Born & Raised [IMPORT]

Joy Denalane

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 18, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Four Music
• ASIN: B000LP5FBS
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #156,003 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Change - Joy Denalane, Lupe Fiasco

2. Let Go

3. Be Real

4. Heaven or Hell - Joy Denalane, Raekwon

5. One in a Milliion

6. For the Love

7. 7 Year Itch

8. Caught Up

9. Stranger in This Land

10. Start Over

11. Born & Raised

12. Something Stirrin' Up - Joy Denalane,

13. Despite It All

14. Soweto '76 - '06

15. Sometimes Love

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Sophomore album from the German vocalist, best known for her work with Tiefschwarz, Youssou N'dour, Common and others. Born & Raised is her first all-English album and was recorded in Philadelphia. Features a bevy of guest musicians including Lupe Fiasco, Raekwon and Governor. 15 tracks including 'Change', 'Be Real' and 'For The Love'. Four Music. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars She is ready to take off !, March 6, 2007

By	Joel_The_Dapper (Paris, France) - See all my reviews

Joy Denalane hails from South Africa, has a German dad and arrives on the 2007 Soul Scene as one of the best kept secrets of the last 5 years or so.
Back in 2002 she released her first set "Mamani". That album, released in Germany, was a multilingual affair, whilst this album positions her very much in the contemporary R & B field.
Joy has an almost child-like delivery vocally and the Alicia Keys influences really come to the fore on the likes of "One In A Million".
"7 Year Itch" is a lovely old skool style Soul ballad. Very Seventies sounding. Other highlights are the lilting ballad duet with Governor "Something Stirrin Up" and "Change" a great up-tempo nu soul track that not even Lupe Fiasco's spoken rap can deflect from.
"Sometimes Love" is another nice ballad, "Start Over" a great dancer, and the title track a highly melodic mid tempo offering.
She even gets political on her personal take regarding the developments in "Soweto 1976 - 2006".
It's a very satifying album that will appeal to both new and old school soul fans from great new vocalist who sounds a little bit like Angie Stone and Mary j Blige.
The album was recorded in Philadelphia with full instrumentation, strings and horns arranged by Larry Gold.
Not since Mary J Blige has a female R&B artist sung with such conviction. Intelligent lyrics, a stunning voice, and collaborations with Lupe Fiasco and Raekwon make this debut in US a must.
Great album that will probably be amongst the top albums of 2007.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soulful album from German songstress, December 6, 2006

By	M.E. Smith "lilgracie" (Athens, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Born & Raised (Audio CD)

I am a fan of Joy Denalane's from the Global Soul collection by Putumayo and her first album "Mamani" (which I highly recommend). While the first album combined (neo)soul with some South African rhythms in a multilingual cocktail of her father's South African tongue, German (it never sounded so soulful) and English, this album is entirely in English. While Ms. Denalane could have taken the easy route to try and insert herself in an already saturated R&B/hip hop market to be the next Beyonce, Ciara, Rhianna (the list is endless), she decided to take a step back-and forward-mixing '70's soul with some really nice collaborations. And the album is a great departure from some of the more mainstream themes : it's not just advice for the ladies or romantic interludes, but also a continuation of social themes dear to her: striving to achieve (Born &Raised), black pride and survival (Stranger in this Land), the most pressing issues in South Africa (Soweto 70-06: the original in German is on the first album ) and a critique of the music industry (For the Love). All in all I highly recommend it (especially if you like Les Nubians for example and later Zap Mama) and hope it will get the airplay and recognition it deserves. This album (like the first) goes a long way to debunking the still held belief that good soul is a U.S. commodity (open your eyes: our brothers and sisters overseas are making some good soulmusic too).

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Siren!, August 27, 2007

By	Angela J. Bass "ajb_80" (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Joy Denalane is a siren! Her voice can soothe, enrage, move, and engage. However, a good intro to Joy's music is her debut album, "Mamani," which is almost entirely in German, save for a nice cover of "I Cover the Waterfront." On "Mamani" you'll gauge the depth of her soul and really FEEL her as she sings, even if you don't understand a lick of German! (She was "born and raised" in Berlin, Germany; her father is a black South African; and her late mother was a white German.)

That's not to say that "Born & Raised" isn't also very soulful, but that as an African American-targeted all-English album, she has risked sameness by diving into a vast ocean of other highly talented American soul-singers. In her quest to appeal to an American market, she has managed to somewhat extinguish what truly distinguishes her.

But her saving grace is the fact that SHE CAN SING, and beautifully! Joy has most certainly done her soul music homework, so one needn't doubt her ability to aptly express the emotionality, and mixture of pain and "joy" that define the genre. Her lyrics are always intelligent, empowering and poetic.

So, "B&R" is a great album, but not as inspired as "Mamani," which I encourage those who haven't yet to check out first, or at least buy it along with "B&R."