WE ARE

This is a nice RnB/soul album. The songs and performance are ok, but not extraordinary.

I listened to this again and it really connected with me. So good!

Excellent, diverse, engaging, fun

This ruled. Lots of good musicality from ya boy Jon

A toe tapping blend of r&b / soul / pop with Motown and New Orleans running all through it. Good times

A modern, funky album 3.8

A real vibe 4

I thought this was very good. Strong performances throughout. I thought perhaps it was a little disjointed - I didnt quite find the throughline of it as an album. But it's a minor quibble.

Very nice.

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: We are, Tell the truth, Cry, Freedom, Show me the way

Really enjoyed album, such a good vibe and flow to it. Added to my frequent rotation.

Joyful, vibrant, and bursting with life, WE ARE blends soul, R&B, gospel, and pop into a celebration of Black culture and resilience. It’s not perfect, but it’s impossible not to feel good while listening

I was happy to see this pop up. I remember him getting a lot of buzz a few years ago at the Grammy’s. I did really enjoy this. I thought there was a good variety of sounds going on. At first I was listening off my phone but then I was enjoying it enough that I switched over to my main sound system. Very glad I did.

Pretty catchy, fun listen. 3/5.

WE ARE not deserving of a Grammy win

This is my first full Batiste LP, and I enjoyed how rich and diverse this album felt as it sampled and paid homage to a pretty wild amount of genres. It did feel difficult to isolate Batiste's artistic voice as a result, however – this may have been a personal failing on my part, though, as this LP demands one's full attention to catch all the elements at play. I'll be returning to this one for sure!

Jon Batiste is definitely one of the more creative and gifted artists of modern times. Id imagine if he was making music in the 60s he’d be a jazz legend. Not too shocking this album won several Grammys as it’s kind of an amalgamation of black music in one album and it’s done quite well. Between the jazz, R&B, and hip hop there’s a wide range of styles but Batiste brings it together nicely and gets some solid supporting acts to help it. 7.1/10

Fine soulful album

Winner of the 2022 Album of the Year grammy award. Jon Batiste didn't exactly come out of nowhere, but his spotlight from the grammy's certainly did. Having graduated from Juilliard with a bachelors AND masters degree in music, Batiste's work primarily centered around jazz. Here, in New York, he would eventually form the band Stay Human with his Juilliard peers. Stay Human maintained a focus on remaining socially conscious with its crowd interactions and impromptu "love riots" that ultimately come across with the lukewarm message of the importance of "human connection" or something. Either way, Batiste and his band would get noticed by Stephen Colbert of the Late Show, and eventually became the house band for the show. A pretty sweet gig, all things considered! This was probably the most eyes that Batise ever had on him, but he seemed content to coast on that easy network TV paycheck for a few years. It wasn't until 2019 when he started work on a soul album in between working with Nine Inch Nails (not under the duo's moniker of course) for the Pixar film "Soul". By 2020, Batiste has a new collection of songs that had become increasingly more relevant to the current political climate of America. WE ARE is a collection of mostly unremarkable songs. Technically good, creatively lacking, and generally feels more like an exercise in stylistic mimicry rather than a genuinely original project. Throughout WE ARE, Batiste dips his toes into jazz, R&B, rap, gospel, and funk, all while attempting to tie it back to his overarching pop soul sound. The most interesting moments are when his musical education is on full display, such as on Movement 11' where Batiste rips a magnificent piano solo. Otherwise, I am mostly underwhelmed by this sort of music with weak platitudes masquerading as something deeper. Despite being up against the likes of newcomer pop heavy hitters like Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X, and Doja Cat, Batiste walked out of the 64th Annual Grammy Awards with one of the big 4 awards. This was mostly eclipsed by Silk Sonic winning two of the other big 4 awards and having easily the best performance of the night, but retrospect has me wondering why this album was even considered at all. I supposed being on syndicated television as supporting musical talent for the past 6 years helped elevate his status, but Batiste's nomination felt in line with other out-of-touch token picks for AotY nominations such as H.E.R. and Black Pumas. I think if the Academy is looking for fantastic black artists to elevate in the realm of the recording arts, then they ought to look no further than Genesis Owusu, Little Simz, or Yves Tumor. Excellence everywhere for those with the eyes to see it, just not on your television set. CONTENDER FOR THE LIST: I can see it being included considering that SAULT, in a somewhat similar vein, was also included. I would rather reserve that space for better-realized albums though.