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Instant Vintage: BJ The Chicago Kid-Gravy

Twelve tracks of Chicago soul made by a man who sings like the church is still in the building. BJ The Chicago Kid has never made a bad record, and this is one of his warmest.

Gravy

Bryan James Sledge grew up singing in church on Chicago's South Side, the son of choir directors, and that training is audible in every phrase he sings. Before his own career took off he worked as a background vocalist for Mary Mary and others — a background-singer's ear for blend is another thing you can hear throughout his records.

He became widely known through features, most notably on Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city and To Pimp a Butterfly, and through his own albums for Motown. Gravy continues a consistent project: contemporary R&B that is unembarrassed about gospel, built on live-sounding arrangements, and interested in adult subject matter rather than club records.

What to listen for

The features are extraordinarily well chosen. "Never Change" with Philip Bailey — the falsetto of Earth, Wind & Fire — is a genuine intergenerational moment, and Bailey at that age still sounds remarkable.

"Forgot Your Name" with Cory Henry is the musician's pick. Henry, formerly of Snarky Puppy, is one of the great living organ players and comes directly out of the same church tradition; the two of them together is a Sunday-morning summit.

"Spend The Night" with Coco Jones and "Honey" with Chlöe represent the current generation of R&B singers, and "Crazy Love" with Andra Day is the biggest vocal on the record.

"Liquor Store In The Sky" with Freddie Gibbs is the one that gives the album its weight — a song about grief and drinking, with a rapper who has spent his career refusing to soften anything.

The "Best Night Of Your Life" intro and "We'll Be Alright" outro bracket the record deliberately. This is an album, not a collection.

Go deeper

In My Mind (2016) is the breakthrough album and the place to start; 1123 (2019) is the more ambitious one.

His guest verses are worth chasing — particularly on Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city, where his contribution to "Real" is one of the album's emotional turning points.

For the Chicago soul lineage he belongs to: Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions, Donny Hathaway (Chicago-raised), and among contemporaries Jamila Woods and Ravyn Lenae. And Cory Henry's solo gospel records are a joy.

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