Lovework, is the critically acclaimed debut Hiphop album by

Gabriel Teodros Gabriel Teodros (born 1981), is a hip hop artist and a member of the groups Abyssinian Creole and CopperWire. He was raised on Beacon Hill, Seattle, Washington. Teodros' music often features socially conscious themes, and he was a catalyst in t ...

, released February 27, 2007 on MassLine Media.

Overview

Aesthetically and politically, ''Lovework'' descends from a mid-'90s school of

conscious Consciousness, at its simplest, is sentience and awareness of internal and external existence. However, the lack of definitions has led to millennia of analyses, explanations and debates by philosophers, theologians, linguisticians, and scien ...

Northwest hip hop Northwest hip hop is hip hop or rap music that originates from the Pacific Northwest of North America, encompassing major cities such as Portland (Oregon), Seattle (Washington), and other towns. Northwest hip hop music mixes elements from various ...

, characterized by groups such as Black Anger and Silent Lambs Project. It was a time where the

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

sound became jazzier—more melodic, intricate, and atmospheric. It turned away from the gangsta themes and beats that dominated the period and instead focused on progressive politics, utopian aspirations, and an organic connection with black Africa. ''Lovework'' was produced by Amos Miller with additional beat contributions from Sabzi (of

Blue Scholars Blue Scholars is an American hip hop duo based in Seattle, Washington, created in 2002 while the members, DJ Sabzi (Saba Mohajerjasbi) and MC Geologic (George Quibuyen), were students at University of Washington. The name "Blue Scholars" is ...

Moka Only Daniel Denton (born November 14, 1973), better known by his stage name Moka Only, is a Canadian underground hip hop artist. He has won 3 JUNO Awards, 5 MuchMusic Video Awards, and has been nominated for 11 Western Canadian Music Awards. Origin ...

, Kitone, and Specs One – its sound was primarily influenced by Seattle veteran Vitamin D (who also mixed the record) and the late

J Dilla J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon vari ...

. On ''Lovework'',

ponders issues of racism, sexism, and colonialism, as well as lighter topics like romance and the art of rhyme. The opening song ''Sacred Texts'' creatively namedrops groups of influence in Teodros' life, including

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip

Freestyle Fellowship Freestyle Fellowship is an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. It consists of Aceyalone, Myka 9, P.E.A.C.E., and Self Jupiter. The group was a prominent part of the Good Life Cafe collective, and are part of the Project Blowed co ...

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally ...

Boogie Down Productions Boogie Down Productions (BDP) was an American hip hop group originally composed of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, five months after the release of BDP's debut album, '' Criminal Minde ...

Public Enemy "Public enemy" is a term which was first widely used in the United States in the 1930s to describe individuals whose activities were seen as criminal and extremely damaging to society, though the phrase had been used for centuries to describe ...

Roy Ayers Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at Po ...

and

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

. In the song ''East Africa'', Teodros first speaks about his family and how he grew up, and then goes on to talk about the

2005 Ethiopian police massacres The 2005 Ethiopian general election violence, known generally as the Ethiopian police massacre, refers to the killing of civilians by government forces during June and November 2005 which led to the deaths of 193 protesters and injury of 763 other ...

. The album title, ''Lovework'' was inspired by bell hooks and her book '' All About Love'', where Hooks insists that to truly know love, one must agree that love is a verb. She goes further to say to truly know love, one must work to undo every system of domination that stops people from truly loving. The title was also inspired by a quote from

Khalil Gibran Gibran Khalil Gibran ( ar, جُبْرَان خَلِيل جُبْرَان, , , or , ; January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931), usually referred to in English as Kahlil Gibran (pronounced ), was a Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist ...

's ''

The Prophet A prophet is a person who is believed to speak through divine inspiration. Prophet or The Prophet may also refer to: People People referred to as "The Prophet" as a title * The Prophet (musician) (born 1968), Dutch gabber and hardstyle DJ ...

'' where Gibran says "Work is love made visible". There were 3 official music videos made for the ''Lovework'' album. The first 2 were both directed by Zia Mohajerjasbi; ''No Label (Esma Remix)'' and ''Don't Cry For Us'' featuring Khingz & Toni Hill. The third video was for ''Third World Wide'' and was directed by Salvatore Fullmore. The album held the #1 spot on the

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

Hip Hop charts for 2 weeks and came in at #19 for the year 2007.College Music Journal
New Music Report. 2007.

Track listing

#Sacred Texts (Intro) #Do U (feat. Jerm) #No Label (Esma Remix) #Beautiful (GT Version) #Sexcapism #Racoon Rock (feat. Toni Hill) #East Africa #Don't Cry For Us (feat. Khingz, Toni Hill) #In This Together #The Dirty 6 (skit) #It's That (feat. Geologic of

) #Third World Wide #Warriors (Lovework Reprise) #Chili Sauce #Find A Place (feat. Rajnii Eddins) #Lovework (feat. Toni Hill) #Rest O' Me Dayz (feat. Khingz)

References

{{Authority control 2007 albums Gabriel Teodros albums