NEW YORK — Marsha Ambrosius was ready with the requirements for a successful R&B-star, including the wear and tear of touring and the fickle politics of the music industry. She was content to work behind the scenes and write for other artists. But Dr. Dre had a recipe to rejuvenate her desire on stage.
“I didn’t want to do a project,” the Grammy-nominated artist said. “I checked off my bucket list, everything I wanted to do. And Dre said, ‘I just want to keep you inspired. Let’s just create and see where this goes. ”
Their musical journeys led them to her new album ‘CASABLANCO’, which is now available. The combination of Ambrosius’ writing and singing talents with one of the greatest producers of this generation has made it a highly anticipated project after years of teasing.
“I haven’t had the opportunity to not only create, but I have no limits, no boundaries. Dre was very much of the belief that ‘Whatever you want to do, it can be done,’” said the British-born singer, who has writing and producing credits on every song. “It revitalized me creatively, knowing that I hadn’t really done everything I could do until we created this.”
The eleven-track project is a sonically lush collage, masterfully blending jazz and hip-hop – a composition that only Dr. could mix. “CASABLANCO” – a depiction of the luxurious lifestyle of the iconic film “Casablanca” and the Moroccan city, marks the singer’s fourth solo studio album, following 2018’s “NYLA”. (The ‘A’ in the title was replaced by Dre to represent the power of the hip-hop sound.)
Entirely produced and mixed by architect ‘The Chronic’ with support from Erik ‘Blu2th’ Griggs, Focus… and Dem Jointz, the album was recorded over a two-week period in 2021, while much of the world was still in lockdown was held due to the COVID-19 crisis. 19 pandemic and when Dre recovered from a brain aneurysm. The pair are signed to Dre’s Aftermath label via Interscope Records and have a long history of collaboration, last officially joining forces on his 2015 album, ‘Compton’.
“CASABLANCO” stands out from the current trap-beat, atmospheric R&B in both sound and construction. Eight of the eleven songs are longer than four minutes, with three songs longer than five minutes, including substantial instrumental breaks and creative, non-traditional verse, bridge and chorus arrangements. Jazzy instrumentation precedes many of the songs, before switching to Dre’s unmistakable hip-hop sound, referring to the combination as “tux and Chucks.”
But the project, backed by a 27-piece live orchestra and filled with intricately woven samples from many artists including Michael Jackson, Duke Ellington, George Benson, The Wu-Tang Clan and Nas – and even Ambrosius himself – took more than a year. evictions. Singles from “CASABLANCO” include “The Greatest,” “Greedy” and the amorous “One Night Stand” with samples of “All Night Long” by Mary Jane Girls.
“I thought, ‘What if it was ‘one night’ instead of ‘all night?’” Ambrosius said. “It’s still about why we made the record: it was like if we had to make another album, what would it be? So it felt like an overnight moment that could ultimately change forever. And mine too.”
While “Best I Could Find” is reminiscent of Stevie Wonder’s “Innervisions,” “Cloudy With A Chance Of…Real” is a dramatic longing for her lover as she sings, “It feels like this belongs to someone else, this pain I live/And I bear the weight of the rain falling down, and it’s oh so lonely.”
She sings, “That was that fog, that haze, that uncertainty, that ‘what’s gonna happen if I can’t love you the way I wanna love you, or if you’re not willing to receive what my love looks like because of where we are in the world right now,” referring to the pandemic.
Despite a solid solo career with songs like ‘Far Away’ and ‘Late Nights & Early Mornings”, in which she sings hooks for major artists such as Kanye West, Nas and Nipsey Hussle, and writes for HER and Alicia Keys, many fans still associate her with the duo Floetry.
Floetry (Ambrosius and Natalie ‘The Floacist’ Stewart) emerged during the neo-soul movement of the early 2000s and found success with songs like ‘Say Yes’, ‘Getting Late’ and ‘SupaStar’ with Common. Ambrosius understands the nostalgia that fans have with that music.
“We were young and fearless and didn’t conform,” said Ambrosius, who also wrote Jackson’s “Butterflies.” “I’m happy to say I’ve created some timeless classics. And 24 years later, with Dr. Dre and ‘CASABLANCO’, I have the same feeling I had then, now.”
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Follow Associated Press entertainment journalist Gary Gerard Hamilton at: @GaryGHamilton on all his social media platforms.
