Tell me what u wan 2 do. On Gentrified Love Part 1, Theo Parrish continues down the road he paved on his ambitious 2014 long player American Intelligence with his trademark blend of house, broken beat, and R&B. Don’t be mistaken by the tracklisting; the differences between sides A and B are much more than a standard vocal / instrumental flip. Both tracks follow the same jazzy chord structure but are worlds apart. The A-side features a deep and soulful vocal by Kitten Kuroi over a heavy rhythm indebted to Theo’s deep house past. No two bars are alike as the track inches toward the eight minute mark, with electric piano licks and an extended jazzy trumpet solo fading in and out of the mix throughout. On “A Ghetto Proposal (Inst)”, Detroit mainstay Amp Fiddler lays down several layers of synth, clav and rhodes melodies for ten minutes over an even more funky and spaced out riddim that is still undeniably Theo.

• music label: Sound Signature 2016

reviewed by Letters To Theo 03/2017