Jamai - Twenty Three (2022)

23 Songs, 0 samples, 1 Producer, 1 Songwriter,1 Singer...all within ONE ARTIST. It could be assumed there were a multitude of team players creating such a massive piece of art in this riveting yet personal album,"Twenty Three!" Perhaps there are a few souls living inside The Unhuman Entertainer, JAMAI, but he's merely revealing multiple sides of himself. This Multidimensional masterpiece has zero samples but taps into a variety of genres, from Afro- beat, R&B, Pop, Gospel, Doo-Wop, Reggae, and even Opera (yes Opera) with soaring guitar solo's and beautiful acoustic piano played by Jamai himself.
"Twenty Three" is daring in a time where artists no longer release full albums. These 23 songs take you for an emotional and unforgettable ride.
In the deeply dark and emotional "Shannon’s Last Word's" Jamai speaks from the perspective of his deceased mother. In the song Jamai theorizes what her last thoughts may have been as she laid waiting for help; after being slain by a jealous ex-boyfriend.
Ballads like "Heartbeat" & "Stop Crying" lace the album with the pain of a son losing his mother at 6 years old. Jamai titles the album after the number of years she lived and the reality of the 23rd anniversary of her death leaving him emptier, with a new load of grief added to an already heavy weight.
“Twenty Three” then takes an immediate shift in gears as the track list starts rolling with "Anna”-A Marley styled groove with a classic reggae bass rift underlying his pleads to a friend-with-benefits to look in the mirror for the boundaries that were never set.
Throughout his almost two decades of performing and releasing music, Jamai shows that he no longer holds back on any topic. Sexual sensuality has it's own space on "Twenty Three" with tracks like "Pink in The Middle," "Chocolate Drop," "Moonlight," and "B.D.E" where he leaves little to the imagination, freely and creatively taking on classic R&B sounds.
“Twenty Three” is full of genre bending songs, like the Doo-Wop-inspired "Perfume" and the almost comical "Weed Man", where he confronts his girlfriend about cheating on him with her, you guessed...Weed Man!