• Jamila Woods-12"
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HEAVN

HEAVN

£19.99 GBP
£19.99 GBP £19.99 GBP
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Title
  1. Bubbles
  2. VRY BLK (feat. Noname)
  3. Popsicle (Interlude)
  4. Lonely Lonely (feat. Lorine Chia)
  5. HEAVN
  6. Eve (Interlude)
  7. In My Name
  8. Assata's Daughters (Interlude)
  9. Blk Girl Soldier
  10. LSD (feat. Chance The Rapper)
  11. Still (Interlude)
  12. Emerald Street (feat. Saba)
  13. Lately
  14. Always Loving (Interlude)
  15. Breadcrumbs (feat. Nico Segal)
  16. Stellar
  17. Good Morning (Interlude)
  18. Holy
  19. Way Up
  20. Holy (Reprise)

A frequent guest vocalist in the hip-hop, jazz and soul world, Jamila has emerged as a once-in-a-generation voice on her soul-stirring debut. Hailed by Pitchfork as, “a singular mix of clear-eyed optimism and Black girl magic,” HEAVN is the culmination of more than two decades’ worth of musical performances, creative remixing, haunted memories and her unique “collage” writing process.
The message of HEAVN, the album, and Jamila, the musician and poet, are clear: all parts strengthen the whole. Born and raised on the Southside of Chicago, Woods grew up in a family of music lovers. She was a member of her grandmother’s church choir as well as the Chicago Children’s Choir and often sat next to her parents’ speakers, singing along to their sizeable music collection while surrounding herself with things she admired.
In 2016, Chicago-based hip-hop label Closed Sessions released HEAVN. Working with Closed Sessions gave Jamila a home to help craft a complete, singular body of work. “That’s been the coolest thing,” she says. “Just being connected with so many people in Chicago. I like that they’re local.”
HEAVN features a variety of producers, including oddCouple, a fellow Closed Sessions signee who produced five of the album’s 12 tracks. “Working with oddCouple was when I really started thinking of [HEAVN] as an album,” she adds. Other producers on the album include Peter Cottontale and even Jamila’s sister, musician and composer Ayanna Woods. On October 6, 2017, Jamila partnered with Jagjaguwar and Closed Sessions to re-release the critically-acclaimed HEAVN.
On the album’s title track, which samples the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” Jamila explores how black people’s history influences their ability to love each other. “How do we love in our current situation, with the everyday violences we have to endure?” she asks. “Holy” connects to Jamila’s life growing up in church, sampling a gospel song and utilizing a psalm structure to talk about self love. “In church, there was a lot of emphasis on love-like love your neighbor, love God-but not self love,” she says. “When I wrote ‘Holy,’ I wanted to remember to take care of myself. It was an affirmation mantra for me.”
Elsewhere, Jamila plays with contrast to tell a bigger story. On “VRY BLK,” she uses black girl hand clap games to talk about police brutality. “It might sound innocent, but it’s really not,” Jamila says. “BLK Girl Soldier,” a song Jamila describes as a partner to “VRY BLK,” focuses on solidarity. “It’s very prideful,” Jamila says. “I’m talking about this violence that happens, but not staying in a place of feeling victimized.”
Jamila is an artist of substance. Her music, crafted with a sturdy foundation of her passions and influences, gets to the heart of things. True and pure in its construction and execution, it is also the best representation of Jamila herself: strong in her roots, confident in her ideas, and attuned to the people, places and things shaping her world.

released July 15, 2017
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