Jan 4, 2018 - Bilal, “1st Born Second” (2001). Bilal aggressively resists labels. Check the Philly native's Swiss Army knifelike vocal work as part of Kendrick. 1st Born Second. Jump to navigation Jump to search. 1st Born Second is the debut album of American neo soul musician Bilal, released July 17, 2001 on Interscope Records. Production for the album was handled primarily by Bilal and Aaron Comess. Bilal's stage name also serves as an acronym for 'Beloved, Intelligent, Lustful and Livin' It'.

If there was one R&B artist for whom the neo-soul seemed limiting, it was Philadelphia native Bilal. None of his recordings resembled sycophantic worship of soul artists who thrived in the ’60 and ’70s, and it wasn’t just because his voice — classically trained, capable of singing opera in seven languages — was so unique. While some inspirations were detectable, his recordings were wholly modern and became increasingly creative. His individuality led to being dropped from a major label, and he went several years without releasing any solo material.

Through evangelism from his peers and word of mouth from his early fans, Bilal gained an insatiable following and eventually landed on a sympathetic independent label, where he was finally able to thrive creatively. There once was a time the elders and the sanctified, when walking through a sacred place, held one hand up, and on that one raised hand, pointed their index finger. The gesture had to do with direction, testimony and reverence.

It was a quiet, powerful ritual; a sort of apology for a disturbance or an acknowledgement of the work at hand: sermonizing, shouting, singing, prayer, blaspheming, laying down burdens, tapping tambourines. Shaking free. These days, we still raise that one quiet finger. It is a mostly involuntary, respectful act, similar to the head nod or the raised fist. It is an act that says you are moved and you want to be in the number. I was born as a second child All I got was hand me downs All that is what was left..

Motorola magone radio. “Second Child” produced by Bilal These are exciting times in music; a return to purity, risk-taking and truth-telling. Yet it has been some time since we have seen the likes of BILAL OLIVER. His prodigious debut album 1st Born Second (Moyo Music/ Interscope), is a symbolic raising of the bar, worthy of critical examination. Herewith the work of a man born on the cusp of the eighties: the launch of MTV, Prince’s Dirty Mind, Reganomics, the digital revolution, the lingering stank of Parliament’s Motor Booty Affair (aww-aakk!

Aww-aaakk!), and “Rapper’s Delight”. At barely twenty-one years old, Bilal Oliver is clearly possessed with that oldest instrument: the Voice.

To wit: 1st Born Second, a work of resounding superiority, recalls Donny’s soul and Mahaila’s sanctified. Like Nina Simone, Bilal is classically trained, he in jazz and big band arrangements and opera voice. This child of hip-hop seeks to approach swing and scat with the same expansion and technique as Ella Fitzgerald. He writes his music, lyric and note.