Erykah Badu: New Amerykah, Pt. 1 (World War 4)

New Badu and she comes pretty strong from the start. You get very little of her neo-soul stylings of the past here. This thing's all hip hop, mostly in the underground/experimental end of the spectrum. Lots of darkness and unusual beats all around. A little spotty in points and a bit convoluted, but some great tracks, like The Healer and others. The more you listen, the more its disjointed nature seems to fall together. I've played this a ton over the weekend, and it sounds better with passing plays. And, even if you're not into the whole heavy vibe of the record, she even tacked on a little r&b good time number in Honey at the end. The whole thing closes out with the promise of Amerykah Pt. 2 Return of the Ankh coming soon. I'm looking forward to it.