Robert Glasper: Black Radio III (2LP) [LOMA VISTA]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set gives the album's 13 guest-packed tracks room over four sides, pressed in the EU. Black Radio III won Best R&B Album at the 65th Grammy Awards.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Pressed in the EU

About the album

Robert Glasper has spent a decade proving that jazz, hip hop and R&B are basically cousins who should get together more often. The first Black Radio won the Grammy for Best R&B Album in 2013, Black Radio 2 followed, and nearly ten years later he reopened the station with the biggest guest list yet.

"Black Superhero" brings Killer Mike, BJ the Chicago Kid and Big K.R.I.T., "Shine" pairs D Smoke with Tiffany Gouché, and "Why We Speak" gets Q-Tip and Esperanza Spalding trading lines. H.E.R. and Meshell Ndegeocello share "Better Than I Imagined," Lalah Hathaway and Common rework Tears for Fears on "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," Gregory Porter and Ledisi glide through "It Don't Matter," and Jennifer Hudson takes "Out of My Hands." Terrace Martin, Bryan-Michael Cox and Jahi Sundance helped Glasper produce, and Qmillion mixed the lot, keeping a late-night radio glow across all thirteen tracks.

Under all the stars, it's Glasper's keyboards that hold the whole thing together, warm and unhurried. The guest list is long enough to double as a festival poster, and we'd happily buy a ticket.

Also at Kops: more Robert Glasper on vinyl · browse Modern Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Loma Vista, the 2022 album.