Lift Your Spirit

With his third solo album Lift Your Spirit (Aloe Blacc's major-label full-length debut), the rapper-turned-singer pushes further into a folk/soul/pop fusion that's both undeniably joyful and eye-opening in message.

Adding an of-the-moment twist to the music of legends like Sly Stone and Stevie Wonder, Lift Your Spirit is built on songs that pair Blacc's poetic yet incisive lyrics with huge hooks and relentless feel-good grooves.

Lift Your Spirit saw Blacc teaming up with premier producers Pharrell Williams, DJ Khalil (Eminem, Drake, Kendrick Lamar), and Rock Mafia (No Doubt, Miley Cyrus) to achieve a slick and smooth retro-soul sound. "On my last album I paid homage to the music of Curtis Mayfield and James Brown and Al Green," says Blacc of 2010's Good Things, which featured his breakthrough hit "I Need a Dollar." "But for this one I wanted to go in a new direction and create a new, updated sound." To that end, Lift Your Spirit expands Blacc's sonic approach by amping up his soulful musicality with a fiery rock & roll energy, razor-sharp hip-hop edge, folk-influenced lyrical sensibility, and pop-inspired ease with melody.