Welcome to the Cool: INVINCIBLE ShapeShifters

INVCINCVIBLE's first solo album SHAPESHIFTERS was released earlier this year. There isn't a whole lot that I can say that hasn't been said already. If you "google" her...you'll find reviews and interviews done by seemingly EVERY publication from Oakland to Oslo. It's only right that SOUL COMMUNE keep the momentum going.

Invincible's music is not for the faint of heart. She's not necessarily for the budding hip-hip aficianado either. Invincible is the thinking (wo)man's emcee. With tracks produced by Lab Techs, Black Milk, Apex, Wajeed, and DJ Houseshoes, ShapeShifters is full of head knodders, but don't expect to two step to any of the fourteen tracks on the album.(thank Goddess!) Her vocabulary is exceptional, rhyme schemes staggering, and her subject matter ranges from the gentrification of Detroit's inner city to the biblical conflict between Israel and Palestine.

On the title song SHAPESHIFTERS, produced by Wajeed, Invincible floats effortlessly on the track declaring in the intro that "music's not a mirror to reflect reality/ it’s a hammer with which we shape it". On Ransom Note she reconnects with THE ANOMOLIES. Spacious Skies is a love letter to America. The hook seemed to be missing something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. But the song evokes feelings of hope and disappointment. It's a two minute and ten second American history lesson worthy of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.

I may be burned at the stake for this by all those who worship at the the throne of INVINCIBLE...
But although I think that ShapeShifters is a dope album full of amazing collaborations (Tiombe Lockhart, Finale, Buff 1, Wordsworth) and I DO believe that it is the verbal illustration of her social activism in the city of Detroit. I fear that the album may have only a regional appeal. There are references to people, places and issues only relevant to residents of Wayne or Washtenaw counties. Some listeners may not be able to carry the intense themes into mainstream. And what if you're a Zionist as opposed to a supporter of the Palestinian homeland? This album may not be for you. Shape Shifters is extreme at times, boardering on obsessive. "No Easy Anwswers" kind of lost me. I wasn't sure if it was an ode to a personal relationship or something more broad. "People not Places", with its middle eastern undertones, would be more affective if it did not take for granted that people, specifically hip-hop heads, are familiar with the geography of her birthplace of Palestine.

I did enjoy reading the liner notes inside the cd jacket. They make her words more personable. They were a neccesity to me because by track nine or ten her delivery becomes monotone and repetitive despite the relative short nature of the tracks. In the notes it becomes obvious that her world travel, reading list, and life experiences and personal relationships have all influenced her work.
The ugly part is over now...

Since we don't have a formal rating system in place here on SOULCOMMUNE...I'd give Invincible's ShapeShifters a solid SEVEN out of TEN. YOU choose the denomonation...stars, hearts, soul claps, afro pics...whatever. I would suggest that you cop it on Itunes or Best Buy or go directly to her lablel's website EMERGENCE music

I've posted a video for Invincible's song "LOCUSTS" featuring Finale. The video has been around the web and back again since going viral a couple months ago. ENJOY!