Diandra Reviews It All

Being black in America is NOT EASY. Frankly, it can be really scary. From police shootings to mass incarceration and overall historical, systemic oppression, the black community has always been disproportionately threatened, and Benjamin Booker’s Witness is a raw, heartfelt look into how scary that truth is for one young, black man. History does affect all of us individually, but when no moment of the past seems “black-friendly”, how do you approach the future with hope?
Benjamin Booker – Believe (Official Audio)

Benjamin Booker’s voice might as well lather itself soul. From “Motivation” to “Off The Ground”, no tempo can change the beauty of his earthly tone. If someone told me that his voice is dipped every morning in gold and rosewater, and dried by only the purest sun-rays, I would say, “That is it!”. He truly has a voice girded in Mother Nature, as if forest evergreen sprouts at hearing his voice in the wind. I know I am going hard on elaborating my love for his voice, but it is his vocal warmth that, a times, makes you forget he is discussing heated topics. Frankly, if Benjamin Booker had not discussed the inspiration and depth of his album in NPR, I might still be stuck in a hypnotic haze from his voice. Yet, knowing the honesty, hurt, and hopefulness that wrote his lyrics makes you push through the spells of his vocals to witness how he spells out society for not choosing love. With simple, stringed melodies accompanying him, Booker brings an ease to pain that makes songs, “All Is Well” and “Believe”, almost medicinal. It is clear that Benjamin Booker sees music, or at least, Witness as an album to revive his heart and refresh his mind so that he can still approach society with constant, open love in the face of its injustice.
Benjamin Booker – Witness (Official Audio)

Only a voice that derives from spirit could capture spirit, especially on a topic that is so discussed politically and educationally but not so much spiritually and morally. Witness is, basically, Benjamin Booker’s 10 track opus declaring “Being black can be really sad, but as a human being you must find and deserve happiness”. For all the richness of black culture, its systemic chains leave it dangerously impoverished as seen in tracks, “Slow Drag Under”, “Carry”, and “Overtime”. Yet, Benjamin Booker is not one to be deterred and discouraged. As seen throughout Witness, he is too genuinely connected to his spirit to let it go asunder, which is why Booker redefines my common usage of sentimentality. While I always seek the emotionality of singers according to their love, Witness is about the seeded feeling of fear that you cannot let grow even if it has rightful water. For More Information On Benjamin Booker And To Buy Witness On June 2 Click Here.