Robert Glasper preps 'Black Radio 3,' shares H.E.R. & Meshell Ndegeocello collab, playing March on DC
Robert Glasper has been leading the charge on jazz/hip hop crossover for going on two decades, and he continues to be at the forefront of the movement. This year alone, his new band Dinner Party released their great debut album and Glasper joined his Dinner Party bandmates Terrace Martin and Kamasi Washington for Racism On Trial, and now Glasper has announced the long-awaited third album in his Black Radio series.
Black Radio 2 came out all the way back in 2013, and its followup Black Radio 3 is officially due in 2021. Exact release date is still TBA, but first single “Better Than I Imagined” (ft. H.E.R. and Meshell Ndegeocello) is out now. It’s a seamless blend of jazz and neo-soul, and H.E.R. and Meshell’s voices sound great over Glasper’s instrumental backdrop. Glasper says:
“Better Than I Imagined” is an ardent dedication to the value and virtue of Black love. Robert explains the meaning behind the song, “No one wants a life without love, but we have generations of people in our community who haven’t had the tools to actually be in healthy relationships. It seems like people are finally ready to open their eyes to systemic racism in this country, and if we’re going to talk about it, we have to also talk about how it affects our relationships.
He also adds:
Black lives matter and so does black love; no one wants a life without love, but we have generations of people in our community who haven’t had the tools to actually be in healthy relationships. It seems like people are finally ready to open their eyes to systemic racism in this country, and if we’re going to talk about it, we have to also talk about how it affects our relationships — how we communicate, how we see ourselves, how we treat each other. It’s not always good, even though maybe it could be.
Listen to the new song below.
Robert Glasper will also be performing at the March on Washington this Friday (8/28), 57 years to the date of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Glasper and frequent collaborator Derrick Hodge will be playing live and in-person, and their performance will be televised on MSNBC.
