Malcolm Gladwell argued in his 2005 bestseller "Blink" that Kenna's debut album was ignored by influential radio stations because they don't "understand how complex and paradoxical our snap judgments are," which makes it hard "to measure new songs."
Without getting into academic discourse, I think Gladwell had a point. Kenna's futuristic sound blurred the lines between pop, rock, hip hop and electronica that made it difficult for radio directors to program his songs and hard for some listeners to fit him in their cookie-cutter expectations.
After warming people up with his breakout performance at Live Earth, the Ethiopian-born singer finally released his new album "Make Sure They See My Face" on StarTrak/Interscope last week.
Once again, Kenna defies expectations by serving up an edgy and adventurous sonic experience that includes a myriad of styles and moods. I have been listening to the record nearly non-stop for the past two days and I consider it one of my favorites discs of the year.
None other than Hype Williams directed Kenna's mind-bending and neon-lit video for his new single "Say Goodbye To Love." The song fuses a funky bass-drum kick with a melodic keyboard swirl and other quirky soundboard effects courtesy of co-producer Pharrell Williams.
