Funky DL - Beautiful Soul (2021)

As prolific as Funky DL has been across his tenure as an MC and Producer, he has always understood the necessity to venture deeper into his craft and the necessity to transcend his previous works by tapping into his creativity in ways he never before has.

His 21st studio album comes in the form of "Beautiful Soul", a 10-track opus to the sounds and beauty of 1960's and 1970's Soul Music.

However, the title of the album doesn't stop there, as it also reflects DL's assertions through his lyrical content that we all arrived into this world as beautiful souls; although our innocence, dignity and integrity often succumb to some of what contemporary society lays before us. Be that as it may, the messages within the rhymes resonate hope, gratitude, optimism and triumph.

The production for the project began in April of 2020, with DL collaborating with some of his favourite live musicians, namely Xantoné Blacq on keys, Ed Riches on guitar and Sean Allen on bass. Working with each musician individually due to the lockdowns caused by the COVID pandemic, DL was undeterred by these restrictions and continued crafting the melodic landscape for the album.

Taking on the challenge of re-interpreting some heavyweight hits from over four decades ago, DL aimed to ascend beyond the typical proclivities of Jazz-Hop and Lo-fi Boom-Bap Beat-Makers, going miles further into a Producer aficionado mode of upper echelon creativity.

The musical illustrations within each composition are sensitive and delicate, with an acute attention to every detail, every layer and all the sonic accoutrements. "Progression" is the key word here, where throughout the album, the listener is bound to discover new occurrences along each track's seemingly linear journey. The result is an incredibly captivating, emotive and soulful expression across the album's 40 minute running time.

As for the rhymes, Funky DL taps straight into his core and speaks candidly on matters dear to his heartstrings. His knack for cutting to the chase is impeccable, as he steps further into his maturity as a writer, abandoning some of his previously youthful and playful tendencies and leaning more towards his wisdom, as demonstrated in much of his latter works.

And let us not forget the features that guest on this project. Each one hand picked to deliver the appropriate temperament to the track that hosts them. A mixture of transatlantic guests appear, with PF Elle and vsteeze invited as Cousins from the USA to line up with the British guests Stee Moglie, Lei-an, CICERO and Xantoné Blacq.

Each feature provides their unique and befitting vocal contribution to the project to provide an array of performance styles and characteristics, making this album live up to precisely what the title describes it to be... "Beautiful Soul".