Choklate - Choklate
Every year there is three or four cd's that are pleasant surprises. You know, the ones that exceed your expectations. One of those cd's turned out to be the debut of Seattle's own Choklate. Choklate first came to my attention by appearing on the Kajmere Sound volume one compilation. The two tracks that appeared on that cd, "Waitin' & Bigger than you" were very good and peaked my interest. So when I picked up the cd I discovered that those two songs only scratched the surface of just how good this cd was. For starters, the track "Never change" finds Choklate gushing about how much she's feeling her man ("I feel you, and I hope that will never change"). Producer Vitamin D provides a smooth mid-tempo beat with nice guitar work. On the track "Heavy", producer Amos Miller provides a gritty, funky groove to the track. Meanwhile, Choklate lets you know what the deal is right from the start when she sings "strutting around with the world on my shoulders and emotion in my eye". There is an earthiness to Choklate's voice as well as the realness of her lyrics.
You get the sense that her words her a reflection of her life and you have received a free pass to enter it. On "What's about to go down", we're serenaded with a mellow groove complete with a tight horn section and clever organ work by Donyae Goodman.
On this track, Choklate sings about the need for us to pull together despite the struggles we're all going through in our lives. She breaks it down without sounding preachy when she says (We all need Jesus, especially our leaders!). What you have here is organic soul at its best. With tight production and smooth edgy beats throughout courtesy of Vitamin D, Jake One and Amos Miller. What you have here is fourteen songs of pure satisfaction. Easily one of the top ten cd's of 2006.
Don't sleep. Help yourself to some "Choklate".
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