El Michels Affair & Black Thought - Glorious Game - VINYL LP

When Leon Michels and El Michels Affair released their first record, Sounding Out The City, in 2005, it was hard to guess what was next for Michels and his then-introduced, now-patented Inchcinematic soulInch sound. Now, four EMA studio albums and scores of tribute and remix projects later-all while producing for some of the biggest names in the industry-Michels has trademarked his sound, with each project taking audiences somewhere new and pushing the boundaries of what he is known for. The man is a river, not a lake and this time he takes his golden touch into the realm of hip-hop laying down a musical bed for one of the greatest to ever rhyme into a microphone Black Thought of The Roots crew. Releasing on Big Crown Records, the LP is called Glorious Game and it is a remarkable debut partnership in more ways than one. Michels provides his bottom-heavy, soul-tinged production for Black Thought who gives us some of the more personal and transparent verses we've ever heard from him. Michels and Black Thought have been in each other's orbit for a while now. The two first met in the 2000s when Thought was first getting familiar with the contemporary soul scene. InchOut of that whole world, Menahan Street Band was probably my favorite,Inch recalling the funk and soul group Michels was a founding member of back in 2007. Fast forward a few years and musicians from that collective-Dave Guy on trumpet and Ian Hendrickson-Smith on sax -are now full time players with The Roots. This connection eventually led Leon and Thought to doing a few fundraising events around NYC and Philly together. InchBefore long, Black Thought was coming around the studio and would jam with us from time to time,Inch Michels explains. InchThen, fast forward to 2020 and COVID lockdowns, he just hit me up out of the blue, wanting me to send him stuff to write to. We both were looking to stay busy.Inch B