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Jon Batiste is no stranger to GRAMMY nominations or wins, having acquired 20 nominations and five wins (including one for Album of the Year in 2022) all within the last five years. He stands out as the only male artist nominated for Album of the Year at the 2024 GRAMMYs for his 2023 album World Music Radio.
Stand-out tracks: "Be Who You Are (feat. JID, NewJeans & Camilo)" "Uneasy (feat. Lil Wayne)" "Life Lesson (feat. Lana Del Rey)"
My favorites: "Calling Your Name" "BOOM FOR REAL" "Life Lesson (feat. Lana Del Rey)"
The album opens with a radio-static intro in "Hello, Billy Bob," which sets the scene for the global theme of the album and leads straight into "Raindance (feat. Native Soul)" which captures your attention as a reggae/hip-hop crossover. The chorus has an addictive hook, but the Native Soul feature on this one unfortunately detracts from the song as a whole. The end of this track features our radio host introducing track three, "Be Who You Are (feat. JID, NewJeans & Camilo). This one is a little more boppy and electronic, and the features actually really add something to this one by representing different voices adding to the political and global acceptance undertones of the song. "Worship" is divided into an interlude between the first tracks of the album and a drum-heavy chorusing second half that feels like a celebratory gathering call that chants "It's only you that makes you all I am" over and over.
Things slow down a little bit with "My Heart (feat. Rita Payes)". This one has a stunning trumpet instrumental that pairs beautifully with the Spanish-language vocal of Rita Payes. This one again concludes with a radio-style outro that transitions into "Drink Water (feat. Jon Bellion and Fireboy DML)". "Calling Your Name" is a lighter-hearted cruiser of a track with atmospheric, boppy production and simple but effective repetitive "Sun and the stars/Running from fate/All of the while/I was calling your name."
The production takes a turn from electronic to raw instruments with "Clair de Lune (feat. Kenny G), "Butterfly," and "17th Ward Prelude," which makes for a nice change of pace between the beginning of the album and the next string of tracks.
"Uneasy (feat. Lil Wayne)" is undoubtedly a stand-out, from its achievement in instrumentally illustrating incredible feelings of uneasiness and raw and human lyrical composition. While the previous track is a little bit heavier, things lighten up with the host introducing a radio contest to complete our radio-listening experience throughout the beginning of dancey "CALL NOW (504-305-8269) (feat. Michael Batiste)." Following the French-language interlude "Chassol," self-love gets a chance to shine on groovy and gritty "BOOM FOR REAL." The outro on this one is a stunning piano and saxophone duet that leads beautifully into spiritual "MOVEMENT 18' (Heroes).
While both "Master Power" and "Running Away (feat. Leigh-Anne)" have overall important messages lyrically, the album starts to lose steam about 45 minutes in. It needs a high-energy wow moment similar to the beginning of the album to carry into the last 20 minutes of the album, and it unfortunately doesn't have that in either of the prior tracks or the subsequent "Goodbye, Billy Bob" interlude or piano-ballad "White Space."
The closing act of World Music Radio jolts into "Wherever You Are" which is the album crescendo into its finale, complete with our album-long host "signing off" and requesting that we "please be seated" for album closer "Life Lesson (feat. Lana Del Rey)." This one is goosebump-raising and hauntingly gorgeous, telling the story of finding yourself through the relationships you've encountered. It's the perfect credits-roll conclusion to World Music Radio.
GRAMMY for Album of the Year
Listening to World Music Radio is an experience in itself, which shows that Jon Batiste hits the mark in accomplishing the task of creating a concept album; there genuinely is no better name for this album than World Music Radio. Jon Batiste commits wholeheartedly to representing artists of different styles and cultures, the radio playlist-style progression of the album is thorough, and there's a pinpoint-perfect balance between celebrating pure human joy and digging into deep humane issues across World Music Radio. It's ambitious in its attempt to unify and represent global communities of music listeners but falls a little flat on its level of personal storytelling. Maybe that's not the point, but it seems like an album meant to highlight the global human experience through the universal language of music should have some personal investment. Production-wise, World Music Radio is complex and well-executed, excellently representing a diverse pool of instrumentation that remains appropriately cohesive.
Jon Batiste's ambition and intention in creating World Music Radio make it a clear choice as a nominee for Album of the Year at the GRAMMYs. However, does the massive scope of the project drive down the overall quality of each track individually? A little bit. In an attempt to create an album that resonates with everyone, it falls a little short of truly forging a personal connection with anyone. World Music Radio remains one of the top contenders for Album of the Year, but it falls just shy of being a guaranteed victory.
AM I OBSESSED?
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