'Mama's Gun', so called because it's the weapon "taking out the demons in my range" is Badu's antidote to the pressures of enormous and sudden fame that she experienced after the release of her fantastic debut album 'Baduizm' four years ago.
In response the Dallas native has created a womb of an album. It's a warm, soft, retreat from the outside world. Reading between the lines this means no hits. Even the already released 'Bag Lady' is present in a much slower, less catchy form.
Anyone who heard her track with Razhel, 'Southern Girl' will know the theme she's aiming for, that she's a simple country born artist trying to regain her soul from the grasping, demanding world of consumerism. As she says on '... & On' she's an "analogue girl in a digital world". As a cranberry juice drinking (good for the bladder), meditating, Vegan Badu is heavily into balance and 'Mama's Gun' is the counterweight to 'Baduizm'. Where her debut was light and jazzy, 'Mama's Gun' is heavy and grounded. Nowhere is this better illustrated than on the six minute opener (there's no intro) 'Penitentiary Philosophy' with its deep funk guitar and bass which sets the tone for an album of dense Afro musicality.
There's a strong 70s theme throughout the album, from the retro styled sleeve to the input from jazz funk legend Roy Ayres, his long time trumpeter Roy Hargroves , the Roots' Amir Thompson and Stephen Marley.
This album is really Badu's polite way of saying no to the mountain of praise and its attendant difficulties that have been dumped upon her. Perhaps the best track is 'In Love With You' with Stephen Marley (which loosely echoes Smokey Robinson's 'Being With You'), who himself succumbs to Badu's taste for scat. It's a sensual retreat of two souls into one. Again this an album of self-protection against a world of intrusion. Of turning inward as a defence to the pains of the material realm.
She still remains a great artist as her work with Outkast and D'Angelo has shown and her voice is still exquisitely reminiscent of old time jazz singers. Furthermore reading the printed lyrics shows what a wonderful poet she is. A Maya Angelou in the making. 'Mama's Gun' is definitely worth a pop. Just don't expect 'Baduizm' part 2.
