Sy Smith Presents Conflict!
"Conflict, opposites. Psychological politics. Trying to make us all forget, trying to live without regrets... This is your brain on drugs."
Sy Smith (Ms. Smith if you're nasty), has done it again. Lyrically. Musicially. And vocally, she's conquered more ground than ever!She's recruited producers Ant Bell (Jill Scott, Kindred), Ty Macklin (Erykah Badu), Steve Catanzaro (Modern Groove Assembly) and Dre King (an up-and-comer from Washington, DC). But she's done a lot of production herself, using her own talents playing keyboards, arranging vocals, and over-seeing the whole project. But the real story here is the tunes. She introduces us to Conflict in her liner notes, her perpetual battle with herself to please listeners without conforming to the whims of a finicky public.
"Conflict" opens with this title track and immediately the listener knows this CD will be a sonic trip - "This is old, this is new, this is borrowed, this is blue, this is married then divorced, this will be resolved in court." Tracks like "Fly Away With Me" and "The Things I Do" are ready- made for soul playlists without trying to be. Then songs like "Spies" and "B-Side Love Affair" take us for a verbal loop with lyrics that play on topics with the expertise of someone whose first words may have been combined to form metaphors. "Ain't Nobody's Bizness" is a declaration of genre independence - "See I can sing and make it pretty, but elitist songs sound so saditty. Deep down inside I'm really gangsta, but you can't let nobody change ya." Then, Sy does a rarity and features two artists on two different tracks, Bilal Salaam on "Overthought", a testament to the need to have down-time with a side of mantra, and Wes Felton (aka W. Ellington Felton) on "Reach Down In Your Soul", where she exposes her own insecurities in exchange for real talk from her significant other.
Sy Smith's "Conflict" will do what Sy has always despised doing. It has a little something for mostly everyone. "I've always cringed when I've heard recording artists interviewed about their new albums and they say stuff like 'there's a little something for everybody on this album...'. That's always seemed so pretentious and untrue. So I've never sought to do that with my recordings. I just put together a project that feels right to me and I hope that other people will dig it so I won't be in the hole!" Sy laughs in that trademark guffaw that makes her adorable and admirable at the same time. "This time I'm embracing my conflicts with the hopes that people will receive and in turn share their own with me."With that, Psyko! Records (via MDI distribution) presents to you "Conflict" - Sy Smith's latest endeavor! Enjoy!

This Saturday, March 22 at 12 midnite - a super-secret jam session in Houston with Mint Condition, Eric Roberson, Sy Smith, Chris Dave, Robert Glasper and more!

WhereRed Star Café924 CongressHouston, TX 77002WhenSaturday, 22 March 200812 MidnightDamage/Details$10/Cover21+/Over

Calling all DC Soul Music Connoisseurs! Don't miss your chance to see Miss Sy live and direct at Bohemian Caverns! She's performing two full sets at 8pm and 10pm with the Dre King band! It's going down Wednesday, March 26! Click the pic for details!