A SEAT AT THE TABLE (CD) | Mint (M) Mint (M)

BRAND NEW

Label: Columbia – 88985 38746 2, Saint Records (6) – 88985 38746 2
Format: CD, Album, Digipak
Country: US
Released: Nov 18, 2016
Genre: Electronic, Hip Hop, Funk / Soul
Style: Soul, Contemporary R&B

1        Rise
Bass, Composed By, Executive-Producer, Lyrics By, Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Composed By, Lyrics By – Ahmir Thompson*, Devon Welsh, Matthew Otto
Composed By, Lyrics By, Producer – Raymond Angry
Producer – Majical Cloudz, Questlove
Synthesizer – Dylan Wiggins, Patrick Wimberly
1:41
2        Weary
Composed By, Executive-Producer, Lyrics By, Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Composed By, Lyrics By – Dylan Wiggins
Performer – Tweet
Producer – Sir Dylan
3:14
3        Interlude: The Glory Is In You
Executive-Producer, Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Producer – Sir Dylan
0:17
4        Cranes In The Sky
Composed By, Executive-Producer, Lyrics By, Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Synthesizer – John Kirby*
4:10
5        Interlude: Dad Was Mad
Executive-Producer, Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Producer – Dave Longstreth*, Sir Dylan
0:46
6        Mad
Composed By, Executive-Producer, Lyrics By, Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Composed By, Lyrics By – David Longstreth, Dwayne Carter, Dylan Wiggins
Featuring – Lil Wayne
Producer – Dave Longstreth*, Sir Dylan
3:55
7        Don't You Wait
Bass – Patrick Wimberly
Bass, Composed By, Lyrics By – Troy Johnson (3)
Bass, Producer – OLUGBENGA
Composed By, Guitar, Lyrics By – Adam Bainbridge, David Longstreth
Composed By, Lyrics By – Sey Kwesi*, Olugbenda Adelekan*, Sampha Sisay
Executive-Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Producer – Dave Longstreth*, Kwes*, Sampha
4:05
8        Interlude: Tina Taught Me
Executive-Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Featuring – Sampha
Producer – Bryndon Cook, Dave Andrew Sitek*, Patrick Wimberly, Sampha
1:14
9        Don't Touch My Hair
Bass, Bells, Composed By, Lyrics By, Producer – Bryndon Cook
Bass, Executive-Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Composed By, Lyrics By – Dave Sitek*, Sampha Sisay
Composed By, Lyrics By, Producer – Patrick Wimberly
Producer – Dave Andrew Sitek*
4:17
10        Interlude: This Moment
Executive-Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Producer – Adam Bainbridge
Voice [Spoken Word] – Solange Knowles
0:49
11        Where Do We Go
Composed By, Executive-Producer, Lyrics By, Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Composed By, Lyrics By – Dylan Wiggins, Sey Kwesi*
Composed By, Lyrics By, Producer – Patrick Wimberly, Sean Nicholas Savage
Producer – Kwes*
4:24
12        Interlude: For Us By Us
Executive-Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Producer – John Kirby*
Voice [Spoken Word] – Solange Knowles
0:52
13        F.U.B.U.
Composed By, Lyrics By – David Longstreth, Terius Nash
Composed By, Lyrics By, Producer – Rostam Batmanglij
Executive-Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Featuring – BJ The Chicago Kid, The-Dream
Performer – Tweet
Producer – Dave Longstreth*
5:13
14        Borderline (An Ode To Self Care)
Bass – Josh David
Bass, Executive-Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Composed By, Lyrics By – Kamaal Fareed, Stephen Garrett, Timothy Mosley
Drums, Keyboards, Producer – Q-Tip
Featuring – Q-Tip
Guitar – Chris Sholar*
Keyboards – Casey Benjamin
Piano – John Kirby*
3:02
15        Interlude: I Got So Much Magic, You Can Have It
Executive-Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Featuring – Kelly Rowland, Nia Andrews
Voice [Spoken Word] – Solange Knowles
0:26
16        Junie
Composed By, Executive-Producer, Lyrics By, Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Composed By, Lyrics By – Andre Benjamin
Composed By, Lyrics By, Piano, Producer – John Kirby*
3:06
17        Interlude: No Limits
Executive-Producer – Raphael Saadiq, Solange Knowles
Producer – John Kirby*
Voice [Spoken Word] – Solange Knowles
0:39
18        Don't Wish Me Well
Composed By, Lyrics By – Sey Kwesi*, Sampha Sisay
Composed By, Lyrics By, Producer – Adam Bainbridge, David Longstreth
Executive-Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Producer – Kwes*, Sampha
4:15
19        Interlude: Pedestals
Executive-Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Piano – Solange Knowles
Voice [Spoken Word] – Solange Knowles
0:57
20        Scales
Composed By, Lyrics By – Sey Kwesi*
Composed By, Lyrics By, Producer – David Longstreth, Patrick Wimberly
Engineer – Alex 'Cores' Hayes
Executive-Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Featuring – Kelela
Producer – Kwes*
3:39
21        Closing: The Chosen Ones
Executive-Producer – Raphael Saadiq
Horn – Dontae Williams, Kevin Williams (3), Leon Silva*
Voice [Spoken Word] – Solange Knowles
0:42
Distributed By – Columbia Records
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Columbia Records
Copyright © – Columbia Records
Glass Mastered At – Sony DADC – DIDX-1083230
Composed By, Lyrics By, Executive Producer, Producer – Solange Knowles
Engineer [Mastering] – Dave Kutch
Engineer [Mixing], Engineer [Recording] – Mikaelin "Blue" Bluespruce*
Engineer [Recording] – Blair Wells, Bobby Campbell, Gloria Kaba, Hotae Alexander Jang, Jake Aron, Ken Oriole, Nino Villanuova*, Steve Rusch, Thayod Ausar, Troy Johnson (3), Victor Wainstein
Performer – Solange (2)
Producer – Troy "R8DIO" Johnson*
Producer [Assistant] – Kevin Peterson
Digipak.
Came with a booklet with lyrics/credits.
Parental Advisory Explicit Content on front cover.
Barcode (Printed [UPC-A]): 8 89853 87462 0

