Airtight's Revenge

''Airtight's Revenge'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Bilal. It was released on September 14, 2010, by the independent record label Plug Research, his first album for the label.

Bilal began composing music for the album using the recording software GarageBand, while touring in the aftermath of his unreleased but widely leaked album '' Love for Sale''. He wrote and recorded ''Airtight's Revenge'' during a period of approximately three years, working alongside the musician-producers Steve McKie, Nottz, Shafiq Husayn, Conley "Tone" Whitfield, and 88-Keys. The album's soul and rock music is more electronic- and guitar-oriented than Bilal's previous albums, featuring influences from jazz, blues, and futurism. Experiences from his personal life and professional conflicts with his former label, Interscope Records, formed the inspiration for the album's dark songwriting, which explores themes of love, spirituality, capitalism, and politics, with lyrics informed by free thought.

The album debuted at number 106 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, selling 4,600 copies in its first week. Although it charted modestly, ''Airtight's Revenge'' was well received by music critics upon its release. PopMatters ranked the album number 61 in its year-end list of best albums for 2010, calling it a "wildly inventive, wildly enjoyable album".

Writing and recording

Bilal worked on the album intermittently for approximately three years, with the singer saying he began creating its music "around 2008". While touring in response to the popularity of '' Love for Sale'', his controversially shelved but leaked album, Bilal began composing new music on his computer using the digital audio workstation GarageBand. Recalling the process, he says, "It sort of starts on the piano and then I go to the Garage Band and make, like, a little sketch of something I can sing to and then go from there. It allows me play around with the shape of the song more." The songs were variously written in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Amsterdam.

When writing the lyrics, Bilal says he wanted to approach expressing free thought in different ways and tried to "write short stories and dark tales of life in general". He drew inspiration from his personal experiences, as well as "a lot of things from fiction" in an effort to "make certain statements, from a love standpoint", he explains. Bilal adds that his experience with ''Love for Sale'' and the ensuing conflict with his then-record label Interscope led him to the "dark underworld" storytelling of ''Airtight's Revenge''.Bilal – the EYE WEEKLY interview
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After hearing some of Bilal's GarageBand compositions, his touring drummer persuaded him to record one of the songs at the former's studio. By doing so, Bilal felt inspired to record further. In the studio, the singer held improvisatory sessions with his accompanying musicians, comparing it to jazz or "a Led Zeppelin show". In contrast to his previous albums, Bilal pursued a more guitar-led direction based in rock and soul, with influences from jazz, blues, and electronic music. He utilized ideas from the music of Frank Zappa, who he says "was dope at that; mixing a lot different artists in a band to create one distinct sound". Recording with a smaller budget than previously for Interscope, he found that "you don't need to be in a gigantic studio, you just need to be in a good room with acoustics and be creative with how you mic things or use things."

Bilal collaborated with producers Shafiq Husayn, Nottz, 88-Keys, and, most prominently, Steve McKie. A drummer-producer who had recorded with the singer on ''Love for Sale'', McKie was eager to work on ''Airtight's Revenge'' after listening to Bilal's preliminary compositions on GarageBand. McKie began recording with Bilal in late 2008, starting with 13 compositions and eventually co-producing seven of the album's songs. As McKie explains, "We just went through a bunch of sounds, locked ourselves in the studio and experimented with different snare drums and kicks. It took a bunch of time because we had that freedom to just experiment and be creative." In an interview soon after the album's release in late 2010, Bilal said that he and McKie "put the finishing touches and tightened everything up over the last year".

Music and lyrics

''Airtight's Revenge'' has been described as a mix of soul, rock, jazz, blues, and electronic styles. Referencing Bilal's intention to create music that would challenge a computer, ''Pitchfork'' writer Marcus J. Moore says it explains the music's " iconoclastic nature" and how it "largely eschewed Bilal's earlier throwback aesthetic for a denser electronic sound". According to NPR's Frannie Kelley, "the sound here is more electronic than the neo-soul of the Soulquarians' heyday ... The production is heavily layered, with several Bilals often singing at once." ''Prefixmag.com''s Andrew Martin says it "owes more to contemporary album-oriented indie rock than pop, R&B or hip-hop", while Michael Hewlett from the '' Winston-Salem Journal'' calls it "sped-up rock and jazz". In the opinion of ''HipHopDX'' journalist Luke Gibson, "the production is to 'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''experimental to be called Neo Soul, to [''sic''">sic">'sic<_a>''.html" ;"title="sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''experimental to be called Neo Soul, to [''sic''funky to be called Acid Jazz, and to [''sic''] musical form, free-form to be Funk".

Lyrically, the album explores a wider range of subjects than Bilal's previous albums, including love, spirituality, politics, economics, and religion. Evan Rytlewski of '' The A.V. Club'' later named it among "a line of revelatory, late-period neo-soul albums", including Maxwell's '' BLACKsummers'night'' (2009), Erykah Badu's '' New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh)'' (2010), and Frank Ocean's '' Channel Orange'' (2012). According to David Dacks of ''Exclaim!'', "every second screams personal statement, from the weighty, heartfelt lyrics to Bilal's anguished, soulful vocals. There are no throwaway skits or breezy in-da-club jams; it's 100 percent pure soul. "

"Restart", written about resuming a relationship, features varying bridge sections and a soul/rock groove. The track "Little One" is based on Bilal's relationship with his then-nine-year-old son, who is autistic. "The Dollar" features oddly-timed percussion, subdued guitar and keys, strings, bluesy horns, and lyrical themes concerning poverty and the pitfalls of capitalism.Jones, Steve (September 18, 2010)
Review: ''Airtight's Revenge''
''USA Today''. Retrieved on 2010-09-27.

