Soul | 5ive Songs

1. Logic, “Soul Food II”

💿 No Pressure • 🏷 Def Jam • 🗓 2020

“Me and my team is finally reaping / What we been sowing like a seamstress…” Word! 🎵 “Soul Food II” is one of numerous highlights from 💿 No Pressure, the purported final studio album by Grammy-nominated rapper, 🎙 Logic.  The record directly follows up “Soul Food”, one off the gems from 💿 Under Pressure, not to mention being considered one of the best songs of Logic’s career.  There are two verses with each representing one of two distinct parts.  The aforementioned quote graces the first part, which focuses on his life, the industry, and such.  As for the second, we drift back to some nerdier 🤓  The Incredible True Story, space concept territory – “Accompanied by a girl inside their ear, her name was Thalia / Made of ones and zeros, she was a program.” Interesting to say the least!

2. The Killers, “My Soul’s Own Warning”

💿 Imploding the Mirage • 🏷 Island • 🗓 2020

🎙 The Killers get off to an electrifying start on their 2020 album, 💿 Implode the Mirage. Opener 🎵 “My Own Soul’s Warning” is the exemplification of ‘go big or go home!’ The production is epic and turned up to the nth degree.  Furthermore, front man Brandon Flowers is locked-in and from the jump. Flowers shows poise on the verse, but kicks things up a notch beginning with the pre-chorus (“I tried going against my own soul’s warning / And in the end, something just didn’t feel right”). He absolutely soars on the chorus, flexing his gorgeous tone as well as how truly powerful and potent he can be.

“But then I thought I could fly
And when I hit the ground
It made a messed up sound
And it kept on rattling through my days
And cutting up my nights
Like a goddamn knife
And it got me thinking, no matter how far
I just wanted to get back to where you are.”

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3. H.E.R., “Lost Souls”

Ft. DJ Scratch

💿 I Used to Know Her • 🏷 RCA • 🗓 2019

🎵 “Lost Souls,” featuring 🎙 DJ Scratch, marks one of the standouts from 💿 I Used to Know Her, the second compilation from Grammy-winning R&B artist, 🎙 H.E.R.  The brief “Lost Souls” has 🎙 Lauryn Hill written all over it.  For one, it samples Hill’s classic, 🎵 “Lost Ones” from her 1998 masterpiece, 💿The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.  Besides the prominence of the sample, and that vintage 90s hip-hop sound, H.E.R. emulates Hill lyrically and in regard to how she performs the song.  “Confusing self-conscious with self-confidence,” she raps with attitude on the first verse, continuing, “So you monogamous, but body positive / Post pills you swallowing for a following / What he got to offer? He don’t see the kids that he fathering.” Like Ms. Hill, H.E.R. is woke AF lyrically.

It’s summed up brilliantly with the titular lyric, which appears on the chorus:

“A lost soul can’t lead the people, no
A lost soul can’t lead the people, nah
A lost soul can’t lead the people, no
A lost soul can’t lead the people, uh.”

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4. TOOL, “Pneuma”

💿 Fear Inoculum • 🏷 Tool Dissectional, L.L.C. / Volcano Entertainment II, L.L.C.  • 🗓 2019

“Wake up, remember / We are born of one breath, one word / We are all one spark, sun becoming…” 💿 Fear Inoculum, the long-awaited fifth studio album by 🎙 TOOL, arrived in 2019, and debuted robustly at number one on the Billboard 200.  Among the standouts from the album is the lengthy 🎵 “Pneuma,” a track that runs just shy of 12 minutes. Despite being a slowly evolving record, “Pneuma” is characterized by ample rhythm, metric shifts, and that ‘vibe’ that only TOOL could ultimately construct. While it’s clean and light at certain times, there are plenty of moments where the guitars dig in, and the drums totally pummel.  And if you were curious what a pneuma is and what its connection was is to this list, well, it’s soul; spirit. The spiritual references of the lyrics truly stand out.

5. Jon Bellion, “New York Soul – Pt. ii”

💿 The Human Condition • 🏷 Capitol • 🗓 2016

Yes, the alt pop of 🎙 Jon Bellion can be an acquired taste – it’s not for everybody! That said, Bellion didn’t merely strike gold with “All Time Low” from his 2016 album, 💿 The Human Condition. The songwriter and producer also came through with the banging 🎵 “New York Soul, Pt. II,” an ‘out of character’ joint when compared to the rest of the album.  One thing’s for sure, he keeps things captivating with “New York soul – Pt. ii” within the context of The Human Condition. Bellion affirms his ‘New York-ness,’ dropping some dope-ass rhymes on the verses.  He isn’t shy when it comes to dropping names, including the likes of baller 🏀 Kevin Love (“New Yorker in California, packed Brooklyn up in this bag / I’m in Malibu with the Bronx, she’s in Kevin love with your man”) and musical icons, including 🎙 Billy Joel (“A juxtaposition, Sam Cooke, Billy Joel, Steely Dan / Changing the fucking spectrum, I need you to understand”).