Ric Wilson Brings Black Art To The Forefront On BANBA
Earlier this month Ric Wilson, known as both an artist and an activist around Chicago released his newest EP, BANBA (Black Art Not Bad Art) and with it truly established himself as a key member in the Chicago Renaissance movement. The 23 year old Southsider weaves an intricate tapestry with soul beats and lyrics celebrating his Blackness while simultaneously addressing the anxiety that comes with being marginalized in America. Ric Wilson is another prodigal lyricist that cut his teeth as a teenager in Young Chicago Authors, and like the other artists that came up in YCA (Noname, Kweku Collins, Mick Jenkins, Chance The Rapper) he uses his deft lyricism to create relatable and honest music. What sets Disco Ric apart from the rest is that he floats across genres to create bouncy tracks that reminisce of sunny days on the southside of Chicago.
The opening track of the album acts as a thesis for the rest of the project. It is interlaced with vocal samples of children and activists, and the chorus seems to be Ric’s mantra, “Black art not bad art… not mad art… not sad art”. The Hirsch produced beat sounds like it could only come from Chicago, with Monte Booker-esque glitches on top of a bouncy synth and a gospel moment that leads to an exuberant trumpet solo that sounds like it was part of a Chance record. At the end of the title track you hear a woman’s voice over street noise saying, “I am the revolution, and the revolution don’t stop.”
Sinner, the third track on the album which was also the lead single would fit perfectly on D’Angelo’s Voodoo in its production. Having grown up singing in the church choir Ric uses this track as a sort of confessional opening up to the listener about his life mixed in with his observations about the modern experience. But just like the rest of the EP there is an overwhelming optimism even when he’s talking about the problems that he has faced. For the single he brings his friend and fellow YCA alum Kweku Collins who continues the open honesty of the track with his verse, even ending with “still there’s shit that I’m guilty of… all you need to know is that I’m working on it.”
As a whole this album shows the triumph of love and hope over despair which is a relief considering the world that we’re living in. Wilson shows how much he’s grown on his 3rd EP. BANBA keeps all of the positivity from 2017’s Negrow Disco but with more perspective about the world laced in. Ric Wilson summarized it all perfectly, “don’t you take your love away”.
Stream the whole album below.
And check out Ric Wilson performing Sinner live on Fox with Kweku Collins here.