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Jimmy Lee Image
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 8 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 51 Ratings

  • Summary: The first full-length release of new material from the R&B artist/producer was inspired by his late brother's struggle with drug addiction and features guest appearances from Rob Bacon, Reverend E. Baker, Ernest Turner, and Daniel J. Watts.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Aug 26, 2019
    100
    His subject matter is explicit and personal, the album a song cycle brimming with ghosts – four siblings who died tragically young. ... He narrators in these songs are more like a collection of lost voices, including that of Saadiq himself.
  2. Aug 30, 2019
    90
    The brothers and sisters in arms, longtime partners (Thomas McElroy, Taura Stinson) and new associates (Brook D'Leau, Daniel Crawford) alike, play in service to the vision of one eminent artist, helping him convert grief to artistic brilliance.
  3. Sep 3, 2019
    90
    Saadiq puts his artistic skills to use in full, reaching new emotional and technical heights while delving into heartbreaking lows. Jimmy Lee shows why, even though he so often stays behind the scenes these days, his is one of the most compelling voices in modern-day soul music.
  4. Aug 26, 2019
    80
    It feels like he’s aiming for a 21st-century version of classic albums such as Sign ‘O’ the Times and What’s Going On and, on astonishing, soul-scraping laments This World Is Drunk and Kings Fall, he almost gets there.
  5. Q Magazine
    Aug 27, 2019
    80
    A dark album for darker times--at 53, Saadiq is still ahead of the curve. [Oct 2019, p.110]
  6. Aug 26, 2019
    80
    Saadiq has clearly turned a corner into an unpredictable headspace. His new edge, combined with his prodigious production and instrumental chops, bodes well as far as what might come next. And there’s a certain thrill in not knowing how much more outlandish his next move might be.
  7. Sep 19, 2019
    78
    On Jimmy Lee, Saadiq shout-sings, whispers, and croons with new abandon. It feels like a refutation of his old reserve, and it also represents a welcome stretch from Saadiq before he takes his sound all the way back to his beginnings.

See all 8 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. Aug 26, 2019
    10
    Quite simply, the best album since "Black Messiah" and "Blackstar" dropped in late '15/early '16
  2. Sep 10, 2019
    10
    One of the best albums I have ever heard. Don't know why people didn't like it much.
  3. Aug 27, 2019
    10
    Feels good to label an album with 10. To be honest I'm a fan, otherwise i would do a9, simply because the 2 first tracks are just,Feels good to label an album with 10. To be honest I'm a fan, otherwise i would do a9, simply because the 2 first tracks are just, unlistenable.
    As for the rest, beauty. In and out of context.
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  4. Feb 3, 2020
    9
    Fantastic album, love it! Lyrically and thematically beautiful. The arrangements are brilliant and have so much character and soul, bolsteredFantastic album, love it! Lyrically and thematically beautiful. The arrangements are brilliant and have so much character and soul, bolstered by smooth production. Lots of standout tracks! Expand
  5. Sep 24, 2019
    7
    An interesting album. It's a dedicated effort of Raphael Saadiq to transfer his feelings of his brother's loss in words and music.