The American Negro


The American Negro is a studio album by American record producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Adrian Younge. It was released on February 26, 2021, through Jazz Is Dead. It received generally favorable reviews from critics.

Background

Adrian Younge is an American record producer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist from Los Angeles. The American Negro is a part of a multimedia project released to coincide with Black History Month. A four-episode podcast, Invisible Blackness with Adrian Younge, features guest appearances from Chuck D, Ladybug Mecca, Keyon Harrold, and Michael Jai White. A short film, T.A.N., is written, edited, directed, and scored by Younge.
The American Negro dissects "the evolution of racism in America and systemic challenges faced by people of color." In a 2021 interview, Younge said, "It's as if James Baldwin hooked up with Marvin Gaye to make a record produced by David Axelrod." The album's cover art depicts Younge hanging from a tree, designed to look like a lynching postcard. "James Mincey Jr." is a tribute song to the man of the same name, who was killed by police chokehold in 1982. He was the uncle of Loren Oden, who provides vocals on the song.
The album was released on February 26, 2021, through Jazz Is Dead.

Critical reception

Ammar Kalia of The Observer described the album as "a 26-track part-spoken word, part-orchestral examination of the structural racism underpinning the identity of modern America." He added, "it is Younge's impassioned spoken-word interludes – dissecting everything from the Frantz Fanon-referencing double consciousness of racial awareness to the creation of racism to solidify class structures – that give this record its unique tone and profundity." Charles Waring of Record Collector stated, "A mixture of spoken narrative and music, Younge channels the spirits of Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye, creating immersive jazz-infused soul and funk grooves." Andy Kellman of AllMusic commented that Younge "addresses the audience with warmth and love throughout the album, spreading knowledge and impelling action without being excessively didactic."
Meanwhile, Stephen Kearse of Pitchfork commented that "Younge is clearly writing from a place of real indignation, but his hamfisted diatribes are so lifeless and incoherent the record collapses under the inertia." He called The American Negro "a concept album without an essence, agitprop that doesn't know what it's agitating for, citing everything and saying nothing."

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.
  • Adrian Younge – dialogue, instruments, production, recording, mixing
  • Linear Labs Orchestra – performance
  • Loren Oden – chorus
  • Sam Harmonix – chorus
  • Chester Gregory – chorus
  • Jazmin Hicks – chorus, photography
  • Dave Cooley – mastering
  • Andrew Lojero – executive production
  • Julian Montague – album design