Title and packaging

In an interview for '' The Root'', Bilal elaborated on the album title's meaning, stating:

The album's cover art is a reference to the iconic photo of Malcolm X peering through his window while holding a M1 carbine rifle. Instead of a rifle, Bilal is holding a microphone, and instead of peering through his bedroom curtain, Bilal is peering through a heavy red stage curtain. In an interview with ''Parlour Magazine'', Bilal elaborated on the message behind the album's cover art, stating:

Marketing and sales

The album was released by Plug Research, an independent label based in Los Angeles. Its earliest release was in the UK on September 6, 2010.Pattison, Louis (August 27, 2010)
Review: ''Airtight's Revenge''
BBC Online. Retrieved on 2010-09-27. In the US, it debuted at number 101 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart, with first-week sales of 4,600 copies.Jacobs, Allen (September 22, 2010)
Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 9/19/2010
. HipHopDX. Retrieved on 2010-09-27. It peaked at number 21 on ''Billboard''s Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and at number 23 on its Independent Albums chart. Bilal Album & Song Chart History - R&B/Hip-Hop Albums ''Billboard''. Retrieved on 2010-09-27. Bilal Album & Song Chart History - Independent Albums ''Billboard''. Retrieved on 2010-09-27. ''Airtight's Revenge'' has sold 4,800 copies in the United States.

Critical reception

''Airtight's Revenge'' was met with widespread critical acclaim. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 87, based on nine reviews.''Airtight's Revenge'' (2010): Reviews
Metacritic. Retrieved on 2010-10-14.

Reviewing for AllMusic, Andy Kellman called ''Airtight's Revenge'' "one heavy, messy, dynamite album — one that could take a decade to be fully processed".Kellman, Andy (September 10, 2010)
Review: ''Airtight's Revenge'' - Bilal
AllMusic. Retrieved on 2019-11-18. Tyler Lewis of PopMatters cited the album as "a generation-defining masterwork of unflinching vision" and wrote that it is "all about texture and musicality. Songs more than shout or intimate their ideas, they envelop you fully, so you feel the full weight of what it is Bilal is talking about".Lewis, Tyler (September 28, 2010)
Review: ''Airtight's Revenge''
PopMatters. Retrieved on 2010-09-28. ''Los Angeles Times'' journalist Jeff Weiss noted its "formless floating funk" and praised Bilal as "ludicrously soulful and endearingly experimental", calling the album "a soothing anodyne to the often over-processed come-ons that pass for contemporary R&B".Weiss, Jeff (October 28, 2010)
Bilal Breaks the Dollar, Headlines Echoplex Thursday Night
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved on 2010-11-01. ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''s A.D. Amorosi stated, "Bilal - the vocalist - opens the valves and bleats, glides, coos, and cajoles like Coltrane at his freest".Amorosi, A.D. (September 26, 2010)
Review: ''Airtight's Revenge''
''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. Retrieved on 2010-10-15. '' The A.V. Club''s Nathan Rabin perceived a "brooding, airless intensity" and praised its "claustrophobic introspection and soul-searching".Rabin, Nathan (October 12, 2010)
Review: ''Airtight's Revenge''
'' The A.V. Club''. Retrieved on 2010-10-14. Sputnikmusic's Nick Butler said that, "musically, there are dozens of neo-soul records in the past three or four years that reach far beyond the limits of most of ''Airtight's Revenge'' ..but nobody is writing or delivering lyrics like this. Emotionally, tis so revealing that it gets difficult to listen to".Butler, Nick (September 20, 2010)
Review: ''Airtight's Revenge''
Sputnikmusic. Retrieved on 2010-09-27. In a year-end article on overlooked albums in 2010, Edna Gundersen of ''USA Today'' described ''Airtight's Revenge'' a "buried jewel that really deserved a wider audience", commenting that "It's personal, idiosyncratic, complex, dense, sophisticated and messy, a thoroughly contemporary soul record with a defiant indie-rock sensibility, which is why it never found a home on radio".Powers, Ann (December 30, 2010)
The ones that got away: Music critics reveal what they left off their year-end lists
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved on 2010-12-31.

Some reviewers were less enthusiastic. Mikael Wood of '' Time Out'' found the album overlong, particularly the second half, which he said "bogs down with an abundance of noodly slow jams. But the strong stuff here is very strong".Wood, Mikael (September 16, 2010)
Review: ''Airtight's Revenge''
'' Time Out''. Retrieved on 2010-09-27. '' URB''s Anupamistry wrote that it lacks "the cut-loose, flailing vocal work" of Bilal's previous work, but ultimately complimented its "more progressive, less structured, arranging".Anupamistry (September 30, 2010)
Review: ''Airtight's Revenge''
. '' URB''. Retrieved on 2010-09-30. Apart from a few overdone "rock guitar histrionics", Dacks wrote in his review for ''Exclaim!'' that the album "has something for everyone who appreciates the entire spectrum of soul".

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians

* Bilal Oliver – vocals, keyboards (tracks: 1, 4, 5, 10), synthesizer (2, 3), piano (2, 5), organ (3, 9, 10), human beat box (3), synthesizer bass (7), horn/string arrangements (9, 11)
* Masayuki Hirano – Moog electric piano (1), keyboards (2, 8), Moog and synthesizer (4, 5)
* Junius Bervine – synthesizer and Fender Rhodes electric piano (1)
* Robert Glasper – piano (7), Fender Rhodes (9)
* Mike Severson – guitar, electric guitar (1, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11)
* Chuck Treece – electric guitar (2, 3, 8, 9), effects (3, 8)
* Ben "Bananas" O'Neil – lead guitar (2), acoustic guitar (10)
* Tom Spiker – electric guitar (3)
* Freddie Mac

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