Sailing Soul(s) Review

Aiko made this after her first major-label years came to nothing and after the birth of her daughter, and the title is the thesis. She has told the story of a label meeting where she was told she had to sell herself, and she decided to sail her soul instead. The record sounds like that decision. Fisticuffs produced most of it, all hazy keys and unhurried drums, and her voice sits close to a whisper in the middle of the mix, which was not what R&B singers were being asked to do in 2011.

The guest list is remarkable for a free download, with Drake, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, Miguel and Gucci Mane on it, but the songs that stay are the ones she carries alone. She wrote everything except July, and the writing is already hers: plainspoken, a little wounded, and funny when you least expect it.

It is a mixtape and it plays like one, with a middle stretch that runs together. As the first draft of the voice that Sail Out and Chilombo refined it is essential listening; as a record in its own right it is good rather than great.