McKinley Dixon: Magic, Alive! Neon Orange Vinyl LP

Why you'll love it

This City Slang pressing comes on neon orange vinyl. Magic, Alive! scored 83 on Metacritic, which marks universal acclaim, and Paste called it a conceptual, allegorical achievement.

This edition

Neon orange vinyl

About the album

Three kids lose their best friend, and instead of accepting it, they go looking for a way to bring him back. That's the story McKinley Dixon tells across Magic, Alive!, his fifth album and the follow-up to Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?, and it lets him ask what counts as magic in the first place: faith, spells, portals, belief in things you can't see, even the thrill of getting away with something.

Dixon raps over layers of live jazz instrumentation, horns and drums swelling and scattering like a full band in the room, and he lets the guests carry parts of the tale. Lead single "Sugar Water" brings in Quelle Chris and Anjimile, the title track came with its own video, and "Recitatif," "Run, Run, Run Pt. II" and "We're Outside, Rejoice!" keep the plot moving like chapters in a short story collection. "Listen Gentle" and "Could've Been Different" bring it home softly.

DIY praised the storytelling and the brightly painted cover art. It's an album with an actual plot, so you're allowed to read the sleeve while it plays; we'd call it homework, but nicer.

Also at Kops: more McKinley Dixon on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Tracklist

Tracks
1. Watch My Hands
2. Sugar Water
3. Crooked Stick
4. Recitatif
5. Run, Run, Run Pt. II
6. We’re Outside, Rejoice!
7. All the Loved Ones (What Would We Do???)
8. F.F.O.L
9. Listen Gentle
10. Magic, Alive!
11. Could’ve Been Different