Episode 82: Sy Smith on Meshell Ndgeocello’s “Plantation Lullabies” (1993)

Episode 82

18th April 2019

We’re talking to singer/songwriter Sy Smith about “Plantation Lullabies” by past guest, Meshell Ndegeocello. We’re diggin this episode like an old soul record.

Episode notes

The Album: Meshell Ndgeocello Plantation Lullabies (1993)

When Plantation Lullabies first hit the scene back in 1993, there wasn’t anything really like it. Meshell Ndgeocello was a bald, badass, and bold woman with bars talking about sexuality, racism, and gender relations while paving the way for neo-soul music and artists.
Plantation Lullabies gave us many, many things, and Sy Smith (who has played alongside Meshell for years) came by the studio to talk to us about it. We discuss the impact it had on neo-soul, the shades of funk and go-go throughout the record, and the freedom it offered to black America.
Settle in, because this episode and this album are essential to any Heat Rocker.

More on Sy Smith

More on Plantation Lullabies

Show Tracklisting (all songs from Plantation Lullabies unless indicated otherwise):

  • Soul On Ice
  • Sy Smith: Sometimes A Rose Will Grow In Concrete
  • Dred Loc
  • If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night)
  • Picture Show
  • Shoot’n Up and Gett’n High
  • If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night)
  • Plantation Lullabies
  • I’m Diggin’ You – Like An Old Soul Record
  • Dred Loc
  • Call Me
  • Untitled
  • Meshell Ndegeocello: Nocturnal Sunshine
  • Meshell Ndegeocello: Rush Over
  • If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night)
  • Soul On Ice

Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there

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In this episode...

Guests

  • Sy Smith

About the show

Hosted by Oliver Wang and Morgan Rhodes, every episode of Heat Rocks invites a special guest to talk about a heat rock – a hot album, a scorching record. These are in-depth conversations about the albums that shape our lives.

Our guests include musicians, writers, and scholars and though we don’t exclusively focus on any one genre, expect to hear about albums from the worlds of soul, hip-hop, funk, jazz, Latin, and more.

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