Marcel P. Black believes in making quality, substantive, soulful underground hip hop, and has done so over the span of 20 projects, including six full-length albums. So when he says that his latest project, Black Luv is his best offering, it is definitely worth taking that declaration at face value.
I have been in friendship, brotherhood, and community with Marcel for over 20 years, and his evolution as an emcee, performer, messenger, educator, activist is a persistent act of growth. Produced exclusively by J-Filly, and featuring some of the dopest indie emcees in the nation, Black Luv takes its listeners on a sonically immersive journey, blending R&B samples with heartfelt, sociopolitical rhyming.
Recently, Marcel and I sat in conversation to do a track-by-track analysis of Black Luv in which I gave him my interpretation of each track, and he contextualized the purpose behind each record, from the messaging to the musical choices he and J-Filly landed on to create this stellar project.
Black Luv is a love letter to Black people, Black music, and Black cultural traditions, grounding the record in affirmations of Black beauty, power, and resistance into just over a half-hour of jams.
Check out the conversation above or below, and be sure to pick a copy of Black Luv from Marcel’s Bandcamp and/or stream on all major platforms.
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