In the sacred name of Throwback Thursday (even if posted a few minutes too late):

Romare is one of the most intriguing artists I've ever had the pleasure of researching. "Down the Line (It Takes a Number)", off of Romare's 2012 EP Meditations on Afrocentrism immediately caught my ear with its slow-dub, experimental juke/footwork sound. The soul and R&B influences come through from the samples he uses to put together his tracks.

Meditations on Afrocentrism is actually a kind of high-concept electronic music statement. The name of Romare as a musical project comes from Romare Bearden, an influential African-American artist and collagist. Similarly, Meditations is a musical collage of African-American culture created out of samples taken from songs, speeches, voices, songs from Africa, film, and of course music recordings. It all comes together to create what Romare calls "musical conversations between the past, present and future", something he is passionate about. I love this combination of passion, significance, mad talent and raw, soulful beats.

Check out Romare's latest EP, too (released March 2013) - Love Songs Part One.

posted by Staff
January 2014