sonically and thematically, expo expo is intergalactic. m-flo spearheads a wonderful mix of jpop/jazz/hiphop/r&b—often with bilingual delivery. you start on one planet, end on another, and somewhere in-between you're doin something funky. maybe a lil stanky leg on Jupiter. just a lil.
equal parts contemporary and zaney, this album is what i'd imagine black eyed peas in the 90s would sound like if they were japanese.
usually, i find myself extra critical of international r&b and hip-hop because it's a genre with origins so tightly intertwined with black identity. if not done right, it can come off as careless, overtly shallow, or my worst nightmare—a clear capital grab off of another's culture. disregarding the art, words can be rapped with no agency or soul backed by production littered with stolen breakbeats.
fortunately, m-flo is far from these troughs! they got the care and swag to boot. lisa got the vocals on lock, gliding silky like prime TLC. she's the r&b diva on every track, including the interludes (which are suuper fun btw, never skip those). admittedly, i don't know what mc verbal is saying on most of this but love his energy and delivery. he just be splattering word paint all over the wall, with taku's beats somehow keepin em within the lines. on "prism," (and this is a quote) he says "Interplanetary pirates get feisty."
yeah
y'kno what? yeah. interplanetary pirates get feisty!
