Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic, & Damu the Fudgemunk - "Tulips"

The collaborative album from Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic, and Damu the Fudgemunk is slowly shaping up to be the hip hop album of the year, or at the very least the hip hop/jazz hybrid album of the year. The second single, "Tulips," is another improvised song from the uncle/nephew team (Archie Shepp is Raw Poetic's uncle). The combination of live hip hop/jazz beats, Raw Poetic's vocals, and Shepp's saxophone is purely intoxicating. Much like the title suggests, "Tulips" is an undeniably positive, nearly sunny song. It's a free level of experimentation missing in today's overly produced hip hop world. 

Raw Poetic explains the song: "I let the spring vibe name the song, and the flower that bloomed was a tulip. Sometimes you gotta let the music spell it out.”

You can listen to "Tulips" below. Ocean Bridges, the collaborative album from Archie Shepp, Raw Poetic, and Damu the Fudgemunk, will be out May 22 on Redefinition Records. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Archie Shepp, check out his website. You can also check out Raw Poetic's website. You can find Damu the Fudgemunk on Facebook.