AphroChic Magazine: Issue No. 12

SOUNDS
The album’s opener, Hold You Down, is soberly romantic, depicting love
with a happy ending while detailing the path it took to get there — from a hug
he hopes will never end to recognizing the danger pride can pose to love.
“Sometimes I’m the problem, sometimes I’m the solution,” he admits in a
later track, Sometimes, which offers a male perspective on the things that can
change in a relationship from day to day — suggesting that understanding is
best when it goes both ways. “Sometimes I want a lazy day…” he muses, “Wanna
be courted, afforded grace when I make mistakes…” From a different perspective,
in Cold Blooded, he laments, “I’ll be more careful the next time, before I
chase someone that ain’t mine.” Wherever he lands in a given song, it’s hard to
fault the honesty of his narrative.
Adding to the appeal of the storytelling is the music that supports and
uplifts the lyrics. Elements of soul, jazz, and R&B blend and mix to create a vibe
that matches the subject matter perfectly. These aren’t club joints, this is music
to vibe out to, let go, and enjoy the sounds that can happen when Hip-Hop
speaks to the rest of Black music.
A concept album at heart, It Ain’t All Love is far from a throwback. Rather,
looking forward, it paints a picture composed almost entirely of things we don’t
often see: Black men in relationships with human feelings as well as sexual
agendas; the coexistence of the acknowledgment that relationships aren’t
always easy with the belief that love and happiness are more than fantasies; and
the conviction that hip-hop can still speak affirmingly to the real, lived experiences
of our people, without caricature or IG filters, to make the simple yet
radical statement that Black life is life. In a world where we’re constantly told
that love isn’t possible, doesn’t work or can’t exist between Black couples, it’s a
moment of much-needed representation.
Listen to Ace Clark’s new album It Ain’t All Love. AC
106 aphrochic