Supastarbillysham

Album of the day. There are auspicious debut albums, and then there's a first offering like 1st Born Second, where then 21-year-old Philadelphia-born musician and vocal beast Bilal Oliver (known simply as just Bilal) cracked open the vast musical world he's still exploring 25 years later. If you truly loved modern R&B during the early 2000s, this one is pretty self-explanatory. I remember this somewhat falling under the cracks compared to the more high-profile offerings that came out of the Soulqurians camp. Despite near-universal lauding at launch and boasting contributions from a varied list of era-defining names like Dr. Dre, Questlove, James Poyser, J Dilla, Common, Mos Def, Mike City, and others from the Soulquarian crew as well, 1st Born Second appears to have been lumped in with fellow "neo-soul" releases of the the early 2000s. It seems to represent the moment right before that whole scene hit a tipping point in the mainstream. The seductive "Soul Sista" was the single that served as my introduction to Bilal, thanks to its memorable black-and-white music video. However, the album itself impressed me even more, thanks mostly to Bilal's phenomenal vocal prowess alone. On one track, he could channel a myriad of his musical influences—from Sly Stone to Prince—all at once through the phrasing, pacing, and delivery of his striking falsetto, and then in others, he flaunted his jazz training. Plus, there's very little that you can fault with an album that's chock full of sublime highlights like "Love It," the raw emotional splurge that is "Sometimes," "When Will You Call," "Queen of Sanity," "Love Poems," "You Are," and "Second Child."