Most hip-hop artists shout out major U.S. cities on their albums, but Shafiq Husayn convers far more extensive territory. "Senegal, Portugal, let's go! Mexico and Japan, Kosovo and Sudan, U.S. and Pakistan!," he sings on the song "U.N. Plan." As one-third of the progressive hip-hop outfit Sa-Ra and a collaborator on Erykah Badu's album "New Amerykah: Part One," Husayn has long cultivated an ear for the bold and experimental. On his latest release, "Shafiq En' A-Free-Ka," he continues the sonic innovation, culling from influences as diverse as Afrobeat and drum'n'bass and bearing traces of Timbaland (the reggae-tinged track "Nirvana") and Andre 3000 (the psycadelic "Major Heavy"). When French lyrics and an accordion appear on the smooth "Le' Star" and then dissolve into a cacophony of synths, it's not jarring at all-it's just another trip into Husayn's wonderfully open musical mind. --Monica Herrera
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Shafiq Husayn, "Shafiq En' A-Free-Ka"
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