![]() ![]() On a pure songwriting level, what makes this record especially engaging is just seeing what kinds of disparate songs Sudan will conjure up next and how well each plays to her strengths. The looseness of this narrative is ultimately to the record’s benefit, as Sudan’s lyrical attention to the intersections and overlaps of various thematic elements not only makes Natural Brown Prom Queen more rewarding on repeat listens but allows the songs to breathe and exhilarate on their own terms. Natural Brown Prom Queen’s loose overarching story goes like this: A semi-autobiographical tale, the album follows a Cincinnati girl named Britt as she finds her way to Hollywood, navigating her sense of home, family, desire, Black womanhood, and place in the world around her. Just as the album never strictly adheres to a single descriptor, Sudan weaves a sprawling record-length narrative that defies attempts to narrowly reduce the person at the center. Each turn into pop, R&B, electronica, and rap fleshes out Sudan’s larger intent of writing about the multifaceted nature of identity. ![]() It’s not just the ease with which Sudan moves through so many styles that makes Natural Brown Prom Queen impeccable. The choice to decentralize the violin is essential to the overall aims of the record, which redefines what a Sudan Archives album can sound like as part of a larger refusal to let herself be pigeonholed. The violin remains in the mix, often as a crucial element driving a track home, whether in the disco flourishes of opener “Home Maker” and the fiddle lead of “TDLY (Homegrown Land)” or subtly transformed into bass lines and drum loops.īut describing Sudan solely as a “violinist” doesn’t do justice to how versatile she’s become - as a singer, rapper, songwriter, and conceptualist. ![]() While her previous record often used her background as a self-taught violinist as the core for melodies and beats - centering the instrument more often than not - its diversions like hip-hop highlight “Glorious” paved the way for Natural Brown Prom Queen’s emboldened genre-breaking aspirations. Though the album is wholly distinct from her debut LP Athena, it’s not altogether a departure for Sudan (the artistic moniker of Brittany Parks). ![]()
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