celebrating Black Panther.

”The Battle” is part Isaac Hayes part disco and the blaxploitation chase scene overtones add urgency to Declaime’s narrative about terroristic violence from the police.

The duo’s critique of the world around them never lands in a rut of empty rhetoric because the pulsing music could just as easily be calling for a revolution on the dancefloor. Declaime’s bluesman street corner philosopher flow is flexible enough to offer sternness, humor and compassion. He is a protective father to his daughter on “So Pretti” but becomes a smart comic creating laughter inside the rebellion of “Slave Revolt Skit.” Muldrow’s hearty vocals feel like a directive leading Black people through a modern Underground Railroad to flee police killings, mass shootings and being arrested for Living While Black.

There can be no real revolution without love and the endorphin-producing “Smile” lights up with guest appearances from Aloe Blacc, Latoiya Williams and Ms. Dezy. Romantic love is one part of the intention but the radiance of “Smile” also celebrates self-love and morale-lifting affirmations. Declaime’s verses and Muldrow’s almighty vocals leave no room for interpretation especially when they are instructing Black folks on how to take a spiritual fighting stance in “The Battle.” But the sonic axis of funk can be subversive when they make the insurrection of “187” sound like an outtake from a Snoop Dogg record.

Black Love & War was intended to be an endurance manual for Black life but anyone weary of the lasting wickedness of the color line and has a love for the funk can a find a connection to G&D’s sentiment and sound.

[youtube id=”39H9VUs7xyE”]Georgia Anne Muldrow and Dudley Perkins get philosophical about the origins of their place in the universe on their new single “Where I’m From.” They cite physical location, the funk, a distant star and their parents as the places of their roots. Director Charles Sicuso filmed the video on a sunny day and the couple is surrounded by clouds, water and the highway. “Where I’m From” is included on their forthcoming album Black Love & War due August 9th under their G&D moniker.