Audio Mixer: Mikaelin Bluespruce. Solange Knowles started writing her third album in New Iberia, Louisiana, a town where her maternal grandparents lived until a Molotov cocktail was thrown into their home. That setting helps explain how A Seat at the Table turned out drastically different from Knowles' previous output. There's no revisitation of beachy retro soul-pop and new wave akin to "Sandcastle Disco" or "Losing You." Nothing has the humor of "Some Things Never Seem to Fucking Work" or the bluntness of "Fuck the Industry." There certainly aren't any love songs in the traditional sense. Instead, surrounded by a collaborative throng that includes Raphael Saadiq, Dave Longstreth, and Adam Bainbridge, Knowles composed and produced alleviating pro-black reflections of frustration and anger. They regard persistent dehumanizing burdens dealt to her and other persons of color in a country where many are hostile to the phrase "Black Lives Matter" and the equality-seeking organization of the same name. Remarkably, tender elegance is the mode for much of the album's duration, as heard in the exquisitely unguarded "Cranes in the Sky" and dimly lit left-of-center pop-R&B hybrids "Don't You Wait" and "Don't Wish Me Well." Those songs crave release and reject character assassination and stasis while hinting at inevitable fallout. Their restrained ornamentation and moderate tempos are perfectly suited for Knowles, an undervalued vocalist who never aims to bring the house down yet fills each note with purposeful emotion. When the rhythms bounce and the melodies brighten, as they do during a short second-half stretch, the material remains rooted in profound grief and mystified irritation. In "Borderline," a chugging machine beat and a lilting piano line form the backdrop of a scene where Knowles and her partner tune out the world for the sake of their sanity. Then, after Nia Andrews and Kelly Rowland's half minute of proud harmonic affirmation, along comes "Junie," a squiggling jam on which Andr? 3000 makes like the track's namesake (Ohio Players and Parliament legend Junie Morrison), where Knowles delivers a sharp metaphorical smackdown of a cultural interloper like it's merely an improvised postscript. All of the guests, from Lil Wayne to Kelela, make necessary appearances. The same goes for Knowles' parents and Master P, who are present in the form of short interludes in which they discuss segregation, self-reliance, cultural theft, and black pride. These segues shrewdly fasten a cathartic yet poised album, one that weighs a ton and levitates. ~ Andy Kellman

• Media Condition: Mint (M)
• Sleeve Condition: Mint (M)
• Format Detail: CD
• Format: CD
• Genre: FUNK
• Format Type: CD
• Released: 11/18/2016