Me'Shell Ndegeocello: Comfort Woman : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Meshell Ndegeocello's 2002 release Cookie: The Anthropological Mixtape was probably the closest she'll ever come as a solo artist to courting airplay and the charts. And even that record featured scathing assaults on the materialism that plagues American culture. Comfort Woman, at least superficially, is a throwback to her brilliant 1999 cult favorite, Bitter. Religion (she's a skeptic) vs. spirituality (she's a seeker), the relentless pull of the libido, the pursuit of true love: These themes have fueled much of her music, and they all crop up here. This time, her introspective lyrics are backed by seductive reggae-infused grooves. Unfortunately, most of the songs - even the best ones, such as "Fellowship," which questions blind religious faith ("Would you walk a righteous path without the promise of heaven?"), and "Thankful," a denouncement of consumerism and its effects on the soul -- are simply retreads of past works, with only the occasional fresh perception. But Ndegeocello definitely ups the ante in the erotic department: A lot of the self-proclaimed pimps of hip-hop wish they could mack as hard as she does here.

ERNEST HARDY
(RS 935, November 13, 2003)