Georgia Anne Muldrow - Kings Ballad

Fresh from collaborating with Mos Def, Georgia Anne Muldrow returns with an offering of 19 of her own fonk-packed tracks. Such a sprawling, skit-free track listing is impressive enough in hip-hop, but when you consider that Muldrow is also finishing her first year of motherhood, it becomes an even more admirable. The album is littered with jittery beats, which fortunately manage to avoid sounding clichéd in an era of J Dilla wannabe wonkiness. In addition, there's a distinct George Clinton vibe to Summer Love, stripping away the misogyny of G-Funk and coating it in feminine loveliness. Not content to traverse the jazz-hop territory she’s become known for, Muldrow experiments with garage rock (Room Punk), and buzzing electro (Thatch), the former featuring a charmingly censored utterance of the phrase “mutha loving”. The first decent hip-hop release of the year, and one that conjures up hope for an all-too-distant summer.[Joe Barton]