Meshell Ndegeocello keeps the funk alive with new CD

Jet, July 15, 2002

Singer, songwriter, bassist Meshell Ndegeocello is back on the music scene, pleasing old fans and winning new ones with her fourth CD, Cookie: The Anthropological Mix Tape.

Since her 1993 debut CD Plantation Lullabies, Ndegeocello has not only been recognized for her smoky voice and funky beats, but also for her sociopolitical lyrics as well.

The multi-instrumentalist, born in Germany and raised in Washington, D.C., describes Cookie as, "a very open record with a lot of different styles pumping through it. This album is looking at how I came to be who I am."

Ndegeocello (pronounced N-day-gay-O-chello), which means "free like a bird" in Swahili, is an accomplished bassist who has recorded with such artists as Prince, Chaka Khan, Maxwell, Lenny Kravitz and Madonna.

After her last two CDs, Peace Beyond Passion (1996) and Bitter (1999), Ndegeocello took a two-year break. She and her five-piece band return with a bang with the first single Pocketbook, a remix by Grammy-winning rapper Missy Elliott and producer Rockwilder. The track also features background vocals by newcomer Tweet and rhymes by rapper Redman.

The soul maverick says that this latest project "is a musical and thematic excavation of my own journey, one that I hope others might relate to."